Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 119158 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 596(@200wpm)___ 477(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119158 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 596(@200wpm)___ 477(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
“Yes! You’re right!” Jasper darted away to the bookshelf to work his way through the various tomes while I continued my search.
My shaking fingers fumbled over vials, causing them to clatter and fall over in my haste to read every label. At last, I located a small red jar with a winged snake drawn on it and a red heart was around it. I popped off the top and inside were what looked like tiny shriveled-up black beans. Nearly tripping over my own feet, I took it to Jasper.
“Is this it? Are these black-winged cobra hearts?” I demanded, practically holding the jar under his nose.
Jasper grabbed my hand and lowered it so he could more clearly into it. Master Binx scrambled over to Jasper’s shoulder and stood on his tiny hind legs to peer in as well.
“Yeah, that’s it. I think that’s it,” Jasper said, relief thick in his voice.
Master Binx also let out a chirp that sounded like an affirmative. Finally, something was going our way.
But that felt like the last thing.
I didn’t know whether it was his tiny squeak or his appearance out in the open, but a snake noticed and dive-bombed us. The chipmunk squealed and raced for cover. I didn’t think. My hand shot out, catching the snake behind the head before it could reach the chipmunk or Jasper with its venom-filled fangs. Just as quickly, I flung the creature into the trees and bushes.
Unfortunately, my arm slammed into a large vial of blue liquid, sending it flying toward the trees as well. It slammed into a slender branch and exploded in a shower of glass and chemicals. As soon as it touched anything, the liquid burst into flames. In a matter of a few breathless seconds, a quarter of the duchess’s private forest was engulfed in fire.
“Well, that’s not good,” Nylian muttered.
No, and it got worse. All the snakes that had been hiding in that forest were now flying and slithering in our direction to escape certain death. I tucked the jar of dried hearts into the pouch on my hip and turned back to Jasper, who was frantically paging through a slender book.
“Any luck?”
“Maybe. I-I-I don’t know. There are so many.” His hands shook as he searched, nearly ripping pages as he flipped them in haste. I snatched another book off the shelf and began searching as well.
“Jasper! We are out of time!” Adeline shouted.
Jasper and I glanced up at the same time to see a black cloud of snakes shooting through the air. There was no way Nylian and Adeline could fight them all off. There were too many. I swallowed hard, my heart squeezing so tight I thought it was going to be pulverized to dust in my chest.
Beside me, a book thunked heavily on the floor. I turned my head in time to see Jasper throw his hands in the air toward the racing snakes. Master Binx shrilly squeaked from the top of Jasper’s head, pulling on his long hair with both tiny paws. Jasper changed the arrangement of his hands slightly and shouted a single word.
My entire body was tense, waiting for pure magical chaos.
Frosty white surged from Jasper’s fingertips, filling the sky like a dense cloud. As soon as it touched the snakes, they were encased in thick blocks of ice and plummeted to the ground. I didn’t know whether they were dead or temporarily trapped, but it was fantastic.
“No!” Helena screeched. Another scream left her, but it was cut off suddenly. I jerked my head around to see Adeline’s sword buried in the center of Helena’s chest, the woman’s hands still outstretched to Jasper as if she meant to claw his eyes and tongue from his head.
“No one fucks with my brother,” Adeline snarled. She kicked the woman in the stomach, pushing her off her sword and sending her colliding with her divan.
“Jasper! Lockhart!” Nylian barked, snapping me from my moment of shock. No time to celebrate.
I clutched the book I was holding to my chest and snatched up three more. “Just grab as many as you can carry. We’ll sort through it all when we’re not in danger of burning up or being bitten.”
Jasper nodded frantically and joined me in tucking poison recipe books under his arms. With Nylian in the lead and Adeline bringing up the rear, we made a mad dash out of the house as the fire continued to spread. Servants screamed. A few attempted to stop us, but Nylian cut them down with a flash of his sword.
This had not gone according to any of the insane plans we’d cooked up, but I thought we still had a good chance at healing Orian. It was just a shame that we didn’t have the name of the person who’d bought the poison.
Chapter 28
Bittersweet Homecoming
We were here.