Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 144404 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144404 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
“What do I get?”
That one question was such proof that I wasn’t dealing with an Olivia I understood. “You get to not let Myrddin’s son die. And I won’t put my foot up your ass. Look, Livvie, I told the king no torture when it comes to you, but a beat down is something different.”
She stood, her teeth peeling back in a snarl. “I’d like to see you…” She stopped. “Why am I arguing? Myrddin wants to know his son. I will get great glory for being the one to save him. I don’t know why I’m fighting it. The logical thing to do is to save the boy.”
Excellent. We were getting somewhere. She talked a lot about logic, but this was the first time it resembled my Earth plane logic. “What spell would you use?”
“Any number of spells could harm a regular vampire. A king is different. Lee is daywalking like his father.” She seemed to think about the situation. “Although from what I understand, his father’s daywalking ability came from Quinn’s magic. However, Lee has a lot of Fae in his parentage, so that might account for why he doesn’t need Quinn to supercharge him. He would have some of it locked in his DNA. So a sun spell likely wouldn’t work.”
“Lily says it’s like he’s being burned from the inside.”
Liv’s eyes closed, her jaw going tight. “Damn fools.” She opened them. “I need to see him but if it is what I think it is, getting him to the Hell plane could save him, though he’ll be in for a long recovery.”
“What is it?”
“Uro. It means to incinerate. The witches would have been working on it for days, so likely they began right after the queen blew up the Coven House,” Liv explained. “I’ve never worked the spell because it’s said to be painful as fuck, and it’s a bit extreme. A simple sun spell will usually torch a vamp, so why put yourself through Uro?”
“Put yourself through?”
“How many were there, Kelsey?” she asked softly.
I sank down onto the sofa. I’d already told her the truth, but this felt like salt in a wound. “There were three. I wasn’t there so I didn’t get a chance to recognize any of them. Not that I would. Hell, I barely recognized you.”
She didn’t react to that, merely turned to the window and stared out, her hand back up to her chest. “Like I said only the highest in the coven would even attempt a spell like Uro. By highest, I mean only the Profane. So he’s given me up for dead and selected another unholy trinity. I suppose I can understand. I was stupid enough to get myself captured.”
“It’s not your fault.” I mean it kind of was because she’d been doing bad shit when I’d caught her, but it seemed like the thing to say at the time.
Her head shook, but she didn’t look back. “Oh, but it is. Witches take responsibility. Though I seriously doubt whoever he elevated will explain that the spell will now kill the master’s only child. They’ll try to cover it up. If I were the one doing it, I would spread the rumor that Liv Carey has joined the rebels and killed her master’s son. It would be a good play. If they know I’m not dead, and they will at some point. They’ll know I wasn’t in the Coven House. You can use all the wards you like, but they’ll figure it out. I would simply make up a couple of rumors to cover my idiocy, so the only way to fight that is to help Dean.”
I didn’t care how or why she got there. I only wanted her to help Dean. “Myrddin would obviously be grateful. Tell me about Uro.”
“Well, it’s a spell that is only possible if one has access to the Hell plane. Demonic energy is required. Demons have classifications, as you know, and they can sometimes share their powers with chosen ones if they’re willing to pay the price.”
I could guess what that price was. “Their souls?”
“Oh, in this case not. These witches owe their souls to Myrddin, and I don’t think he would give that up. Myrddin’s good relationship with the demons means the price for helping is much lower. Pain. They would have to endure pain to prove they were worthy to wield the power of Those Who Burn.”
“Okay, that sounds terrible.”
She shrugged. “I’m sure they’re used to it. These are a small class of demons who gain their power from the Hell plane’s sun. It burns hotter than the one here, hotter and deadlier. The witches would have spent days soaking that power into their skin, burning it along with their internal organs. Only demon blood would keep them alive until they purged it through the spell. I take back what I said about Lily. If she’s kept Dean alive after that, she’s excellent at what she does. Though I suspect his father’s ties to the Hell plane helped. Myrddin is the son of an incubus. That DNA could help Dean fight the spell, though not forever.”