Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 141492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
Safia stood within the circle as they prayed together. They kissed one another. She spent time with Amastan, the man she’d looked up to all her life. She felt overwhelmed with love for her family. She felt that love reciprocated.
She saved her last goodbye for her father. While standing in front of him, the man who had taught her so much about farming, memories flooded her. Never once had he complained when she’d followed him everywhere. All the times he’d carried her on his shoulders when working in the fields. The way he’d carefully showed her how to shear the sheep and harvest the wool. So many lessons. They had always shown affection in odd ways, but it was there between them.
“Baba,” she whispered.
He shook his head. “You’re ready, Yelli. You were born for this day. I knew it the moment I saw you. So small when you were put into my arms but looking up at me with those green eyes. You knew too much already the day you came into this world. You’re ready.”
He said it with complete conviction. Hearing him, the way he uttered the words to her, there could be no doubt in anyone’s mind that he believed what he was saying.
“You are so certain.”
“The only thing I doubted—and I was wrong—was the choice of husbands. You and Aghzen n wayur will lead us to victory. You were meant to be together all along. The ancestors knew far more than I did. He was the right choice for you.”
She smiled her agreement. “He is that.”
“What have I always said to you, Safia?” Her father’s faded blue eyes looked down into hers with love. “How do I know you and Petru will prevail?”
She lifted her chin. “Because there is no other alternative. Petru said nearly the same thing to me. There is no room for doubt. We will do this.”
Her father kissed both cheeks, then her forehead, and they held each other tight before she turned and looked at her family all together for what she knew would most likely be the last time. Petru stepped up beside her, circled her waist with one arm and took off.
* * *
• • •
They split up, taking to the sky, searching for the enemy while their army waited for the assault on the farm. The ground trembled. Small insects erupted from beneath the soil just outside the fence, but none penetrated the safeguards.
An older woman approached the gate, looking small and frail, her face lined with age, gray hair covered with a scarf Safia recognized Lunja had made and gifted to Zdan’s aunt, Raashidah. The scarf was a beautiful piece of artwork, hand dyed and carefully woven. Raashidah was forced to stop at the gate due to the safeguards.
She called out for Zdan, whining in a high-pitched voice for him to come to her. “It is your duty to take care of me. Open this gate and let me in,” she demanded.
Zdan sighed. “Great time for her to decide she wants to join us.”
Lunja wrapped her fingers around her husband’s arm when he would have stepped out of the shadows. “She wouldn’t have come unless something compelled her, Zdan. You can’t open the gates. If you do, you allow the enemy in.”
“I can’t leave her out there when we know Lilith is sending vampires and demons here.”
The foul stench of evil increased, along with the ominous sound of growling. The trembling of the ground grew stronger, as if an earthquake were growing in strength. Behind Raashidah, in the distance, three men dragged themselves toward the farm. They couldn’t seem to pick up their feet, stumbling and falling, crawling through the dirt and grasses until they could make it back onto their feet.
Puppets, Petru identified for her. They eat the flesh of humans and Carpathians. Do not allow Zdan to open the gate.
Zdan was aware of the danger to his aunt. He shook off Lunja’s restraining hand and began to run toward Raashidah, gesturing to her. “You must get away from here. Go back home and lock your doors.”
Raashidah pursed her mouth stubbornly. “It is your duty to take care of me, Zdan. Open the gates and allow me in.”
“She keeps telling him to open the gates,” Lunja said. With great reluctance, she moved into position to take the shot should Zdan’s aunt threaten Zdan. “Is she possessed?”
Safia came up on the right side of Zdan. The three puppets were close enough to see the trails of slobber coming from the gaping holes in their cheeks. Serrated teeth were black, stained with blood. Their red-rimmed eyes were fixed on Raashidah and Zdan.
“She’s been programmed, Zdan,” Safia said firmly, her stomach lurching at what was to come. Puppets weren’t demons. Vampires had made them, not Lilith. They would devour the woman alive. “Step back. She’s lost to us. There is no way to save her. It is best if you do not witness this.”