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)
“Why?” I choke out. “I don’t understand. Why would you do this, Manx? Show yourself, you traitor!”
Mournwrath is quiet a moment, staring, and then comes the sound of crunching bones shifting beneath flesh. The black monster disappears, transforming into a familiar jolly man with white hair from Whisper Grove.
“Better?” he asks, still floating.
“Oh, fuck you,” I snarl.
He releases a petty sigh. “Do you think I wanted it to be this way, Willow?”
I back away as he floats closer to me. He’s Manx, but the black still drips off him like whorls of smoke, and they’re keeping Caz prisoner.
“How can you do this to him?” I breathe. “He trusted you.”
“Many people trusted me, I’m afraid.”
“You’ve been hunting him since he was a child,” I counter. “You’re a predator.”
“I do what I need to in order to prosper. It’s in my nature. Blame the Regals. They brought this wretched Tether upon us.”
“The Regals didn’t make you this way,” I retort. “You decided to deceive because you couldn’t have what you wanted.”
Manx’s eyes widen.
“Caz told me all about the original Tethered people. Oriah, wasn’t it? You couldn’t have her, so you killed her mate and then you murdered her. You killed all of them and then tried going for their children. You’re a sick, twisted monster who doesn’t deserve to live. The Regals should’ve killed you a long time ago.”
A darkness sinks into Manx’s eyes, and the whites of them turn blood red. I expect a snap back, a lash of anger, but instead he raises his chin and puts on a simple smile.
“Now, now. Don’t worry yourself about that, Willow. That is the past, and after I absorb your and Caspian’s Tether, I won’t need to hunt anymore. As for the Regals, they are simply three bored, miserable beings who don’t care about any of their creations. That’s why they let me do this, you see? They let me hunt for Tethers, let me feed, let me live on. It is clear they want this, and I suppose it’s like a game for them now. How long can a couple survive before Decius drains the life from them? Oh, what fun! Better fetch the freshly popped kernels while we’re here!”
“I—I don’t understand.”
“What is there to understand?” His face darkens and that jolliness is gone, his eyes piercing red flames. “This is my world, and you’re both in it. I’m the one in control of Vakeeli, which means you’re as good as mine. As soon as I’m done with him, I’ll be coming for you.”
Something pierces my arm, like a quick poke of a needle, and I look down with a hiss. The veins from Caz’s body have attached themselves to me. My skin absorbs them, and I watch as they crawl up the length of my arms and chest. I can feel them on my neck, but they’re nothing more than a tingle now.
Manx throws me a bewildered glare. He whips his head to peer at Caz, who groans and shifts in the chair.
“What have you done?” Mournwrath hisses, eyes turning to crescents again as he focuses on me.
I smirk. “I was only buying time. You’re not taking us as easily as you think you are.”
“Ah. How brave of you, Willow. Let me guess. You got Beatrix to talk. She’s helping you…again. Love of Vakeeli, you’d think that woman would’ve learn a thing or two by now.” He floats closer to me, the redness disappearing from his eyes. His feet lower to the ground, and he places his hands behind his back. “Here’s what I’d like to let you know, though…” A chiming noise rings in the air like a gong, and I spin around to find a black and silver clock floating in the air behind me. “In ten hours, the capsule she’s given you will wear off. And what they don’t tell you is that if you take another to try to prolong this rather pressing matter, it’ll likely kill you, which will make my work so much easier. I’ve been waiting one hundred and twenty years to have Caz. What’s ten more hours?”
With those words, he transforms completely to Mournwrath again and rushes toward me, shoving me onto the ground. However, I don’t fall on my back. I sink into a dark void, arms flailing for seconds that feel endless. Above, I spot the blue light, the snowy hills, and my mate, floating in his chair. And then I land on hard ground.
Chapter 4
WILLOW
My eyes flutter open, and I find myself surrounded by Caz’s family again. His body is wrapped in my arms, and the black veins have disappeared from him. When I check my arms, they’re spreading like thick threads.
“You all right, Willow?” Rowan asks as he and Killian help me stand.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine,” I murmur.
“Well? What happened?” Beatrix demands, staring into my eyes.