Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 88025 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88025 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
There was also a section on Sedona itself. He walked over to glance at the different maps and tour brochures. Spirit tours, vortex tours, healing tours—anything a person could want, including regular scenic ones.
Harrison joined him and plucked up a brochure on the Red Rock State Park. He opened it up and looked it over. “Says here it’s two hundred and eighty-six acres. That’s a lot of space to find the rift.”
“We’ll be able to see it. Clay and Calder can feel that we’re close to it.”
“And there are bound to be a lot of pestilents,” Harrison muttered under his breath. “Hope we brought enough ammunition.” Harrison set the brochure back in place and glanced over to where Wiley and the shopkeeper were pulling books off the shelves. “I don’t know what he’s hoping to find, because nothing in here is screaming answers to me.”
“Me neither,” Hale agreed. “I’m sure some of these crystals could come in handy. I’ve heard Wiley uses them in some spells.”
“But the final spell just takes Weavers and the Heart.” Harrison looked out the window and his frown deepened. “Look outside.”
Hale did and just like in Oklahoma, people were gathering outside the shop. His heart froze. He turned to warn the others as the shopkeeper went suddenly still. She then walked to the wall of knifelike instruments and pulled one down. A vicious expression twisted her features as she lunged toward Clay with her knife.
Wiley, who’d clued in to what was happening, turned to Grey.
“Got it,” Grey snarled before Wiley could say a word, and he lifted his hand. He removed the spell quickly. The shopkeeper stood there, blinking at the knife in her hand. It was still raised in the air, and she dropped it like it was hot.
“I don’t understand what’s going on,” she said in a small, tremulous voice.
Wiley put an arm around her shoulders, murmuring soothing words to her as he led her to the back of the store and away from the large picture window that faced the street.
Harrison pointed toward the gathering. “We have a huge problem.”
“Oh, we are so not doing this again.” Clay stormed to the front of the shop and swept through the door like a charging bull. Everyone else looked at each other, then all ran to join him. Combined powers were better than just one, after all.
Hale was one of the first out the door, and he stood shoulder to shoulder with Clay as the crowd parted and a man came forward. One Hale recognized from Oklahoma, John. He wore a blue suit that did nothing for the sick pallor of his face. If anything, it seemed like John had been here too long. There was something off about his face, as if he were wearing a skin suit that didn’t fit quite right.
Hale’s stomach lurched as his eyes skimmed over the growing gathering of humans with blank expressions on their faces. It looked as though John had spelled the entire town again, only Sedona was much, much bigger.
A wry grin twisted John’s loose face. “Look at you, Earth Weaver. One would think you would have expected this once you reached the rift. Is that overconfidence on your part, or just stupidity?”
“We’ll fight you as we always do and win.” Clay lifted his hands, and the nearby trees started to sway.
“Oh, I don’t plan to fight you here. I dare you to come to the rift at Devil’s Bridge and see if you can close it. But”—he broke off and grinned as he gestured at all the people around him—“you will have to get through all these innocent people first.”
“Grey?” Clay murmured. “What do you think you can do?”
The Soul Weaver snorted. “I can’t break the spell on all these people. I’m not that good. All I can do is work through them as best I can.”
Before he finished speaking, the people rushed them, but Lucien threw up a wall of fire. John called a halt to the attack, clearly not interested in destroying his army.
“I can hold this while you all run.” Lucien spoke through gritted teeth, his arms in the air. Sweat broke out over his forehead.
“We’re not leaving without you.” Clay frowned. “We’re blocked from the vehicles and the weapons, but we can’t just kill all these people.”
Grey stepped forward. “I’m breaking some free, but the only thing I can see to do is run.”
“I can maybe create enough of an earthquake to knock them off their feet.” Clay looked at Hale. “Think you can wrangle up another storm? That would give Calder lots of water to work with, too.”
Hale nodded, though he wasn’t sure he knew how to do that exactly. He shot up into the air as he let the anger build inside him. It was easy. All he had to do was think about all those poor, spelled people and how it wasn’t fair for John to be using them. He thought of Harrison and how he could so easily be killed, and soon fury was ripping through him.