Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 147891 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 739(@200wpm)___ 592(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147891 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 739(@200wpm)___ 592(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
“That’s why you were looking for me,” I breathe, and I glance at Warren again. “But I’m here now, and he’s still acting weird. He’s not looking at me either.”
Danica steps forward, digging into her front pocket and pulling out a blue capsule. “The Mythic told me to give you this.”
Caz snatches the capsule out of Danica’s hand before I can even attempt to take it. “What the hell is it?” he asks, more in a demand.
“She said it will help Willow get into Warren’s mind.” Danica’s brows are furrowed, her lips pinched.
“No. I don’t trust you or your Mythic. You won’t be giving my mate any of your concoctions.” He chucks the pill out the window behind Warren, and Danica’s face turns beet red before she reaches behind her and draws out her sword.
“What is wrong with you? Do you know what I had to go through to get that?” she shouts.
Caz already has his gun out, pointed at her, ready for whatever she decides to do next. “I don’t care. You’re not about to poison my mate.”
“It’s not poison, you uptight, pompous jackass!” She raises the tip of her sword to Caz’s throat, and he points his gun at the center of her forehead.
“Both of you, please stop. Seriously.” I step forward, pushing them apart, but they don’t back down. Their weapons are still aimed, ready for one wrong move. It’s astounding, really, because they’re just alike. Defiant. Headstrong. Don’t trust easily. It’s no wonder they’re butting heads. Then again, Caz butts heads with a lot of people.
“Let’s compromise,” I offer with my hands in the air. “I need to get my brother out of here. We can’t do that if you’re fighting.”
“Yeah, good luck. I’ve tried getting him up, but he goes right back to the same spot and sits there. He won’t leave that bed,” Danica says.
“Well, I’ll have the soldiers out there rip the bed up and put it in the tank. I don’t care,” I return. “I just need to get him out of The Trench. Once we’re out of here, we’ll go to a Mythic Caz and I trust to confirm that capsule is the proper way to get my brother back to his best state of mind, and then we go from there. You can come with us, Danica. It’ll be safer for you.”
She eases up, lowering the sword, only an inch. Caz does the same, keeping a careful eye on her.
“Fine,” she grumbles. “But if this demented fuck tries anything, I’ll slice his bloody head off.”
Caz chuckles. “I wish you luck on that one, vanisher. You’re not the only person who loves their weapons.”
I ignore their squabbling and lower to a squat, grabbing Warren’s hand again. I search his eyes for something—anything that will give me sign that he’s still in there. Nothing comes. His eyes are vacant, as if no soul exists beyond them. This is not my brother. He was full of life. He was active and outgoing. I have to get him out of this place. “We’re going to get you better, Warren. I promise.”
“I’ll tell my men to come up,” Caz announces, pulling out his transmitter. “How the hell did you get into my castle anyway?” He’s eyeing Danica, clearly still wary about her.
“I heard through whispers that you were part of a Cold Tether and that your mate was from another world, like my mate. Found out there was a dinner, applied for the position to assist with Bella and Joelle, and showed up. It was quite easy, actually. You should be more careful, Monarch. If I were someone who wanted to kill or poison you, I could have.”
He grimaces at her before cutting his eyes to me and offering a hand. “Let’s go, Willow, before I blow this woman’s head off.”
Chapter 82
CAZ
There is only one Mythic I feel we can go to about Warren, and that’s Beatrix. However, after she helped us the last time, I heard she’s become very ill.
While I was on Earth, Alora left a message on my transmitter, relieved that we’d made it out, but worried about Beatrix and her health. Apparently, it’d required an abundance of her energy to get us to Earth, and seeing as she was already wounded from the stabbing of those Decius-controlled Whisper Grovians, well, that made it much worse.
Still, we must go. We don’t have much time. The Council has granted me another day, fortunately, but my time is ticking. We take the four-hour drive from The Trench to Vanora, riding through the city in the truck, the tank trailing us with Warren as cargo. The rest of my men have gone back to Blackwater.
When Veno parks the truck in front of Beatrix’s, the sun is nowhere in sight. It’s pitch black, minus the gold glow radiating from her windows. I walk up the steps, Willow trailing behind me, and give the door a rapid knock.