Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 127722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
We rode back to Delacroix.
She sat behind me on the horse, her arms hooked around my waist. We rode through the plains, and my eyes continued to search for Ivory in the same dress I’d last seen her in, even though I’d already found it in the abandoned carriage. Her bag was left behind too, the two guards dead on the road.
But I could never make sense of what happened.
Mastodon killed the guards then stopped the wagon. He seemed to take her elsewhere on foot, but I wasn’t sure why. Where had he taken her? My first assumption was that her kidnapping was being used for leverage or ransom—but no demands were ever made.
It was a fucking mystery.
We reached Delacroix before nightfall. Our horses were taken to the stables, and we entered the heart of the city. Peace had reigned in the Kingdoms for eternity, so war was just a myth.
We made it to the cobblestone streets, the castle on the left and the village on the right. “Would you like me to escort you home?”
Effie turned to look at me, a hint of humor in her eyes. “I killed a man in his sleep last night. Think I can manage.” The sunset was red and orange as it descended over the horizon of the cliffs. It cast a warm glow on her face, gave her cheeks a beautiful color. I knew I’d never seen her in Delacroix before, because I definitely wouldn’t have forgotten her. “But thank you…for what you did.”
Her long hair was still shiny and soft after the long day we’d had, and unlike most girls, she was breathtaking on her worst day. The women at the Capital donned their best makeup and clothing, but she still outshined them all. “I hope your mother feels better.”
“Me too.” She withdrew the dagger with the scabbard and handed it to me.
I watched it hang in the air between us before I pushed it back with my palm. “Keep it. And next time you travel alone, bring it with you.”
She brought the dagger back to her chest and held it there, as if she’d never wanted to part with it in the first place. “I will.” She gave me a final look before she turned around and walked down the path toward the city, her hair moving slightly in the breeze.
My eyes followed her until she turned from the path and disappeared.
2
RYKER
My father sat behind his desk with his hands clutched together against his lips. His eyes were down on the maps laid out before him, but he didn’t seem to be looking at them because his eyes were still.
“I’ve spoken with the emissaries of the Kingdoms, and they have no information.” It was hard to accept this news but even harder to deliver it to my father, who hadn’t been the same since Ivory disappeared. “No tracks. No leads. Nothing.” I felt worthless, searching the lands endlessly and turning up nothing.
He continued to stare at the surface of the desk.
“What do we know about Mastodon?”
He started to rub his knuckles, his eyes still on the map. “He served as a Blade Scion. But where he was prior to that, nobody knows. He can’t be traced to a single kingdom. He came from nowhere…and disappeared to nowhere.”
None of this made sense. “Why would he steal her and not demand a ransom? Why would he take her and just disappear? He took her for a reason, right? What was the reason?” I waited for that information to be revealed in time, but it never came.
“I do have a theory.” He finally lifted his gaze and looked at me.
“What is it?”
“I haven’t entertained it up until this point—because it’s so unlikely. But our trail has run cold. Mastodon is an unforgettable man, but no one can recall ever seeing him in the Kingdoms.”
“The Blade Scions are appointed by King Rutherford himself. He must know something.”
“Everything he knows has been fed to him by his servants. That man doesn’t do a damn thing himself.” He continued to rub his knuckles. “Without Ivory, I don’t have access to the Capital, and our entire plan has been foiled.”
That was the last thing on my mind. “What’s your theory, Father?”
He dropped his hands back to the table. “They’ve found a way to the top of the cliffs.”
My blood suddenly went cold. “Who?”
“The Runes. The Teeth. The Plunderers. One of them.”
“And they took Ivory? Why?”
He shook his head. “That, I don’t know.”
“Then that means Mastodon is one of them.”
“Yes. His face was always covered, so he could have been a Teeth and we wouldn’t have known it.”
My sister was at the bottom of the cliffs—a wasteland. “If that’s true, that means there’s a way down…”
“Yes.”
“Then we find it and go after her.”
My father’s eyes flicked down again. “I’m not sure that’s wise.”