Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 121339 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121339 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
“She doesn’t give two fucks about Faerie,” Amber said from the back, and it was surprising that she would speak up. Or maybe not, since she’d always had a soft spot for Daisy. “She’d burn this place to the ground if she could. Get out of the fucking way or I will gut you.”
The female put up her hands, palms out. She had a big smile for some reason. “You know her well. You must be this family she speaks of. I shouldn’t be surprised that you survived the fringe and the wylds and have come to her rescue. I am…but I shouldn’t be. She has already burned several royal chambers, with our help. And you’re right, she mostly doesn’t care about us. But she does care about her family. You. She is helping you and your kind. She is balancing the magic of Faerie and strengthening the fringe. She alone has the power to do this. She chose this.”
The Viking said, “She’s playing hero.” Then he sang in a monotone voice, “Na-na-na-na-na.”
Mordecai bristled. Lexi looked over at Kieran with wide eyes. That was definitely Daisy, and it sounded like they knew her well enough to know who her family was and the type of things she said.
“Chose what?” Lexi demanded, walking closer. She reached out and grabbed hold of a few spirit boxes, ready to rattle them if needed and easily kill them if necessary.
“Chose to sacrifice herself,” the female said, losing her smile. “For you.”
Emotion welled up unexpectedly. “No,” Lexi said. “She doesn’t have magic. She only has a Demigod’s gift. My gift. That’s it—”
“She has Faerie magic,” the Viking said. “Or…the magic Faerie gods gift one human at a time. Your magic was the final piece.”
“What?”
“A non-magical human, enhanced by man—”
The female pointed at their group. “Her trainer. Zorb.”
“Zorn,” another male said. “She was always repeating his teachings.”
“Right, yes. Zorn.” The Viking nodded. “Ah. And that is…you, then?”
Zorn stepped up beside Lexi, his machete clutched in a tight fist. The pressure in the hallway increased. A strange sound reverberated through the door.
“A non-magical human enhanced by man—Zorn’s training—and blessed by the gods.” The Viking pointed at Lexi. “Your blood gift. You were the final piece to create the chalice. That thing she touched and made her fall over? The items that lit up in her presence? Those are chalices. And through your…help, she is saving our realm, and indirectly your realm as well.”
“No,” Lexi said, her knees feeling weak. She remembered that diamond thing. The other items lighting up. “But—”
A familiar scream tore through her thoughts. She lost all sense of reason.
She was running for the door. Everyone in her way wilted, hitting the ground with screams of their own. She didn’t kill them. They knew Daisy and held no animosity toward her. That meant Daisy must’ve liked them, or she would’ve made their lives a living hell.
She reached the door, but a big man was blocking the way, grabbing his chest and rolling from side to side.
“Move!” she shouted, shoving at the door over his wilted form.
The scream cut off. Kieran bent on one side for the male and Zorn was on the other. Lexi had to push back to give them room, and then they were clear, opening the way. Zorn got in first, Lexi right behind.
“No, Daisy—” A guy knelt on the ground. His face was buried in Daisy’s neck, his arms wrapped around her tightly. “Wait for me. I won’t stay here long without you. Please.”
Daisy lay still, her eyes closed, her face relaxed.
“Oh no, Daisy.” Lexi called up the veil. It blazed to the right, more iridescent than in the human realm but doing the same thing. Within it, that male from before—that god—stood with his hands crossed over his chest and a smug smile below gleaming violet eyes. Behind him, dimming, was Daisy’s back as she walked through. She had succumbed to the siren call of the afterlife. Or, more likely, the god had sent her on her way, erasing any hesitancy to cross. “No! Daisy! Come back. I can fix this. Don’t leave your body. We can fix this!”
“She’s mine now,” the god said.
She fixed him with a hard glare, kicking the chalices out of her way as she went to the fae holding Daisy’s body.
“She’s not yours,” she told the god. “She might be in your house, but she is not yours. If I have to walk in there with you, I will fight her back out, you miserable sonuvabitch. Now fuck off and let me work.”
She used a gush of her power to shove the veil away. He could’ve forced the issue, but he didn’t. Maybe he wasn’t all that invested when she wasn’t messing with spirit. Good.
The fae male hadn’t looked up. He clutched Daisy’s body so damn tightly, breathing so heavily into her that it looked like he was on the verge of breaking. His emotion was genuine. And suddenly, Daisy’s willingness to help made a lot more sense. Love made a person do a lot of stupid shit.