Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 145341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 727(@200wpm)___ 581(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 727(@200wpm)___ 581(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
Barnabas slowly dropped his arms to stare in utter shock at Razvan. “You are that girl’s father?” He stared out the window as if he could see Skyler in the night air or the fight that raged among Carpathians and demons. He didn’t seem in the least to care about the outcome of the fight. “You are Razvan.”
“I am.”
Barnabas turned back to face him. “How did you escape? Xavier was never going to let you go. You had Dragonseeker blood. He prized that above all else.”
Razvan nodded. “He did. I believe he still does. As does Lilith, it seems.”
“How is it he could never get the blood he wanted most from you?”
Razvan shrugged. “Why is it he’s so set on Dragonseeker blood? Now Lilith is following in his footsteps, or maybe it’s the other way around. Lilith most likely wanted the blood first, and that’s why Xavier thought it was such an excellent idea. He always did build his best ideas off the backs of others.”
Barnabas nodded his agreement, still pulling out glass slivers. “Xavier was so certain that Dragonseeker blood would allow him access to the secrets of the earth. All of the secrets. Lilith convinced him that if they could have the blood running in their veins, the earth would accept them and do anything for them. She’s got this beast she wants to control. It’s uncontrollable. Not even mage spells work on the thing. She’s worried because the gates are breaking down, and she doesn’t have control of him. If she loses him and someone else gets control, she loses everything.”
Razvan narrowed his eyes, watching Barnabas with a mage’s vision. Why was he removing the glass pieces one at a time rather than all at once? That made no sense, not when he could rid his body of all of them quickly. Mages never did anything without a reason. He was disclosing information because he wanted Razvan’s attention on the data he was so casually imparting, not on anything else. Mages weren’t helpful or casual. Razvan had just told his daughter this very thing. He had been Xavier’s prisoner far too long, watching him trick others who thought the mage was their friend, their ally, only to fall as fodder to one of his dark spells. Razvan had seen it all.
There was a distinct pattern to the way Barnabas pulled the glass shards from his body. With each one he tapped the glass first before he tossed it onto the floor. Every third word the mage shifted his body weight from one foot to the other. On the fifth word, he tapped his left foot gently, almost imperceptibly, on the floor. The cadence of his voice was rhythmic, but Barnabas lulled everyone he spoke with into believing his natural speaking voice was low, pleasant and relaxing to listen to.
Razvan began to subtly counter the spell the high mage wove with every word and body movement. He had to keep his every gesture, every motion of his body, so minute it would be undetected by Barnabas.
“This beast you refer to . . .” Razvan trailed off.
“That’s the irony.” Barnabas sent Razvan a smile that didn’t quite hide the cruelty or underlying evil. “He’s a demon more vicious and cunning than any other. Nearly indestructible. And do you know where he comes from, Razvan? He was Carpathian. That’s the joke. No one can control him, not even Lilith. If he breaks free, he will kill everything—mage, Carpathian, human—everything. No one can stop him.”
While he imparted the information almost gleefully, he never broke from his pattern. Razvan continued reversing the spell Barnabas wove. A holding and strangling spell. Razvan recognized it from one of the more deadly spells Xavier had perfected over time. Many young assistants had suffered before he had made actual kills.
Razvan had spent so much time in chains learning to be absolutely still—never moving a muscle, or working on moving one at a time so he wouldn’t call attention to himself—that he became extraordinary at it. It was how he exercised even when Xavier kept him nearly drained of blood and so weak he could barely move. He practiced the art of observation. Checking and rechecking details. He forced himself to move each muscle in his body, no matter how much it hurt, until it was second nature to do so.
Razvan knew the spell, but mages often changed a spell to make it their own. With one as deadly as the holding and choking spell, Razvan wasn’t about to take chances. Sure enough, Barnabas began to weave added elements into the spell, incorporating the glass shards. It took a moment to realize what the mage’s intentions were. Not only was he planning to kill Razvan, but he was including Skyler in his spell.
Razvan took the deviation in stride. He had long ago been made aware of every kind of treachery there was. He wasn’t fooled or surprised by it. Barnabas enjoyed hurting women. He liked to lure them in with false kindness and then slowly show his cruelty, conditioning them more and more to his sadistic ways. To have a woman best him at the smallest thing infuriated him. Razvan had felt Barnabas’s momentary fear of Skyler’s power when she flew into a rage at his attack on her lifemate. She was young and didn’t yet have control of all that power, but Barnabas knew that when she did, she would be a force he would want to avoid.