Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 108376 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 542(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108376 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 542(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
“Your mother mentioned that she and her friend might be able to perform a healing spell to mend my injuries. I think that if the spell works then I should be strong enough for us to portal home.”
I swallowed another bite of pancake, glad my father had gone out. If he overheard what Carra just said he’d have stormed back into the kitchen to inform her she wouldn’t be portalling anywhere, at least not with me in tow.
“And you can do that? I mean, your magic wasn’t too drained from making the portal yesterday?”
She shook her head. “I should be able to manage it.”
“Okay, well, in that case we’ll need a plan. Have you any idea where Red Armand might be holding Vas and Sven?”
She lowered her gaze, a brief flicker of pain crossing her delicate features. “He’ll have put them in the Blaze. That’s the deepest, most treacherous part of the mine. I know how to get there but it will be dangerous for both of us.” She paused to meet my gaze. “Are you certain you want to do this?” Her attention went around the room. “You have a nice life here. A loving family. Most people wouldn’t be willing to risk such things.”
“I have to. I can’t just do nothing. You saw how Vasilios looked at me when Red Armand revealed I’d been undercover. He was so betrayed. I can’t get that look out of my head. I need to fix it.”
“You have feelings for him,” she deduced and I stiffened at the observation.
I rubbed the spot where the mark vibrated in my chest. “I have his demon mark. I can’t tell if the feelings are real or the influence of the mark.”
“Ah, I’m not very well versed in the mating rituals of High Demon families, but I don’t believe a mark can encourage feelings. It can only intensify attraction or a connection that’s already there.”
Suddenly uncomfortable, I endeavoured to change the subject. “My mother wants to wait a few days before casting the healing spell, but we don’t have a few days. If Vas and Sven really have been put in this Blaze place then we need to get them out of there as soon as possible.”
“Don’t fret about them too much. They know how to survive there. What’s most important is that we take our time and plan accordingly. We’ll only have one chance to do this right.”
I couldn’t argue with her because being well prepared was half the work. Still, it was difficult to quell the need to jump into action and go immediately.
“I’ll also need to teach you some Oreylian,” she went on. “We can’t have you walking around not understanding what people are saying. You’ll stick out like a sore thumb.”
“Right, yes, smart idea. What else? How will we reach Vas and Sven when we get there?”
She fell silent a moment, thinking about it. “Here’s the thing, even if we can get them out and travel back to this dimension, Armand will still come looking for us.”
I stared at her, a chill creeping across the back of my neck. “What are you saying?”
Her gaze was steely. “We’re going to have to kill him.”
Her words hung in the air as I considered all the ramifications of attempting to kill a demon as seemingly powerful as Red Armand. Then, the doorbell rang. I was grateful for the reprieve because contemplating murder was giving me a stomach ache. I left Carrabelle to finish her food and went to answer it. There on the doorstep stood Peter. He was freshly showered and held a box of cinnamon sugar donuts from my favourite bakery.
“Hi,” I greeted with a smile and motioned for him to come inside. He set the box of donuts down on the side table before sweeping me into his arms. My heart somersaulted, just like it always did when Peter pulled me close. I still loved him, that hadn’t faded, and I wondered if it was possible to have feelings for two people at once.
“You didn’t have to come so early,” I said as he captured my lips in a hot, searing kiss and my stomach filled with butterflies.
“I couldn’t stay away if I tried,” he replied in a husky rumble, momentarily breaking the kiss before going in for another. He obviously saw that my dad’s car was gone from outside because there was no way he’d be acting so frisky if he thought he was still in the house. I sucked in a surprised breath when he backed me into the wall, pressing his body flush to mine. I wasn’t sure how long we were kissing when I heard a squeak of surprise. We broke apart quickly and found Carra standing in the hallway, her eyes round as she took us in.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt,” she said, glancing at the shiny hardwood floor.