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)
His pain wrecked her. “Maybe someone sought to incriminate them. Fayette herself? Kaysar and Cookie, before we accepted the truce? Or someone else? An unknown?” She reached for him. “Micah—”
“Do not leave this spot,” he snapped and vanished. But not before she spied the frothing anger spilling across his irises.
She wrapped her arms around her middle. Had he lost all faith in his fellow fae, Viori included? Did he have plans to return as promised, or had almost dying quickened his mind to the truth? She ruined things, and she wasn’t worth the trouble he’d suffered on her behalf.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
INCREDIBLE POWER BUZZED inside Micah as he materialized in the swamp. More power than he’d ever wielded before, thanks to the elderseed. No sign of Graves, John or the sandcats. No sign of trolls. The only evidence of battle? A pool of blood congealing on the stony ground.
He flittered to the outer edge of the oasis and explored the boundary. No trolls congregated here, either. When he inhaled a waft of Viori’s citrus-and-florals fragrance, he nearly returned to her. Not yet, not yet. She was safe from danger, and he needed time to process what had transpired—and what he must do next.
Eager to burn off some of this energy, he ran...sprinted...flew over the terrain. Arms pumping, legs gobbling up the distance. He covered the entire circumference of the green paradise, uncaring when branches sliced him. The sharp stings served as fuel, driving his aggression higher.
The exercise didn’t help. Because it wasn’t what he truly required. No, he required a showdown. A conference with Norok and Elena. A face-to-face to demand answers. To hear an explanation. Surely his most trusted advisers had not done this terrible thing.
With a roar, Micah punched a tree as he passed it. The strength of the blow snapped the trunk in half. If the siblings, his oldest friends, had deceived him... He wasn’t sure what he would do.
How much perfidy could one male withstand in his lifetime before he shattered?
Micah felled another tree. Bones cracked; flesh tore and bled. The wounds healed in a heartbeat, leaving no scars behind. Why not initiate a meeting now?
He seized upon the idea and switched direction, racing for the campground. Breath sawed in and out as he entered the wastelands, then the flatlands, and blazed over hills. A golden sun rose on the horizon, lighting the way. The elderseed ensured he never tired.
This wasn’t the first time he’d ingested the stuff. Long ago, he’d found a brick in a village he’d conquered. He’d planted that brick in a secret location, and waited, hoping to cultivate an enchanted tree, thereby spawning others to at last produce the paradise of his dreams. Instead, months had passed, not a single sprout ever clearing the surface. When he’d finally given up and decided to consume the brick as needed, it was gone. He wondered now if Kaysar had unearthed it.
Sunrays intensified, glaring at him, but he didn’t break a sweat. His heart rate didn’t increase until he stopped in the shadows near the mighty wall of soldiers that surrounded the edge of camp. His camp. His kingdom. Fae after fae, standing shoulder to shoulder, either extending spears or holding bows already notched with arrows.
They await my arrival.
The truth cut as surely as a knife, pain ripping through him, spurring a flood of devastation. Norok and Elena had indeed betrayed him. Had freed the oracle and now worked to oversee Micah’s ruination.
The two people he’d trusted most. Counted on as friends. Saw as family. My enemies.
Another roar brewed, but he held it back. His breath heated, searing his nostrils, his lungs. He opened and closed his hands. Acid churned in his stomach. How could they do this? Why did this happen to him, always and without fail? Why could he not have what so many others took for granted? Why did he give honesty and loyalty and receive lies and betrayal?
I still have Red. She has accepted me, just as I am.
But will she turn on me a second time?
That secret... The acid churned faster.
“I know you’re out there, Micah,” Norok called. Two warriors stepped apart, and the white-haired traitor emerged. Shining silver armor covered everything but his face. The hilts of two short swords rose above his broad shoulders. “Come and talk with me. I’m sure you’re confused.”
How reasonable the betrayer sounded. Fury joined the barrage of shock and hurt raining inside Micah. Talk? Yes. They would talk. “Where is Elena? Shouldn’t she join us?”
“No need. I speak for her. Besides, this is between you and I.”
Very well. Shirtless, scars on display for his people for the first time, he lifted his head and stalked from the shadows, entering the sunlight. He was exposed and vulnerable to ambush, but he didn’t care. When he halted, he assumed a battle stance: shoulders back, hands fisted, legs braced apart.