Total pages in book: 248
Estimated words: 236909 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1185(@200wpm)___ 948(@250wpm)___ 790(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 236909 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1185(@200wpm)___ 948(@250wpm)___ 790(@300wpm)
“When it comes time,” I whispered, “can you take me to my lake? I want it to be done there.”
Ash’s chest stilled against mine. His eyes slammed shut as the tendons of his throat stood out, and his features sharpened and thinned. “I promise.”
Chapter 46
Ash held me tightly to him as if he feared I might slip away. I could feel his heart pounding against my cheek as he prepared to bring us back to the Shadowlands.
Where we needed to prepare. Make plans. Try to figure out how long I had before…I died. It couldn’t be too long. Not with how strong the embers were. It was possible I only had days left—weeks if I was lucky.
A shudder worked its way through me. Ash’s chin grazed the top of my head as his fingers curled around my braid. Tendrils of moonlit darkness rose.
Would this be what death looked like? A rise of darkness? Nothing before I entered the mist before the Pillars, unable to hear or see anyone near me? A sharp swirl of raw panic darted through me, threatening to fracture the calm evoked by the failure of all those what-ifs. I closed my eyes, swallowing the knot gathered there.
I could deal with this.
I had to.
There was no other option.
As the whirling strands of eather settled around us, the normally stale, cool air of the Shadowlands reached us, carrying the strong scent of burning wood. The embers vibrated in my chest.
“Something’s wrong. There is…death everywhere,” Ash bit out as dread exploded throughout me. A shout echoed from the Rise. “Fuck.”
Ash turned sharply as stinging heat roared over our heads. Fire slammed into the palace. I gasped as the entire structure shook under the blast of flames.
Everything we’d learned in Massene fell to the wayside. We were under attack.
“Hold on,” Ash ordered.
I gripped the front of his tunic, expecting him to shadowstep once more, but he took a step forward instead, lifting me as he launched onto the railing of his balcony.
Ash jumped.
“Holy shit,” I gasped, squeezing my eyes shut as acrid air rushed up. My stomach plummeted at the brief seconds of utter weightlessness, and then we were falling.
Ash slowed before landing hard in a crouch. I didn’t feel the impact, and I wasn’t sure if that was because he’d taken the hit or from the shock of him leaping off the balcony.
He lowered me to my feet as he rose, releasing me. With my heart thundering, I turned to see several guards on the Rise aiming at the ground outside, firing arrows.
The high-pitched yelps and guttural growls sent a cold shiver down my spine as Saion raced from the gates.
“Veses?” Ash clipped out.
“She’s still in stasis, in her cell, but there are dakkais at the Rise—here and in Lethe. Bele and Rhahar are down there, but—” Saion skidded to a halt as a shadow fell over the courtyard.
Ash yanked me back as a reddish-black draken dove toward us, releasing a stream of fire. Heat blew back. The fire slammed into the ground, kicking up soil and rock. For a moment, I couldn’t see Saion through the flames, and my heart stopped.
The fire receded, revealing Saion, picking himself up from several feet back. “And that fucker just showed up,” he growled. “And is already starting to piss me off.”
“Davon,” Ash snarled, and it felt like we were leaping off the balcony once more. It was the draken I’d seen in Dalos—Nektas’s distant relative. Ash prowled past the now-several-feet-deep gash in the charred, smoking ground, keeping a hold of my hand. “How many draken?”
“There is at least one more making a run at Lethe,” Saion said, and my free hand curled into a fist. “Nektas and Orphine are fending him off, but Nyktos, my man, it…” Saion swallowed, shaking his head as he turned at the waist, he thrust a hand over his head as the archers along the Rise fired another volley of arrows. “He’s here.”
My skin chilled as Ash halted.
No.
He couldn’t mean Kolis.
But the pale tightness at the corners of Saion’s mouth, the pulsing eather in his too-wide, too-bright eyes… And the way he choked as he continued sent a deeper, stronger wave of dread through me.
Through Ash.
Shadows immediately blossomed under Ash’s flesh. “Kolis?”
Saion gripped his sword. “Kyn.”
Every part of me went still. “Kyn?” I uttered, glancing at the Rise as guards raced along it. If Kyn were here with Kolis’s draken and his dakkais…
“He came before the dakkais, looking for you—for both of you,” Saion said. “Surprised the guards—surprised all of us.” He started turning from us but stopped. “There was nothing we could do. He’s a Primal.” He bent suddenly, clasping his side as he dragged in a deep breath. “The fucker just—” Saion choked and then said no more.
He couldn’t as he gnashed his teeth together, dragging a hand—a bloodied hand—over his face.