Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 145721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
“Oh,” she gasped as the pieces all notched into place.
Lorcan sketched a bow in her direction. “The Oak King at your service.”
“How?” she whispered.
“I wish we knew. No matter what we do, we can’t escape each other. Unfortunately, you’re part of this now, Kierse. I would have spared you and your friends. But there are consequences to the theft of my property.” Lorcan smiled like a fox as his attention returned to Graves. “You can give it back, and then no hard feelings.”
“I don’t care about stories or your artifacts or your stupid petty war,” Kierse snapped at Lorcan, taking a menacing step forward. “Release my friends now.”
“If you don’t care, then hand it over.” Lorcan held his hand out.
The spear. She could hand Lorcan the spear and get her friends.
But Kierse couldn’t give the spear to Lorcan. Despite whatever persona he showed to her, however friendly or connected he wanted her to believe they were, this was proof of what lay beneath that facade. He was a killer. She should have never unlearned that lesson. He would do whatever it took to get what he wanted. And if he had the spear, then he’d win.
The weapon hummed at her touch, pushed into her dark emotions. But she was more clearheaded than she had been while running for her life. She ignored the thoughts. She wouldn’t risk her friends.
“I didn’t think so,” Lorcan said.
“How did you find out?” Graves asked.
“Well, I suspected for a long time. I knew that you had the sword. Thank you for getting it for me,” Lorcan said with a smile. “We already turned the place over looking for it, and now, it’s right here. But the spear—we didn’t know where it had been lost. Just that you wanted it.” Lorcan shifted his gaze to Kierse. “Then Kierse started disappearing into Third Floor like a little mouse, which I found . . . curious. And what did I find when I got someone inside? The spear was with King Louis and he was having a winter solstice party.”
“Fuck,” Kierse hissed.
“I know how you work, Graves,” Lorcan said with a head tilt. “That was your play. I just had to wait for you to bring it back to me.”
Graves’s eyes darkened. She could read in the clench of his jaw that he hated that Lorcan knew him well enough to be right. “How did you get the wards down?”
“How do we do anything, brother?” Lorcan threw the word at him like an insult.
Graves ground his teeth. Kierse looked between them in confusion. Brothers?
“You performed a ritual to take them down, using the liminal time to heighten your abilities.”
Lorcan performed a slow golfer’s clap. “Indeed. We picked the day for the same reason you did. Magic is stronger on a solstice. It’s all about balance.”
“Fuck your balance,” Kierse spat.
“Are we done with the Q&A?” Lorcan asked pleasantly, as if they were meeting over tea and he didn’t have her friends behind him crying. He rose to his feet, casually dusting invisible dirt off of his suit. “I would like to get on with the show.”
“What show?” Kierse asked.
Lorcan withdrew a pistol from his jacket and slung it up, aiming at Ethan’s chest. “Give me the spear or I kill your friend.”
Graves was motionless. “Lorcan,” he hissed.
“No!” Kierse was frantic.
This couldn’t be happening. It was an impossible choice. And yet so easy. She would give Lorcan the spear. But . . . she couldn’t possibly give him the spear. He’d just kill them anyway.
“Why are you doing this?” Kierse asked. “We could have worked together.”
“No, we couldn’t,” Graves said simply.
“Graves and I have been fighting for five hundred years,” Lorcan said. “Why stop now? That’s no fun.”
“You’re a monster,” she snarled.
Lorcan narrowed his eyes slightly. He looked offended. “I am not the monster. Whatever story he has spun for you is a falsehood. I can assure you of that, because I was there five hundred years ago when he ruined our friendship. When he went from being my brother to being the sick, twisted thing he is today. He is scum, and he is using you, Kierse. As he uses everyone in his life. He destroys them all bit by bit, day by day. A virus, a parasite, a leech. No better than the other monsters he has such scorn for. He drains you of your life energy and then tosses you aside when you prove no longer useful.”
“He is not resorting to death threats!” she shouted.
“You see how he doesn’t even defend himself,” Lorcan added, gesturing to Graves. “He can’t. What I say is the truth. It’s hard to see from your position, little songbird, but I am the hero of this tale. The Druids are beacons of good in this world. Graves and his ilk are the demons in the night, the villains.”