Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 75457 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75457 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Or so I thought.
Ariman lifts a hand and hovers it over the jewel. It was originally a chunk of the meteor, fashioned into a gem and dipped into the Crimson River to increase its powers. There’s no telling what it can actually do.
He doesn’t touch it. Out of fear or respect, I’m not sure. Without looking up at me, he says, “It was my greatest piece of magic… stealing this beauty.”
Greatest piece of magic? I thought that would have been him pulling off a changeling ritual that funneled dark magic into me for twenty-eight years so Kymaris could travel to the First Dimension where she’d enact an apocalypse and take over the mortal realm.
But then again, that failed.
“How did you steal it?” I ask.
His gaze lifts to meet mine. “It’s all about timing. Making the most of it, really.”
Time is of the essence. That’s what the Scryer had said.
“Stop being cryptic and tell me how you did it!” I demand.
Ariman’s hand shoots out, and he grabs me by the front of my shirt, jerking me toward him. He lifts me to my toes and bends his head to sneer at me. “That’s not the question you should be worrying about, Zorasha. You should be fretting over what this stone can do now that I have it.”
My hands claw at his to loosen his grip, and I kick out with my booted feet. I’m as weak as a kitten, though, and he drops me to the ground, laughing.
“What did you do to me?” I gasp as I crab walk away from him. My back comes up against a stone wall, and my hand goes to the side of my neck where I can feel the puncture wounds. “What was that thing that bit me?”
“Do you know nothing of the history of the gods?”
I shake my head. “They’ve not told me anything. Just that they’ve always existed.”
“They don’t remember,” he sneers. “They’re so old and full of themselves, their origins are a mystery. They’ve forgotten more of their existence than they remember.”
“But you know?”
“I know more than anyone. I’ve studied all the old tomes and texts, used magics to delve into the past. I saw it all… they were created from the same energy that formed the universes. Gatekeepers as oversight. But as their egos got bigger, their minds have weakened and they’re shortsighted. Now they’re nothing but pitiful shells.”
“You’ve done something to them?”
“They got a little snake bite, same as you.” He laughs.
“What is that thing?”
“I call it Valshour, originally a heavenly creature that the angels used to subdue their one true God so they could oust Him.”
“It took away His powers?”
“Muted them. They thought it was for a long enough period they could enact their rebellion but He was mightier than they thought. When Kymaris was tossed out of Heaven and landed in the Underworld, she took one thing with her.”
“The snake,” I guess.
Ariman nods, smiling with triumph. “Valshour’s been in my care for thousands of years, waiting for the right moment.”
If the venom will wear off all I have to do is wait him out. Let my powers fire back up and incinerate him.
“Of course,” he drawls, as if he can read my mind, “I was able to strengthen Valshour with the Blood Stone. I learned from the mistakes the angels made. Your powers won’t be returning anytime soon as I now control them through this.” Ariman lovingly hovers his hand over the jewel.
“Impossible,” I gasp.
Ariman flicks his wrist, and a surge of magic floods me, right there for me to make use of. I don’t hesitate, drawing it in to unleash, but before I can launch it, with another wave of his hand, it’s gone.
He smiles maniacally. “It’s as I told you. I now command your power.”
“But why? What’s the end game?”
“I’m the end game.” I whirl, recognizing that voice, to find Rune behind me, and I’m so startled I bolt for the cave opening. Except I forget about Ariman and run right into him. I bounce off his powerful body but catch myself from falling.
Rune watches me with amusement. “Surprised to see me?”
I shake my head, trying to slough off the residual fuzziness. Perhaps I’m dreaming, but no… Rune is still there.
He looks nothing like how he did when I visited him in prison. He’s clean, his long beard shaved, and he’s dressed in fine leather. He’s not a god anymore… that’s impossible… but he looks powerful.
And he looks confident, as if he’s ready to take over the world.
CHAPTER 15
Maddox
The iron bar catches me in the side of my face, hard enough that I spin toward the razor wire-covered chains that border this makeshift fighting pit. I stumble into them and they make a hundred slices across my chest and abdomen, blood flowing freely.
I shake my head, clear out the fuzziness that blow created, and swivel my jaw, which crunches at the joints. That actually fucking hurt.