Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 75457 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75457 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
I let time tick forward at a snail’s pace, watching in slow motion as Micah lands a powerful uppercut to Lucien’s jaw that carries so much force he’s lifted off his feet. He flies up and toward the river and as I watch the expression on his face, I’m shocked to see acceptance.
Maybe even relief.
Is that because his one true love died only minutes before? Was he unable to bear to live with her dead?
I stop time and hold it there as my mind races.
Maybe he was ready to die and that makes me hesitate.
Am I in any way doing a disservice to Lucien? Maddox was always bothered by his brother’s death in that it shouldn’t have happened. While Micah was powerful, Lucien was a demigod.
Maybe his fate was to die in that river and it might even be because he wanted it.
But no… he would not have wanted to suffer for eternity. No one could want that, and I don’t hesitate further lest I make Micah or Carrick suspicious. I concentrate on Lucien’s body poised just above the frothing waves of the turbulent lava river.
I cast my power toward him, letting it wrap around his whole body in a clear barrier of protection that will keep the Crimson River from touching him. I gift part of my essence as not only a god but the one who commands the Underworld. I assert my will and dominance within the blanket of safety I’ve just bestowed and I seal it up tight.
Lucien should be able to withstand the destructive nature of the river, but where he’ll go and how he’ll get out, I do not know.
I only know I’ve done all I can.
I speed time back up and only hang around long enough to see him disappear into the lava flow, which moves toward the mountain and up its craggy surface. I spare a short glance to see the devastation on Carrick’s face and then I return to the present.
Appearing on Carrick and Finley’s doorstep, I ring the doorbell and wait for them to answer. I want to let them know what I’ve done so they can search for Lucien.
CHAPTER 24
Maddox
Despite the fact that I’m physically stronger than I’ve ever been in my immortal life—thank you, Zora, for whatever the hell you breathed into me—I’m exhausted.
After completing my mission in Honduras, getting all the people to safety and cutting down a number of drug lords in the process, I asked for another assignment.
One that would be more complex.
I definitely asked for something more violent and Onyx came through for me. I requested audience with the Council, appearing at the base of their dais.
Only four of them were present, and I couldn’t help the first question out of my mouth. “Where’s Zora?”
I’d assumed she was back with her brethren, doing godly things and living her life.
Veda answered. “She doesn’t attend to us unless we demand it.”
“She’s in a snit,” Circe huffed.
“Zora doesn’t snit,” I snapped, causing Circe to growl with irritation before I returned my attention to Veda. “What does that mean?”
Veda offered a thin smile. “It means we don’t see her unless we summon her, and even then, sometimes she doesn’t respond.”
“Is she okay?” I demanded, incredulous that they didn’t seem to care.
“She seems to be,” Veda replied, and that’s all she offered.
I was too proud to ask for more information about Zora so I asked for myself. “I’d like another conflict. Something far more difficult than where you just sent me. Long-lasting, bloody and against all odds would be fine.”
Veda appraised me with a knowing look as Circe turned her back on me. She was miffed I’d defend Zora, and frankly, I was pissed at myself too.
Onyx stepped forward and offered me the dream: a dimension named A’buston, in the throes of a brutal civil war. It was created with the barest amount of stone magic possible and its evolution progressed without the aid of further magic. They’re barely in what the First Dimension would consider the Middle Ages, so the fighting is basic with swords, lances, crossbows and the like.
I’ve only been here a week, but it’s been nonstop brutality as I help the legions Onyx assigned me to. I came to them as a revered general and completely withheld every bit of magic, and most of my strength, while fighting alongside the troops. The soldiers here consider me the bravest they’ve ever seen, since I’ll charge into battle before any of them, and the most skilled in the land. I’m so fast and accomplished, I can strike down ten men with only a few moves. Sure, I let myself take hits so as not to seem too magnificent, and every slice into skin and muscle I bear gratefully. When I’m in the thick of battle and my own blood wets the dusty ground, it’s bliss because I don’t have time to think of Zora.