Total pages in book: 362
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
The ceiling peeled back, and Nektas descended into the chamber, sinking his forelegs into Naberius’s back.
The other draken roared in agony as Nektas lifted, carrying Nab upward.
“Return to me!” Kolis shouted, brushing his hand over the cuff on his upper arm. “Now.”
Naberius shuddered, turning into a shimmery red-and-silver mist as Kolis landed on the floor. Stone and debris slid across the floor when he stalked toward Ash.
“I will strip the flesh from your bones, nephew.” Eather spun from his hands. “She will be cloaked in your skin—” His words ended in a shout of anger as Thierran appeared behind him like a hooded wraith, clasping the sides of Kolis’s head.
Kolis’s body bowed, and his arms went rigid. A low murmur came, like a whisper of wind rolling through the chamber. Thierran reached deep into Kolis’s mind and took his worst fears, amplifying them. Behind the painted red wings, his eyes went wide. The mist around Kolis evaporated as Ash straightened, exhaling heavily and shaking off the pain. The eather slowed, and Kolis’s mouth dropped open. His pupils dilated as the murmurs increased, feeding the waking nightmare.
“No,” rasped Kolis. He began to tremble. Streaks of dampness cut through the red paint under his eyes. “No. I love you. I’ve always loved you.”
“Sick fuck,” Ash growled.
Thierran’s gaze met mine. “You need to knock him out. Now.”
“Gladly,” I spat.
I extended my hand, palm upturned toward the sky, and drew upon the ancient power coursing through my veins. The air crackled with energy, every particle vibrating with the force of my will.
“Sotoria—no,” Kolis begged—sobbed. “Please.”
Eather crackled across my palm. I unleashed the bolt of pure power, a torrent of light so intense it seemed to tear the very fabric of the realm.
The bolt struck true, hitting Kolis in the chest. He let out an ear-splitting scream when the energy coursed through him, throwing Thierran back. The eather seared Kolis’s flesh and bones, making him convulse. Blood poured from his mouth as he dropped to his knees and fell forward.
“He shut the fuck up.” Ash kicked the Primal onto his back. “Finally.”
“Does the wound still burn?” Ash asked, he and Attes carefully lifting a section of bone chain.
“Barely,” I admitted, eyeing the back of Ash’s shredded tunic. The jagged tears Naberius had delivered had stopped bleeding by the time we arrived in Oak Ambler.
“Get ready,” Attes said with a hiss of pain. He looked as ragged as we did. His clothing was torn and bloodied, and it looked like a dakkai or draken had gotten ahold of his arm. The deep gouge in his flesh had closed but was still a bright pink. “He’s starting to twitch.”
My gaze went back to Kolis. Attes had stripped his chest bare. The trapped arm jerked.
Ash dropped his side of the chains over a very sensitive part of Kolis, drawing a snort from me. Both of them stepped back. Faint smoke had begun rising from the chains resting against flesh. Attes handed Ash a sharpened bone with one end wrapped in a thick cloth.
Really should’ve considered wearing gloves.
Kolis came awake all at once. The name he bellowed rattled over the cavernous walls. Sotoria.
Gods.
I unsheathed the bone dagger from my thigh.
His wild gaze darted around, landing on Ash and then me, his chest rising fast beneath the chains. “What in the…?” His head fell back against the slab of mineral and stone. A look of relief skittered across his face. “Sotoria wasn’t… It wasn’t real.”
He smiled.
The fucker smiled, and it was real, transforming his too-perfect features beneath the streaked wings painted on his face.
Gods.
I snapped forward, dragging the bone over Kolis’s left wrist as Ash sliced into his right. Blue-tinted blood spilled over his flesh, spreading down his wide-stretched arms. The relief quickly vanished when Kolis’s surroundings finally sank in.
He cursed, hurling various insults in both the mortal tongue and the ancient Primal language. We ignored him, slashing the arteries running up both legs. Blood was quickly pooling on the floor under him—
“I will fuck your corpses,” Kolis raged.
The blood wasn’t draining from Kolis quickly enough, in my opinion.
Ash raised a brow and moved away, reaching for the bone chains. “I’m not sure what is more perverse,” Ash remarked, moving toward the bone chains. “The necrophilia or the incest.”
“Do we have to pick one?” I asked.
Ash laughed.
“You aren’t doing shit,” I said to Kolis, kneeling over him. He glared at Ash as if he could will him into nonexistence. “You will be right here. If you do wake up at some point, I imagine you will fall into madness before you lose consciousness again.”
“Fall into madness.” Attes huffed. “I think that’s already water under the bridge.”
I smiled. “Years will pass. Centuries. You will be forgotten.” I leaned to the side so my face was in front of his. He still stared at Ash. “And Sotoria?”