Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 44450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 222(@200wpm)___ 178(@250wpm)___ 148(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 222(@200wpm)___ 178(@250wpm)___ 148(@300wpm)
“You really thought you could defeat me?” Arvo laughed, his voice echoing throughout the King’s Hall. He planted his foot on my shoulder and shoved me down on my back before lowering himself. He dug his knee into my chest, pinning me down as he peered down at me.
I was winded and aching all over, my breaths coming out weakly. This wasn’t what I was expecting to happen. The last person that I wanted to have the upper hand was Arvo, but he wasn’t weak. I could admit that.
“Face it, Zephyr. You gave up your rule long ago. This was just a matter of time,” Arvo told me. “You have two options because I’m generous. Take the knee or die with the others. I think I’ll kill Theo and Sol first. No, I’ll kill Biba in front of all three of you so that you can watch and then kill you.”
I tried to push against Arvo’s knee so that I could breathe better, but he shifted his weight on me even more, applying more pressure. I felt like I was on the verge of suffocating, and if I wanted to make it out of here alive and have a chance of taking Arvo down, I had to give him what he wanted.
“Fine. I stand down,” I gritted out, glaring up at Arvo.
Arvo cracked a victorious grin before rising to his feet. He backed away from me, not letting his guard down just yet.
“Then, get the fuck out of here. This hall is for Kings only,” he cackled at me.
I slowly rose to my feet, chest aching and ego bruised. I didn’t want to fall to Arvo, but I would rather lose a battle than the whole war. Besides, Arvo wasn’t my only enemy. I had to deal with his father and my father too, who went too far and would regret even touching Biba.
I walked out of the King’s Hall, wishing that I could burn it to the ground with Arvo inside. He would run Stormcloud into the ground, and it didn’t help that his father was a factor in his decision making. The old Kings still had strings they pulled. I had done things on my father’s behalf. But no more.
With a tightened jaw, I started brainstorming a plan. A revenge plan. Arvo forced my hand, which meant I had to make decisions that I never expected myself to make. I needed help to overthrow Arvo and anyone else who blocked my path to protecting Stormcloud and what was left of the good part of the Kings’ legacy.
There were only so many people who I could turn to right now. There were too many eyes and ears around here, so I couldn’t trust anyone within Stormcloud’s walls. I needed to look elsewhere toward my most unlikely allies.
I needed to find Theo and Sol.
CHAPTER 9
THEO
Hot water trailed down my face as I stood under the steady shower stream, breathing in the steam and trying to clear my head. Biba was still missing, and it was driving Sol and I crazy with stress. We tried to come up with plans and do more snooping around Stormcloud, but we didn’t have a single clue. Biba had just disappeared.
We returned to the cabin in the woods since it was more hidden and had less of a chance of being discovered by any of our enemies. The last thing that we wanted to do was to get discovered and killed before we had a chance to find Biba if she was alive. The thought of her being hurt or dead made my chest ache and a hollow feeling follow. There were enemies to defeat and a whole academy to save, but it was hard to garner any motivation when I was worrying about whether the girl I loved was dead or not.
The tension was hitting Sol’s and my collaborative efforts as well. We were reverting back to how we used to act toward each other, snapping at each other and isolating ourselves from each other. We were constantly reminded of Biba and our failing attempts to rescue her because we knew that we both loved her.
I would’ve stayed under the stream of hot water for an hour if I didn’t suddenly hear a knock on the front door of the cabin. I shut the water off and grabbed the white towel hanging up on the rack near the shower. I ruffled my wet hair with it before pulling it around my waist and stepping out of the shower.
I walked out of the bathroom to see Sol rising to his feet from sitting in front of the fireplace. He glanced over at me, and we asked the same question silently with our eyes.
Are you expecting company?
Already knowing the answer to that question, I motioned for him to stay back before grabbing my knife off the kitchen counter. There was no telling who was outside of my door. Sol had been my old visitor, and I preferred to keep it that way unless Biba somehow found us. I approached the door and gripped the doorknob firmly before throwing the door open, knife ready in the other hand.