Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 123779 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 619(@200wpm)___ 495(@250wpm)___ 413(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123779 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 619(@200wpm)___ 495(@250wpm)___ 413(@300wpm)
A tear escapes, trickling down my cheek.
The next second, Raighne’s arm darts out, and I’m ripped from Ares’ hold while a blur that can only be River shoots toward me.
As I fly through the air toward Raighne, I reach out my hands to him.
A bolt of electricity zips past me, coming from Finian, and Brenna charges toward Adeth with a warrior’s cry.
They’re all fighting for me, but just as I’m about to touch Raighne’s hand, a frosty sensation creeps over me.
“No!” I gasp, and my fingers brush against Raighne’s. Our eyes lock, and I see the worry etched deep into his face right before I’m grabbed from the side and ripped away from him.
A sickening feeling whirls in the pit of my stomach, and I know what’s coming.
“Raighne,” I cry as he lunges for me, his face is torn with emotion.
And then he’s gone, and darkness swallows me whole.
A few seconds later, we materialize somewhere else, and I’m thrown to the floor, landing on all fours.
Terrified, I keep my head down as I suck in desperate breaths of air.
Oh God. No.
Ares slowly walks around me, like an animal stalking its prey.
“Please,” I beg as I lift my head.
He flickers in and out of my sight, then grabs hold of my face, his fingers digging into my cheeks.
Leaning in close to me, his lifeless black eyes lock with mine.
“Shh! No noise. Not a sound,” he hisses, his dark tone sending chills over my body.
Suddenly, he lets go of me and shakes his head hard as if he’s fighting something before letting out a growl and kicking me in the stomach.
I fall to the side, gagging from the pain ripping through me. I’m battling to get air into my lungs so I can breathe some of the pain away when his foot connects with my ribs, ripping a cry from me.
I want to beg him to stop, but I can’t get any words out. I try to roll away from him, but he follows me and delivers another hard kick to my stomach.
Shit.
I gasp, tears streaking down my face as I try to climb to my feet so I can defend myself, but there’s no strength in my body, and I slump back down to the floor.
Ares crouches in front of me, and reaching a hand out to my face, his thumb swipes one of my tears from my cheek, and in absolute horror, I watch as it turns to ash on his skin.
I manage to suck in a painful breath of air, but it whooshes from me when his fist connects with my cheek.
I’m sucked into darkness and mercifully lose consciousness.
Raighne
The moment Ares disappears with Alchera, intense horror bleeds through my body.
My arms fall to my sides as I sink to my knees.
“Noooo!” Brenna screams, her tone hoarse with distress.
“Dear Awo,” Roark breathes in absolute shock.
They have Alchera.
I’ve failed my charge.
Not even a minute passes when I feel intense pain tear through my mind, and the air explodes from my lungs.
“Alchera!”
There’s only silence as I struggle to get through to her.
Climbing to my feet, I break out into a run in the direction of the village.
“Raighne!” Finnian calls out.
I ignore my brother, and knowing it’s a full day’s ride by horseback to get to Janak and my father, I push myself hard.
A full day where Ares will torture Alchera for information about the chosen ones.
I can do it in half the time. Maybe less.
“Fuck!” I growl when it feels as if my soul is being torn in half, but the pain Alchera’s experiencing only forces me to push my body even harder.
The landscape blurs around me, and my focus is solely on reaching the village as soon as possible.
“Hold on, Alchera. I’m coming for you.”
I pray to Awo that she can hear me as my legs eat up the miles.
Alchera
Waking up in a small room, the air around me has a thick, musty smell to it that would have me sneezing like crazy if I was still on Earth.
But I’m not on Earth.
Lifting my head, I let out a groan. I glance around me and notice I’m locked in some sort of a shack made of old, rotted wood.
Shit.
I start to get up but move slowly, my stomach and ribs aching something fierce.
I wrap my arm around my middle and glance everywhere to see if there’s anything I can use as a weapon.
When I see a pair of leather pants ripped to shreds on the floor, I slowly glance down as horror bleeds through me. Realizing I’m only wearing my underwear and bra, my body shudders, and I let out a panicked whimper.
This is really bad.
A wave of fear shudders through me, but then it’s chased by a warm sensation, and not even a second later, I feel Raighne’s strength.
“Alchera, please answer me.” Raighne sounds torn up, his tone hoarse with worry.