Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 117167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 586(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 586(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Not this time.
Four elves fell to his blade before a cry finally went up, blowing away the last of their surprise. Everyone knew they were there now.
From there, Rei could only shut his mind off and fight. Hot blood splashed across his face and soaked into his skin as he sliced through one elf after another. Occasionally he would glimpse a familiar face—someone he’d seen in the castle back in the fae realm, someone he’d trained with when he was young—but it didn’t stop the swing of his blade. Each of them had been given the same chance as he to walk away from the king’s madness, and they’d chosen to stay. He couldn’t permit himself to feel remorse over the loss.
Arrows choked the air as the fae attempted to cut down the vampires. However, the trees grew too closely together, and the vampires were far too fast to be lost to arrows. Screams and cries of pain echoed through the night along with the clash of steel. The rich scent of blood teased Rei’s nose as it soaked into the soil. His people were dying, and their energy was returning to the earth. Trees and plants around them grew more restless.
“Sleep, my friends. You need to sleep and ignore the feeble creatures fighting close to you,” Rei murmured. He placed one hand on the bark of a particularly large and old oak tree after he’d dispatched an elf who’d attempted to remove his head.
“What’s wrong?” Yichen demanded. His words were nearly lost to a pant as he attempted to catch his breath.
“The spell they started to cast. It’s growing more powerful rather than dissipating as I thought it would.”
“Maybe we haven’t reached the king’s dedicated spellcasters yet. Maybe they’re still working the spell.”
Rei shook his head. “I know them on sight! I’ve killed four personally.” He didn’t mean to snap at his lover, but panic was unfurling in his chest with each passing second. This was all wrong. Even if he didn’t entirely understand the inner workings of the spell that was being cast, he could feel the magic building. It was like one of Yichen’s water balloons that was stretching and stretching under the weight of the water pouring in. Soon, there would be no containing it.
“We need to find the king now,” he whispered before setting off at a brisk run through the woods, not even checking to see if Yichen was still at his side. He wanted to order the rest of the vampires to pull back, to stop killing, but it was already too late for that. Besides, if they didn’t continue, there was no way he’d reach his father.
Even if he did stop the flow of fae blood into the earth, that didn’t mean his father wouldn’t order the slaughter of his own kind to finally push the spell over the edge.
This was a trap, but it wasn’t the one he’d been expecting.
The farther they traveled, the softer the sounds of the fighting grew until they were nearly drowned out by the rush of the river pounding away at its banks in the dark. Firelight flickered ahead of them, drawing them in until Rei at last spotted his father pacing a large circle dotted at the eight cardinal points with spellcasters.
King Ash’s appearance had not improved since their last encounter. The stout man had continued to wither, growing thinner and paler. Shadows circled his sunken eyes and settled in the depths of the hollows of his cheeks. His missing right hand was still replaced with a silver fake hand, but there was no longer a dagger in its grip. The metal hand was as empty as the man wearing it.
He wore a sword on his right side as well as a dagger at his waist, ready to be wielded by his left hand.
But most important was the crown that sat heavy on his brow, the green speckled bloodstone glinting softly in the fire as he moved, calling to Rei. Tonight’s mission wasn’t just about stopping the fae king. They also needed to get their hands on the crown for Yichen’s sake.
Even if Rei was forced to retreat without killing his father, there was no way in hell he was leaving without that crown. While they might plan to spend the rest of eternity together, Rei wanted to know that it was purely Yichen’s choice. He didn’t want to spend another second with his vampire being forced to remain at his side.
“Enough waiting!” Ash bellowed, his ragged voice rising above the crackle of fire and distant rush of water. “We must have plenty of magic now. Release the forest from its bindings!”
“But Your Majesty—” One of the royal spellcasters attempted to argue with Ash, but his words were cut off with a single slash across the throat. Rei blinked, stunned to see the flow of blood down the elf’s chest. As weak as he was, it was clear the king was still fast. Rei hadn’t seen him palm the knife until it was already too late.