Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 131708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
“He’s having trouble with that right now, because your kid decided to pop up a protective shield.”
The startling news made both Viper and his entity go still. “A shield?”
“Yeah, one constructed of ultraviolet flames.” Dice shook his head, stunned.
“The shield is a good thing, but only to an extent.”
“What do you mean?” asked Darko.
“I mean Ophaniel will know there’s no way Ella could pop up a shield of unholy flames … unless she was pregnant.”
Darko’s jaw dropped. “Oh, shit.”
Right then, Viper’s phone finally stopped ringing.
Moments later, Dice’s began chiming.
The VP checked his cell phone screen. “It’s Teague.” He dismissively canceled the call. “I say we head to the spot of land I was at earlier. The strix aren’t there, but maybe there’s something I missed, something—” He stopped talking as Viper’s phone again rang.
Cursing, Viper jabbed his thumb on the screen. “Teague, I’ll call you back—I got some shit going down.”
“Well, I figured that,” said the hellhorse, “since your woman and her sister have been taken.”
Viper stiffened, and his entity narrowed its eyes. “How would you know?”
“I’m looking at them right now. Me and my clan have been scouting for strix. We found them. They’re circling the sisters and some guy who’s now unconscious. Looks like there’s two celestials in the mix as well. Also a she-demon who Larkin says is from her lair.”
“Where are they?” Viper bit out, his heart pounding.
“Don’t come in hot. There’s a lot of the fuckers, and we need to move carefully or they’ll scatter.”
“Where, Teague?”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
The strix curiously crept closer to the shield, though not too close. They were fairly salivating, like they hadn’t fed in weeks. But Ella knew it wasn’t blood they thirsted for here and now. It was vengeance. They would kill her in lieu of Viper.
There had to be at least fifty of them. It was the first time she’d seen any female strix. Plenty were here, and they all looked as fierce and battle-ready as the males.
Damn, this was bad. Very, very bad. Especially since her sister hadn’t been able to give Dice even a general idea of their location.
Their scenery was a vast spread of pastureland that featured straggly trees, fence posts, barbed wire, and wildflowers.
The archangel had no doubt deliberately chosen a location that had no landmarks, since it was well-known that demons could telepath. He wouldn’t want either she or Mia calling out for aid.
Ella’s entity was in a blind fury, eager to magickly fuck up their enemies’ shit. But she didn’t dare release any magick, since it might ricochet off the walls of the shield and rebound back on her.
Admittedly scared for her child, Ella touched Peanut’s mind with her own. It’s okay, we’ll get out of this.
Its young psyche fluttered against her own, humming with a fear-tinged determination. Her heart broke. She could do nothing to get the baby to safety. There was just too many enemies and nowhere to run.
While the protective shield was invaluable right now, she worried what the strain of keeping it in place might do to her child. Psychically advanced or not, they were still a baby.
“What are you even doing here?” clipped Mia, and Ella quickly realized that her sister was addressing Maxine.
The harpy’s mouth curved into a somewhat sadistic grin. “I like to see those I help bring down finally meet their end.”
Those she’d helped bring down?
“I do hope you’re not counting on a rescue—no one will find you.”
Something about the way Maxine said that, about the glint of cunning in her gaze, made Ella’s scalp tingle in suspicion. She again reached out to Mia. Do you think our surroundings could be an illusion?
I had the same thought, funnily enough, replied Mia. Something just feels wrong about this picture.
It did. There were none of the sounds you’d expect to hear in such a place—no birds crying overhead, no shushing of breeze-rustled grass, no insects buzzing. Only the creaking of something metal, the flapping of cloth, and the rustling of leaves. Instead of the scents of manure, flowers, and earth, she could smell garbage, mildew, and rust.
A tall, long-haired female strix moved through the lines of demons, haughty as any royal. This had to be the queen of the colony. Two muscular strix—one male, one female—followed the queen, their posture protective. Guards, Ella thought.
The queen smirked at the archangel. “Your plan worked.”
“Of course it worked.” There was no pompous arrogance in the statement, only an unshakable confidence in himself.
The queen’s red eyes slid to Ella, and her smirk deepened. “My brethren and I are going to have a lot of fun with you.” She clicked her fingers at her male guard.
Ella’s heart jumped as the strix obligingly moved toward the shield.
The archangel lifted a cautioning hand. “Wait.” Not a command, more like an advisory statement.
The queen bristled, her red eyes glaring at him. “We want her,” she said, pointing at Ella.