Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 83933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
“Then we leave in ten minutes.” He didn’t glance my way. “If you aren’t ready, I’ll leave you behind.” Off he marched. Where he headed and what he intended, I didn’t know.
Forget breakfast. I let the girls know, then hurried to brush my teeth, dress, and pull on my boots. I even anchored my hat in place.
“I’m coming too,” Leona said, voice hard with determination. “This is the break I’ve been hoping for. Someone might have information about Claudia.”
“Guess I’m tagging along too.” Patch pursed her lips at me. “You gonna break down on us during the execution?”
“Maybe.” Probably.
Jasher returned at the nine-minute mark, and it took only a single glance at him to know he’d used the time to prepare his mind. Before me stood the emotionless robot I’d met on day one. Except, I knew that I knew he wasn’t emotionless. He hated this.
“Move out,” he commanded, grabbing the pack and stalking off.
We traveled through the dense woods. For once, we encountered no incidences. Though, yes, more than once I felt as if we were being watched. A figment of my imagination most likely, since no one else seemed to notice and the forever key never heated.
Within two hours, we reached the village. A Candyland-esque refuge with an abundance of pink and blue I would forever consider Gum Drop Lane. From the houses built to resemble mini-palaces to the plethora of gardens with flowers in the shape of swirling ice-cream cones and tufts of cotton candy.
“I mean, it’s not as fortified as the Frontier,” Leona said, anchoring her hands on her hips, “but it’s not terrible. I’ll be a great mayor here.”
“Color me interested in moving in forever,” Patch exclaimed with awe in her eyes.
Jasher’s veins flashed a lava-like glow beneath the surface of his skin again, and he hissed. “The crime has been committed, a death required.”
Thunder rattled the land and concerned villagers spilled from the buildings. A learned response to the first signs of storm, I supposed. Everyone aimed for the town square, where a dais and blood-stained chopping block waited, a perfect replica of the market in the bazaar. Murmurs arose, the people speculating about the perpetrator. I searched the sea of men in suits and women in ruffled dresses for any sign of the crimen.
When lightning flashed, fear skittered over my nape. I’d never seen a monstra in person. Drawn them, yes. Countless times. Spied the Wests’ trophies, also yes. I’d even beheld the creatures in my mother’s paintings as I’d dressed this morning. But none of those sightings had come with a side of danger and death. To see a winged beast meant a life had been spared but others would suffer. I didn’t envy Jasher his dilemma.
“I sense her.” Jasher scanned the gravel streets, tensing when a young woman with tangled white hair emerged from a home.
I pressed a hand over my stomach, those knots now leaking bile. Bruises marred her golden skin and rips littered her yellow gown. When others noticed the telltale sign of guilt hovering over her head, they pointed fingers of accusation. Her eyes glazed with shock and acceptance.
“What did you do?” someone demanded.
“Kill her!” another commanded.
More thunder and lightning. Collective anxiety cranked to unbearable heights.
Chin high, the woman strolled to the dais. She climbed the steps, clearly accepting her lot.
Jasher handed the pack to Leona and followed the woman up at a steady pace. As the crowd gathered round about, he positioned himself behind the offender, who couldn’t hide her tremors.
Tears streaked down her cheeks. “When my husband died, he left me drowning in debt. The tax collector came to take my baby in payment. To make her a sacrifice for Governor North. I…the stories I’ve heard. The horrors. My dear one is only three years old. I couldn’t let him take her. He wouldn’t let her go so I…I made him. Please, don’t kill me for it.”
“Where is your daughter now?” Jasher asked. The emotionless of his tone froze me to the bone.
“My aunt has her. They are long gone, so don’t bother searching for them,” the mother replied, her tremors infiltrating her voice.
Jasher’s grim gaze cut to me before he withdrew an ax. Everything inside me screamed in protest. He wouldn’t, couldn’t do this. I toyed with the ring. No burn. No flood of strength or evidence of power. No solution.
A cry of despair left the mother when thunder and lightning intensified, coming faster.
“Kill her now!” a woman shrieked.
Jasher white-knuckled the weapon’s shaft. “A sacred law has been broken, and a price must be paid.” Ice cold raindrops pattered over the crowd. Several splashed on my overheating brow. “Will anyone show mercy and take this woman’s place?”
I heard a faint note of hope in his voice, and the cracks he’d forged in me last night widened, welcoming light. An idea came to me. Something I shouldn’t consider. Too dangerous. A risk like no other. But I did consider it. Jasher needed my help. He’d saved me from myself countless times. Now, I had a chance to return the favor.