Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 112089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
Death and rebirth.
Tamed savagery.
I’d felt a portion of this in the wood. The peace. The serenity.
And now, I would flip the coin and display the brutal savagery needed to protect my family.
As I embraced the feeling, power pumped through me, a glorious feeling.
My roar reverberated across the battlefield. Austin stood up on his back legs, matching it, letting me fly free.
I snapped out my wings, shedding swirls of pinkish-purple light. A glittery dust emanated from me, my magic taking a physical form and falling onto the ground before winking out.
My creature was beautiful. Time to show the enemy, and myself, that it was also vicious and fierce.
I was an Ivy House lady, damn it.
TWENTY-NINE
I flew into the air in a rush of power. My wing was almost completely mended, only tilting me a little. I worked a spell on impulse, one at the very top of my power scale, and delighted in how much easier it was to work now that I’d found this balance. When I let it loose, fire blistered through the ranks of the enemy, who were spread out all over now. Trampled grass ignited quickly, but with a tweak of the spell, the heat was sucked out and fire doused. The fire lingered on them, but it wasn’t hot enough to burn through their suits. I couldn’t match Cyra’s magic.
A gun blast shot at me. I covered myself in a quick protective layer, searching for Cyra. A pulse of my magic sang out, calling her.
She rose from within the battle, darting toward me.
Fire, I thought, and for once, the blast of magic matched. She could feel my meaning through the magic. She could feel the command.
She wasted no time in diving. Her beak opened, and a large blast of fire covered a crowd of enemy fighters. It wouldn’t get through their uniforms, but it would muddle their senses and burn any exposed skin. That would slow them down.
Hollace was next. Seeing me take the heat out of the ground fire, he let a large torrent of lightning loose. He missed as many as he hit, but it didn’t matter. Those he hit went down for the count.
Shouts and screams rose. The enemy ran around in a frenzy, the middle of their forces now encapsulated by flame or being struck by lightning.
Through the cacophony I heard, “Yes!”
Edgar. He stood on the outskirts of the battlefield now with his fist held high in the air.
“You did fire, Miss Jessie!” he called. “I knew you could do it!”
Now I was leeching fire, but it was still a win.
I let my magic flood me, not hindering it. Not squishing it down or worrying what I’d do. I let that sweet darkness roll through me, and then I blasted it out. Time to reconnect with my team and get back to the plan.
Time to let my pretty beastie shine.
The shift in pressure was unmistakable. Niamh could feel it coursing through her. Some came from the Ivy House bond, but more came directly from Jessie.
It pumped Niamh full of courage she didn’t need, power she was happy to use, and a strange sense of community that had her checking on those around her to make sure everyone was on the same page and accounted for. It felt…
There were no words for how it felt. Niamh had been on many battlefields in her lifetime, and it had never felt this incredibly…natural. Like coming home. Like they couldn’t possibly lose so long as they worked together.
The gargoyle had settled into her wings. About fecking time.
Jessie pumped her wings while throwing out a hand. A moment later, a zip from one of those magical guns slammed into some sort of shield covering Austin. It ricocheted off, headed back toward the one who’d fired it. Jessie turned again, flinging out her hand for Dave right before a blast reached him.
How in the hell did she know what attacks were coming when? It was like she was predicting their course and reacting before they could land. Ho-ly crap. The gargoyle was worth all the hype for that little trick alone.
Dave let out a ragged snarl before grabbing an enemy by the upper thighs. The man yelled in surprise as Dave picked him up and swung him around like a baseball bat. The enemy’s body hit a bunch of others, knocking them down or back, disarming most. He let go of the body mid-swing, launching it, before descending on those he’d disarmed.
Without their weapons, they had absolutely no chance of survival.
Now that Jessie was safe, Sebastian resumed his quick-fire spell casting to the battlefield at large. He was obviously taking the attacking role, leaving defense to Jessie. And now that she’d sorted her gargoyle issue, she was handling it beautifully.
When her people went in for an attack, she draped a spell over the enemy, deadening their efforts to fight back. She blanketed a whole section of enemy troops at one point so that Austin Steele could barrel through and take people out with quick, vicious economy. All the while, she flew in among them, diving to help when needed and flying away again. She clawed through throats and ripped into bowels. Only Austin Steele could hold a flame to her newfound viciousness.