Total pages in book: 197
Estimated words: 186911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 935(@200wpm)___ 748(@250wpm)___ 623(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 186911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 935(@200wpm)___ 748(@250wpm)___ 623(@300wpm)
Silence reigned in the square, broken only by shouts, screams, and booms in the distance.
The mysterious stranger hummed. “Well, when you put it like that, who am I to deny you?”
“Wait, what—”
“Good luck.”
A swirling pool of silver and blue opened up beneath my feet, reflecting my blown brows and gaping mouth.
She laughed. “You’ll need it.”
“You—!”
I fell. Scream clogging in my throat, the ground pulled out from beneath me, ripping me away from the square, Lyrica, and that chilling she.
Tumbling through the air, I landed face-first into a bed of powdery cold. I shoved up, gasping—and immediately choked on the burning air.
“Smoke?” I staggered to my feet. “How...”
I ordered that woman to send me to Lumenfell, and sadly, that’s exactly what she did. I stood at the mouth of the path of Bevin, gazing out at the beautiful, peaceful town of Lumenfell as it was consumed by flames.
Heavy clouds of acrid smoke blanketed the shadowed town, hazing the air and stinging my eyes. Everywhere I looked, there was fighting. Villagers fighting the attackers destroying their home. Soldiers battling the intruders in air and on land. All of it was horrifying, but none of it struck as much fear in my heart as the flowers.
Dozens— No, hundreds of purple flowers floating through the air, burning in the snow, littered on the street, or clutched in the hands of the mob.
“How?” I breathed. “How did they get all of—?”
A feather-faced man dragged a cat woman screaming out of her home. Howling, he raised his hand high—knife tip glinting in the firelight.
My arrow soared free, sinking in his throat.
Dropping the knife, he clutched his neck and collapsed—dead.
“Thank you,” she sobbed. “Thank you so much.”
“Of course.” I accepted the thanks, saying nothing of the fact that I missed. I was aiming for his knife arm. “Get out of town,” I ordered. “Get to safety.”
Nodding hard, she ducked back inside her home, then came running back out with two furry-faced children under her arms and another hanging on her back. I covered her until they disappeared into the trees, and then I returned the arrow to my back.
Alisdair was a great teacher, but I wasn’t a good enough shot to risk it again. The next time, I could hit the wrong person.
Not that I know who the right people are!
I winced, sweeping through the blinding flames and attacking smoke. All I saw were faeriken fighting faeriken. How was I supposed to know who the victims were?
And weren’t they all victims? They’re all trapped under an unforgiving curse and desperate to get out. They don’t know another way but to fight who they wrongly believed is the enemy.
“Stop!” I screamed. “Stop this, please! You have it all wrong. This won’t break the curse, but I can! I can put everything back to—”
“Argh!” Out of the corner of my eye, a gorilla man picked up a burning barrel, and readied to throw it on a familiar figure.
I burst into a sprint, tackling him around the waist just as he let go.
“No!”
We tumbled head over feet on the snow and cobblestones, painfully crunching a different part of my body with each strike. The barrel soared through the air, crashing on Riordan.
“I hope he was your lover, whore!” The gorilla man guffawed. “Enjoy watching him burn!”
Roaring, I seized my dagger and smashed the butt into his skull—bouncing his head off the stone.
He flopped flat on the ground, not laughing anymore.
“Riordan? Riordan, no!” I dropped to my knees, sobs wracking my chest.
He was my friend. In the end, the truest friend I ever had. He saved my family not once, not twice, but three times. And his reward was to die under a burning pile of compost.
“Oh, Riordan, I’m so s-sorry. I was supposed to save you. I was supposed to save all of—”
“Calli?”
I choked, blinking through the haze as the smoldering mound of fruit peels moved.
“Calli, is that you?” The trash blew off him. Riordan rose up, clutching a crystal in his hand. “What are you doing here? Wait— Did you come with them?” he barked, shouting at me for the first time in our life. “I can’t believe you, Calli! Someone tells you faeriken are monsters and you just believe them? You used to be someone who judged based on action, not reputation! Fucking shame on you—”
“Riordan, can you save the scolding on prejudice for after I save my husband and everyone here from the beast curse, and no, I’m not going to do it by hurting anyone.” I got to my feet, swiping away my tears. “This curse was born of hate. More hate was never the answer.”
“You’re going to what?” All of the angry bluster whooshed out of him. “And who is your husband?”
“Alisdair, obviously.”
He blinked at me. “I’ve missed something very important, haven’t I?”
“Yes, and it can all be summed up with this—body-switching spell.”