Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 115347 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115347 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
So. Yes. He would do it. “I go alone,” Micah announced.
* * *
VIORI CLAWED HER way through the darkness. Something was wrong.
Voices whispered through her mind. Her husband’s. Her brother’s. And Cookie’s. Yes. They uttered plans and schemes against Norok and his treacherous oracle.
Thoughts came at her, one after the other. Wake. Hurry. Time is running out. Something about Micah going alone...
Concern hit her, a shock to her system. She hadn’t forgotten Amber’s warning. If Micah went in alone, he died.
No, no and no. Can’t lose him. Won’t. Viori must do something to stop him. But what?
If she could wake, she could leave in secret, then take care of the problem before the others finished planning. Micah would be spared. What else mattered?
No one had ever put him first. That ended today. Nothing and no one had ever been so important to her.
I can save him, so I will. Fayette possessed enough power to take out one opponent. Only one. Which meant she’d chosen Viori for a reason. The enemy must fear her voice. Which meant her voice could hold the key to victory.
Come on, come on. Wake or lose your husband!
Her eyelids popped open. Miracle of miracles, she drew no one’s notice as she slitted her lids and turned her head the most minute amount. Her family members stood around the table, casually discussing Micah’s plans for the people, once he and Norok were dead.
He thinks to die for me. Her heart thudded, her stomach tied in a thousand knots. Permit her husband to sacrifice himself on her behalf? No! He was a good man. The best. That rare species the fae realm needed more than anything. Honest. Loyal. Genuinely kind. A protector to the bone. He must be protected at all costs.
Deep down, Viori relished this opportunity to save him. The girl who had killed her parents now had the chance to defend her husband as well as her brother, his wife, their twins and their world. And all she had to do was die?
She drew in a breath. The loss of her life was big. Huge. Something she’d created monsters to avoid. But...
So be it. For her loved ones, she did this gladly.
Being with Micah had changed her, and there was no going back. For so long, she’d chosen loneliness and exile, eschewing friendship and a helping hand, her heart as barren as the Dusklands. Now, with a brimming heart, there was no room for sorrow or punishment. Only blessing. Proof: her children had begun to bloom again.
For once, she would leave something better than she’d found it.
“Shh.” In a blink, Elena appeared before her, crouched and flickering in and out of view, but somehow always transparent. Her features were contorted in pain, and Viori nearly gasped, giving herself away. “Listen closely. You’re seeing and hearing a projection of my consciousness. One of the reasons I’m such a good spy.” Her voice was hollow, as if coming from a long tunnel. Or through a stalk of poisonvine. “I know what you’re planning. Free me, and I’ll help you eliminate Norok and Fayette. Amber said nothing about you dying if we go together. So unleash me, Majesty. Let me act as your rage. Please.”
This was real? Not a figment of her imagination?
“I brought two amplio stones. One for each of us, so we can flitter. You have only to remove one from my pocket. Please remove it. Norok is going to destroy this world and everyone in it if he frees more trolls,” the blonde continued. “He must be stopped. But I can’t flitter, even with my stone, while bound with this poisonvine. If you create a distraction, I think I can cut myself loose. I’ll meet you at the swamp. But make your decision quick. Time is running out.”
The projection disappeared then and did not appear again. Viori’s heart thudded faster as she cast her gaze to the still-bound Elena, who peered at her with a beseeching gaze.
Her thoughts whirled. Trust Elena, Norok’s sister, who might lead her straight into a trap. Risking everything, going for the happiest ending of all: living with her husband and family for the rest of eternity. Winning everything.
She remembered the other woman’s pain when she mentioned Sabot’s death. Truth or lie?
Deep breath in. Hold. Out. Viori didn’t think that kind of pain could be faked. So. She would do it. She would take the risk for a chance to have forever with Micah.
To free and join Elena, she need only create a distraction and confiscate a stone. Very well. Under her breath, she hummed a little note, awakening Drendall from her sleep. The little doll blinked open her eyes and stretched, then smiled at her with pure adoration.
If we are truly connected, she will understand me without words.
Mother and daughter peered at each other, sharing a moment of silent communion. Drendall’s smile grew before she nodded, wiggled closer to Elena, snatched a stone, then passed it to Viori and climbed from the cot. She toddled over and hurled herself at Cookie, biting her leg.