Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 111898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 559(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 559(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
Daisy stopped fighting. Progress!
Neeka reached out and squeezed the king’s shoulder, saying, “Put the skeleton on the larger throne, and be thinking of a safe place to flash a floor this size.”
“I have decided on a spot already.”
The second Rathbone released the harpy, she ripped off the blindfold, revealing narrowed brown eyes. “Why am I here?”
“We’ll get to that.” Neeka followed Rathbone up the dais. Once the fake skeleton occupied his seat, she arranged the limbs in the necessary position, wrote a note she stuck to a boney finger, and stepped back to admire her handiwork. “Sometimes I outdo myself.”
Rathbone looked at what she’d done and scowled. “This was mission critical?”
“Um. Yeah. Isn’t it great?”
He was still scowling as he took her hand and collected the other harpy. With a nod to a fading, fuming Lore, he said, “Appear to me when you can.”
Flash.
* * *
Azar hurt all over, but not by word or deed did he betray his condition as he busted through the final layer of a mile-thick wall and marched into Rathbone’s hidden throne room...where he discovered ruins and a single golden throne.
A plastic skeleton perched on it, one arm lifted, the middle finger extended. A piece of paper hung from that finger.
Azar read the nearly illegible text. Roses are red, violets are blue. I forgot the next line, but oh how I adore defeating you.
A growl brewed deep inside his chest. “Bring me the oracle’s mother.”
16
Rathbone teleported two harpies, the floor of the throne room and the throne itself to the catacombs of a subrealm in the Underworld known as the Realm of the Forgotten. A land Hades had purchased for times such as this. Rathbone had an open invitation to visit. Just being here should erase Rathbone, Neeka, Daisy, and perhaps even Lore from the mind of everyone but Hades, and anyone bearing a special tattoo to remember.
The problem was, Rathbone couldn’t control the inner defenses or supernaturally sense intruders. And there was always a chance the Astra were immune to mental wipes. Even still, this was the safest place for their ragtag team during this short layover. Once they’d instituted the oracle’s newest scheme, whatever it was, they’d go. He and Neeka had three bones to find.
Rathbone attempted to release her hand, a task that should’ve been easy. But his muscles proved stubborn and unwilling to obey, locking up.
He gritted his teeth and pried his fingers loose. When she clung to him, maintaining contact just a bit longer, he fought the urge to snatch her by the waist, yank her against him, and shout, “Mine!”
But she wasn’t his.
“Now what?” he barked.
His sour mood did nothing to alter Neeka’s air of calm. She smiled, saying, “Daisy, gril, let’s chat about your future.” She eased to the floor, getting comfortable, and patted the spot beside her.
Rathbone crossed his arms over his chest. Some of his mátia remained glued to the oracle, some stayed on the harpy, who hadn’t made a move yet.
The female possessed shoulder-length black hair, a tan complexion, and plump curves. Sharp features gave her beauty a dangerous edge. He’d found her in a cottage miles from civilization, surrounded by forest and little else. Even animals and insects had avoided her.
Impatience got the better of him, and he prompted, “I suggest you hurry.”
She bared her little fangs at him before plopping beside Neeka. “What?”
Rather than take offense, the oracle maintained her happy smile. “You’ve probably heard I’m a traitor to harpykind or some such semi-accurate nonsense. Maybe you’ve heard I seek to curse the Astra. Which is one hundred percent accurate almost.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard.” Zero emotion laced Daisy’s tone. “And?”
“And I’m going to tell you something I haven’t yet shared with the Rosy Menace.” Her amber gaze darted to him, and he frowned. What hadn’t she shared? “If the Astra succeed in their task, all of harpykind will be eaten by shadow monsters with gold rings around their irises. I’ve foreseen it.”
Ah. Her unwavering support in the beginning made sense. But shadow monsters with golden eye rings? What shadow monsters?
“Let’s say I believe you,” Daisy said. “What is it you think I can do to help?”
Neeka rubbed her hands together. “Get this. You’re going to use your psychokinesis to shrink the throne with the floor, and place the entire atrocity in a small, protective orb.”
Realization dawned, and he marveled. Such brilliance. The solution to his biggest problem, as promised. It was a plan he should’ve enacted ages ago. But then, most immortals who wielded a psychokinesis ability only moved objects with their mind. A rare few had the ability to manipulate an object’s molecular structure.
“You will guarantee I’m able to undo the process at will,” he told Daisy.
Neeka, who had focused on him to measure his reaction to her admission, heaved a sigh. “I guess I was so overcome by eye-feasting on you that I forgot to mention the orb will be bound to you and open at your command.” Her gaze swung to Daisy. “If I’m picking up on correct details.”