Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 83281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
“Mmm, that does sound nice—especially the ‘snuggling’ part,” he rumbled. He started to turn around…then stopped.
“Rath?” I asked, frowning at him. “Are we going home or not?”
He shook his head, like someone trying to clear their mind.
“No, we’re not,” he growled. “This is just a trick—they’re telling us lies! Don’t listen to them!”
I looked at the person in the green robe and saw their color-shifting eyes turn a pale, menacing yellow. Yet, the sweet, androgynous voice stayed soft and lilting.
“You do not wish to visit Baba Yaga,” they began again.
Even before they gave a reason, I felt the seductive melody of their voice weaving around me like a poison rope.
A spell—they’re casting a spell on us. Telling us lies and making us believe them! I thought. We need some way to stop them—to stop the spell. But how?
I suddenly remembered my last minute preparations in the kitchen. I didn’t know if what I had packed would help, but it couldn’t hurt to try.
Reaching into my coat, I dug into the inside pocket and pulled out a small glass jar. I had found it in the basement and transferred the jelly it had held into another container. Now it sloshed with viscous purple liquid—the remains of the potion I’d made the night before.
I had been keeping it close to my body so it wouldn’t freeze. Now I threw it at the person in the green robe as hard as I could.
I had been aiming right at them, but luckily I have shitty aim. So instead of hitting the person in the abdomen and bouncing off into a drift, the glass jar hit the snow dusted rock they were standing on and burst into a million glass shards.
The potion sprayed up, splattering the person’s robe and making a sticky, purple mess. Some even spattered on their cheeks and mouth.
“Ugh!” The pretty, androgynous face wrinkled in disgust and they tried to brush the potion off their robe. Then they brought their hands to their face. “What is this stuff—what is that smell?” They licked their lips. “We have it on our mouth too! Disgusting!”
I had noticed when I poured the rest of the potion into a jar that it seemed to have gotten much stronger—maybe from sitting out all night. Anyway, it didn’t take much of it to take effect on the person in the green robe. They began writhing in an alarming way—it almost looked like they were trying to tear themselves apart.
And then they did tear apart—into two separate people. One was clearly a beautiful woman with long red hair and the other was a tall, handsome man with shorter hair and flashing eyes. Both of them were wearing identical green robes.
“Who are you?” Rath demanded again, and this time the person—who had now become two people—answered truthfully.
“We are the Dual Natured—we serve Baba Yaga!” the woman declared.
“She sent us to weave our spell of persuasion and turn you back,” the man added.
“That’s what I thought,” Rath growled. “Now get the fuck out of the way and let us pass!”
But the two people who had called themselves “the Dual Natured” were too busy to answer. They were looking at each other with what could only be described as extreme longing…which abruptly turned into lust. Suddenly they were kissing each other and tearing at the green robes they were both somehow wearing.
Before Rath and I could even get past them, they were lying on the snowy ground, going at it as fast and hard as possible.
“Wow,” I muttered, glancing back at them as we left them behind. “That gives a whole new meaning to the words, ‘go fuck yourself!’”
Rath snorted laughter and looked at me.
“I guess it was the tincture you brewed that you threw at them? The one that was a truth serum and a lust potion in one?”
I nodded.
“I thought it might come in handy.”
“You were right. We never would have gotten past them if you hadn’t been so quick thinking.”
“Well, I might not be able to lift a giant hammer, but I do my best.” I grinned at him and he grinned back.
“Oh, getting full of yourself now, huh?”
“I wouldn’t say that exactly,” I began. But then the words died in my mouth. I pointed with a shaking finger at the trees ahead of us. “Rath, what’s that?”
He looked where I was pointing and his face went grim.
“That is our third challenge and I’ll need to face it by myself.” He had been carrying me all this time but now he set me down on the snowy ground. “Get away, baby,” he growled softly, his eyes never leaving the threat. “Run and hide like you promised. I have to deal with this alone.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Iwanted to run like Rath told me to and I did—for a little way, at least. But the snow was deep and I kept tripping. Also, I didn’t like to leave him to face the enormous thing coming through the woods alone…even if I had no idea what I could do to help him fight it. I turned and hid behind a tree, peering out from behind the trunk to see what was happening.