Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 125077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Liv knelt down so we were roughly at eye level. “I’ve found Fae creatures can be very practical. Oh, not the little brownies. I didn’t kill them either, by the way, but they will have some hella headaches when they wake up. Where’s that demon of yours? I expected to have to deal with him.”
“Wouldn’t you like to know.” I had no idea where Gray was. He would be helpful right now. So would Trent. Or my wolf king son.
She frowned. “I would, actually. You know this is a two-way street. I give you information. You give me information.”
If she was really willing to talk, I would tell her what she’d likely already figured out. “He’s not in the Under. He’s investigating something for me. I was trying to prove the gnomes were responsible for the two murders we’ve had, but now I know it was really you.”
“I certainly didn’t tell Elrin to murder anyone. All he was supposed to do was grow the plants I needed, make the witch’s ointment, and put it in the paint. I knew that moronic primal taught classes. Like the underworld needs a Parks and Rec. At some point they would paint suns or big-ass flowers. Something round that could serve as a focal point for the portal.”
“And you’ve been practicing. That’s how the ladybugs and butterflies got in. Did you know the bunny would be okay when you sent it through?”
She shrugged. “I thought it would. Well, until someone ate it. But it wasn’t like I was going to test it on myself. We started with small things and when the bunny survived, we were pretty sure it would work on us. I sent Shera through first. I figured if she didn’t get chopped in half, I would probably be okay.”
“You’ve grown so thoughtful over the years I’ve been gone.” I rolled my eyes because she really had turned nasty.
I always went through first. I would never put my crew in danger that I wasn’t willing to accept myself, but Liv seemed to have forgotten what I’d taught her.
“No. I’ve learned to value myself and my talents,” she replied with a primness that didn’t match her actions.
“All right. So what is the plan if you’re not going to murder me.” I needed to keep her talking because Eddie would show back up at some time and he would either figure out a way to deal with the magical bonds or pick me up like a piece of luggage and teleport me straight out of here to someone who could.
Fenrir wouldn’t have been in the apartment when Liv showed up, and he was seasoned enough to not freak out and come running in. Evan had been here, and Puff was proof.
But Evan was smart, too. She would know to hide and bide her time.
“Well, I thought you would tell me where that princess is and we can get out of here.” Every word Liv said gave me life.
She couldn’t find Evan. She’d likely come in with the most powerful locator spell she had, and Evan couldn’t be found because she was well protected. Evan carried charms and talisman and magical gems with her at all times. “I thought she was here. I’m surprised she’s not. I guess she and Fenrir went out for lunch since Eddie’s not here.”
“From what I can tell, Trent isn’t either.” Liv reached out and gave the puppy a scratch behind his ears. If it weren’t for the weird eyes and hair and the fact that I was tied up, it could have been any Saturday afternoon girl chat we’d ever had. “I’m surprised they left you all alone.”
Since she seemed willing to talk, I was going to ask her some questions. “What do you want with Evan?”
One slender shoulder shrugged. “I don’t want her at all. Myrddin does. I think he thinks she’ll work as well as her mom when it comes to activating your sword.”
“The sword he intends to use to close us off from the Heavenly planes?” I needed her to hear those words spoken out loud.
She stood, staring down at me. “The sword he intends to use to free us from the shackles of the Heavenly planes.”
“Shackles? You know they tend to stay out of what happens on this plane. It’s the demons who try to fuck things up here,” I pointed out and groaned because those bindings tightened as I moved to try to flip over.
“You see things from the wrong point of view. You’ve been indoctrinated by the king and his minions,” she said primly.
“From what I understand you don’t have the sword, so I’m not sure how the princess will help you.” I tried to stay still now. The bindings were cutting off circulation in my wrists.
“We’ll have it soon. I assure you my master is working on the problem,” she promised. “Then we’ll have the sword and the princess. I’ll be rewarded, and I intend to use it to my advantage.”