Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 130081 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130081 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
And then the AllFather spoke and his cold, evil voice drove everything else out of her mind.
“Ssso, these are the prisonersss you spoke of, Krix,” he said, the cold voice hissing rather than speaking the words.
“Indeed they are, AllFather.” The Scourge officer who looked like he wasn’t a clone nodded respectfully.
“But my daughter, Xairna, isss also included in thisss group. Tell me, why iss that, Krix?”
“Because she was trying to escape, AllFather,” the Scourge officer said. “She was offering the two Kindred and the human prisoner safe passage off the Father Ship if only they would agree to take her with them.”
“Dear me…” The AllFather rose from the throne, shaking loose his shadowy robes from its etched green surface. “My dear daughter, isss thisss true?” he asked, taking a step towards the line of prisoners.
The girl with gray skin lifted her chin.
“It is. I cannot stand it here anymore—I would rather be dead that let you feed from me one more time!”
She spat the words and Sonya could almost feel her hatred—a burning fire of resentment that had all but consumed her heart. She wondered if there was something in this room that amplified negative emotions?
“I shall never let you die, dear daughter,” the AllFather hissed. “For the taste of your pain iss too ssweet.” Then he reached out one skeletal scabrous hand, as though he was going to take the grey girl’s face in his fingers.
“Stop!” The loud shout came from Davrik. To Sonya’s dismay, he strode forward, putting himself between the AllFather and his daughter.
“And what might you want, Kindred?” the AllFather hissed.
“If you want to hurt someone, hurt me,” Davrik growled, his deep voice reverberating through the vast throne room.
Sonya felt her heart stop in her chest as the evil Scourge leader looked at Davrik thoughtfully.
“Do you have some sort of attachment to my daughter?” he asked in his high, hissing voice.
“I don’t even know her,” Davrik admitted. “But I cannot stand by as a Kindred warrior and allow a female to be terrorized or brutalized.”
“Very well…” The skeletal hand made a motion in the air. “Then I will taste your pain first. But know that you have only delayed the pain of the othersss—for I will taste them all—asss well as these two that have come to sssave you. Which was a fool’ss errand. For now I have all of you and I will never let you go!”
“What?” Davrik turned and Sonya saw his eyes go wide in surprise. “Sonya—baby girl, what are you doing here?”
Sonya lifted her head.
“I came for you—to rescue you, the way you rescued me,” she said, her voice carrying well in the large, round room.
“Bring them forward!” The AllFather gestured at the guards surrounding them. “Let them sssee the decimation of the onesss they love.”
At once, the huge Scourge guards began herding Sonya and Nate towards the dais. They prodded them up the broad stairs until they were standing side-by-side with the original four prisoners. Sonya grabbed for Davrik’s big hand but made sure to keep Nate on her other side.
The ex-Seal had drawn his mate—the girl with the purple skin—close to him. He had one long arm around her, but he had also managed to reach his little sister, who was standing huddled close to Lan’ara. Beside Nate’s sister was the still-defiant Xairna. The AllFather’s daughter was glaring at her father and Sonya could practically feel the hate radiating off her.
Apparently the AllFather could feel it too because he threw back his head and breathed deeply. This allowed Sonya to see his burning red eyes—a sight which made her stomach twist with terror.
“Yesss, that’s right—I can feel all your pain…all your fear…all your hatred!” the Scourge Overlord hissed. “I do not even have to taste you individually to take it in—you fill me with your horror and your agony and antipathy!” He sounded like a man enjoying an exquisite and nourishing banquet that had been laid just for him.
Sonya had been all ready to clamp a hand onto Nate’s arm and start singing, but now she hesitated.
The negative emotions—they’re feeding him—making him stronger, she realized. She’d been prepared to sing a high, drilling note that was filled with her disgust and loathing for the horrible nightmare creature standing before her on the dais, but now she realized that wasn’t going to work. In fact, sending out her hate and fear would almost certainly make the AllFather even more powerful!
“Baby girl, you shouldn’t have come here.” Davrik’s deep, rumbling voice broke into her train of thought and Sonya looked up at him. She saw worry for her—concern and anxiety shining in his pale blue eyes. But most of all, she saw love—he still cared for her, even after she had rejected him, she realized. She remembered the words that he’d said to her after she’d found out about the other Sonya—her double from the other universe. The words he had spoken after she asked why he had come after her.