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)
“Let us go,” he demands.
The woman clasps her hands in front of her. “You angry little boy,” she murmurs, more to herself than to him. “How did you find me?” She swings her eyes to mine, awaiting my answer.
“Research,” I reply softly.
“Hmm.” A smirk curls at the edges of her lips. “Research,” she repeats, then she moves across the room, taking down a wide brown chest from the shelf.
“So, you’ve found Yakaree. Well done.” She opens the chest, taking out a silver dagger with a tip painted blood red. “But you shouldn’t have come here. I’m not quite sure how a Cold Tethered couple has made it to Earth together, but whatever issues you carry with you, I want nothing to do with them.” Then, in the blink of an eye, she’s standing behind Caz, pressing the blade of the dagger to his throat. No, she did not walk, or skip, or hop to him. She moved from one side of the room to the other, faster than I could blink.
“No!” I scream.
“Fuck,” Caz croaks as she presses the blade deeper into his throat. “I knew she’d be a vanisher.”
“So. You’re the Vakeeli born,” she says breathily. “Good to know. It’ll do me good killing you first.”
“Wait!” I call just as she presses the blade deeper, drawing blood on his throat. “Please—look, we’re not here to cause trouble. We just have questions. Yes, it is true, a Cold Tethered couple isn’t supposed to be on Earth, right? It’s likely never happened before, and you’re probably confused and don’t want to deal with it, but I can explain, okay? A Mythic sent us here. She helped us escape Decius before he could steal our Tether.”
The woman’s icy eyes slide to mine, but she doesn’t remove the blade. “Decius,” she hisses.
“Yes—him. He’s after us, and we need a way back so we can get to The Council. We were just hoping you could open a portal, take us to them. They provided a way to protect us from Decius before, and if we can just get to them—”
The woman raises a hand, and relief sets in when she snatches the knife away from Caz’s throat. Blood drips to his collarbone, and he grimaces as she walks around him.
“Decius is after you?” she asks.
“Yes.”
“And who is the Mythic that sent you here?”
“A woman named Beatrix.”
“So why did you pop up here with a weapon? Clearly to hurt me, no?” The woman’s eyes slide to Caz. “Speak, boy,” she demands.
“We’re not here to harm you. However, the name of your shop is the reason I brought a gun with me,” Caz states. “My mother told me about the term yakaree. It’s a word used to cause someone’s demise. You lure people here and create their downfall. I was only preparing for any tricks you had.”
At that, she smirks. “Tethered descendant of Lehvine. Such a bullheaded man.”
She looks at me. “Daughter and one of the twins of Jesha and Valkee.”
“So, you’ve studied the history of the Tether. You know all the original Tethered and their children, I reckon?” Caz asks. “That means you can help us, correct?”
The woman waves a dismissive hand. “No, it does not.”
“Then how do you know so much about Vakeeli?” Caz counters.
The woman raises her chin at him and then she snaps her fingers, and the invisible restraints on us fall away.
“Because I am Korah, Regal of land, air, and all living things of Vakeeli except the Tethered.”
Chapter 38
CAZ
“I quite favored Jesha and Valkee. They kept to themselves. Stayed out of trouble. Took care of their territories, which I appreciated because I worked hard on those lands. A shame Decius got to them.” Korah the Regal speaks, but I can’t wrap my mind around what’s going on. How is this possible? All this time, the rumors said she was hiding in Vakeeli. Many said she’d created her own island that was not made for man and was living on it, but she’s here.
It makes sense, the power she uses to send people to Vakeeli, if only for a moment, and it explains how she can travel through universes without pain or weakness. No Mythic can do that. It’d require far too much energy, but a Regal can do anything. Their energy is strong enough to split mountains and wipe away the existence of men with a single snap of their fingers.
She hands Willow an odd-shaped berry and tells her, “Looks like a regular Earth strawberry, but I only disguise it as one. Eat it. It’ll quench some of the thirst.” Then she offers one to me, but I turn it down, though I am thirsty.
Instead, I get up from my chair and walk across the room, collecting my gun from the shelf.
“Do you plan on shooting me with that thing? A Vakeeli weapon?” Korah asks. I turn, and her eyes are trained on me.