Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 111252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 556(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 556(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
Rei opened his mouth to argue, but it was Xiao Dan who cut him off. “Rei, you are not responsible for the actions of all your people. You’re not even responsible for the actions of your mother. The only one you are responsible for is yourself.” Shixiong paused and calmly took a sip of his tea. “Furthermore, you are now a member of the Zhang clan. As your shixiong, I will not allow you to throw your life away over some misplaced guilt.”
The elf wilted in front of Xiang’s eyes, and he collapsed on the sofa. Yichen clung to his mate, whispering reassuring words in his ear, but not before he threw a grateful look in Xiao Dan’s direction.
“It’s more complicated than that,” Kai added with a fragile smile. “She can’t simply pick up the sword and summon me. She needs to have a great deal of magical power at her fingertips. From what I’ve seen, it takes at least several weeks to for her to draw enough power together to summon me.”
“That night in the forest by the river?” Chen inquired.
Kai turned his attention to Chen. “That was only the second time since the door opened that she’d called me successfully to do her biding. Even then, the orders have to be simple.”
“That’s why she’s been able to call you only one other time since you accidentally took me instead of Yichen,” Xiang added, looking up a Kai. “She’s been completely out of magical juice. It took three weeks for her to summon Kai again.”
“I wonder if that’s why the king seemed so sick the last two times I faced him,” Rei murmured. “He appeared as if someone had sucked him dry. Shriveled like a raisin.”
Yichen grunted. “Makes sense. She probably pulled his magic energy to gather the power she needed to command a dragon.”
“But now he’s dead, and she has to carry the burden alone. Unless,” Chen paused, his lips twisting into a frown. “Unless she finds someone else to use as her battery.”
Rei shook his head. “Doubtful. The royal family is the most powerful. My half brother Trin is an obvious target, but he doesn’t carry the blood of both the king and queen. He wouldn’t have the same royal power as my father. He would need to ascend formally to the Dawn Throne first.”
“That means her only other target for a power source is you,” Junjie stated, staring straight at Rei.
“Well, that settles that question,” Yichen announced, straightening. “You’re not leaving the clan house until we figure out how to deal with the fae.”
“Actually, that rule would go for both of you,” Ming Yu stated as soon as Rei’s mouth opened to argue with his mate. “Everyone knows that if the queen were to get her hands on Yichen, Rei would instantly give up.”
Yichen sucked in a breath as though he were preparing to argue, but a second later, his body buckled. “Ugh. Fuck. Fine.”
“I need to reacquire my sword,” Kai murmured. “It’s the one way to remove myself as a threat to your clan. I’ve tried fighting her commands, and the result…” His words drifted off. He lowered his eyes to his fisted hands. “The result is not consistent. I succeeded the last time, but I can’t promise that I would be able to fight her the next time.”
“No.” The whispered word drifted from Xiang’s lips before he could catch it. The image of nearly lifeless, blood-covered Kai sprang into his mind, and it chilled him to his soul. “No, you can’t do that again.” He grabbed Kai’s arm and squeezed. “You nearly died fighting her. I won’t let you do that to yourself again.”
Kai placed his hand over Xiang’s, but his touch failed to chase away the icy bite that sank into his bones. “She ordered me to kill you. Nothing—not even the power she wields—could make me do such a thing. I would rather die.”
“No one is dying,” Xiao Dan declared, drawing all eyes to him. “Defeating the fae is now more than killing Queen Belladonna and pushing the army through the door. We have to regain Kai’s sword so he can be sure he is truly free of their influence.” Xiao Dan turned his attention to Kai and Xiang. “How long has it been since she last issued a command?”
“Roughly a week,” Xiang answered.
“How much time do you think you have until she can make another attempt?”
Kai frowned, his brow furrowing. “It’s hard to say. Two weeks. Possibly longer if I wasn’t the only one injured when I fought her command.”
“Okay. I’ll contact King Aiden and the rest of the Variks, giving them an update on what we know. With a new goal that we have to achieve, we’ll need to meet to make plans for our next attack,” Xiao Dan explained. His long, slender fingers turned his small teacup without him actually taking a sip of the now-cold liquid. “With the humans now in the know, things are definitely more complicated.”