Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 125077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Felicity nodded. “That would do it. I can’t fix this here. But where I’m taking you, your body should heal over time.”
“We can’t leave,” Felix said with a shake of his head. “Our friends are out there dying. They are our family.”
“And you’ve done right by them.” Oliver pointed to the bag of holding. “You rescued the grimoire and the Sword of Light. Had they been left where the queen put them, Myrddin would eventually have found them. The grimoire would call to him. By leaving the bag here in this apartment, it is protected by Sarah’s heart’s blood. At some point in the future we believe the queen will return for it. It needs to remain on this plane, but you cannot.”
“Because of Sarah’s heart?” Felix asked.
Felicity nodded. “Yes. We were going to take you there anyway, but for a different reason. While we are willing to go against the archangel’s decree, we cannot flaunt our disobedience or we risk that faction taking action. We have consulted with our new brother and he believes if we are discreet, the archangels will view this as nothing more than two siblings helping their beloved brother. They do not see the patterns that are emerging.”
“Patterns?” Sarah asked.
“Mia is going to be extraordinarily powerful one day,” Oliver explained. “She must not fall into the wrong hands. Her upbringing is very important. She needs to stay on the side of the light. If she ever fell into Myrddin’s hands… The things he could make her do would break this plane.”
Sarah’s expression went from grave to bright, though I could see the strain in her eyes as Mia ran back in. The girl had a backpack around her shoulders and a big stuffed bunny in her arms. “Hey, you ready?”
“Can we see Lee?” Mia asked.
Felicity got to one knee. “One day. I promise. One day you will find each other again and you’ll be ready. He will need you so much. But for now it must be this way so your mother can heal.”
Tears pierced Mia’s eyes, but she nodded.
“We cannot take you. Again, that would be too much interference,” Oliver was saying to Felix. “But we can show you the way and promise there is a village waiting to take you in. It’s a Heavenly plane.”
“One of the minor planes that the archangels don’t care about, I suspect.” Felix had relaxed.
“Yes. It’s very beautiful and peaceful, and they will welcome your wife and daughter,” Felicity promised. “They are eager to learn from you all and to share their knowledge with you. Mia can grow and learn without the trauma she would certainly experience on this plane.”
“It would have been nice if they could have taken all the kids,” I said with no small bitterness because my child had gotten a full dose of that trauma. So had the young woman beside me.
“Some heroes need peace to balance their souls,” the gnome said. “Some could turn if twisted the wrong way, as you have seen with your friend. And some are so solid they can wash themselves in the darkness and never once lose the light.” He turned Evangeline’s way. “You, Princess, are a light. Don’t forget. You are literally made of light, and no amount of darkness can take you if you don’t let it.”
Evan went still. “That sounds like a threat.”
I shook my head. “It sounds like he knows something we don’t, and we should probably listen to him.”
I was brought out of my revelations by Sarah taking a long breath. “If you can’t take us, then I should get ready. I suspect opening a door to one of the Heavenly planes is going to take a bit of magic. I also want to write a letter to Zoey. I need her to look for us.”
“Well, if we had time, I would hunt down one of the doors and send you through,” Oliver explained as they walked toward the back of the apartment. “There are a couple, but they’re well hidden. The Fae are good at hiding doors and piercing veils, aren’t they?”
“Leave the queen a letter, but you have to let her know Myrddin cannot be allowed to access the portal. If he could gain access to one of the Heavenly planes, the damage he could do would be terrible,” Felicity said. “And we must hurry. Our window is closing. You can’t stay another full day here. Be quick with your note and even quicker with your magic. Leave the queen a map she can follow so one day she can release you.”
The door shut, and I knew we’d seen what we’d had to see. The angels were playing fast and loose with their rules and regulations and all to help us. We had allies, and I intended to follow their sage advice.