Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 126030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
“I hate when you do this,” Sebastian said, firing faster than Jess could. She’d done a lot of practice, but he had decades of experience and was at the top of his class. “I’m going to do the same, though apparently I won’t last as long.”
“He missed training with her.” Nessa wandered closer. “He might be grumbling, but he loves this. We haven’t had much training time since we’ve been back. Not in any real way. He missed teaching her magic and watching her blossom.”
It showed in his little smile as he dueled with her, hitting her with a spell, and then spinning away from her answering magic.
“I’ve found that if you create a moving target,” Sebastian told her, “classically trained mages get caught up. It messes up their spell work.”
Jess didn’t bother moving, instead using the time to gather a stronger spell and blasting him with it.
“Okay, well…” Sebastian grunted, flinching at the onslaught. “Obviously, you are not one of them.”
“I’ve never practiced on a stationary target,” she said, walking a little closer and hitting him with another spell. He answered with one of his own, forcing her to step back and shake her head in pain. “Ouch. That was a good one.”
“Yeah. Lower on power but should hurt like hell.”
“It does.”
“You’re a liar, though.” He walked to the side and hit her with two spells to her one. “Austin stood there and took it when you were learning, remember that? You tore him all up, and he just readied for the next. Or like, got off the ground and climbed back to standing to take the next one. I’ll never forget that. I thought you two were joking when you were about to unleash that one spell on him. Remember?”
“Vaguely.” Jess grunted. Her face was screwed up in pain and annoyance. “Say uncle.”
“What—crap.” Sebastian’s hands started moving faster as Jess’s new spells hit him. “Jesus, Jessie. What—shit.”
Jessie walked toward him, her eyes sparkling with viciousness, her gargoyle peeking through. The pain had triggered the darkness, and she was letting it consume her.
“Get ready,” Austin said to Tristan and Brochan. “Tristan, shift. Sometimes, it’s easier than others to pull her out of it. Take Sebastian out of here if she gets to be too much.”
Sebastian had stopped talking, his expression determined once more. His face once again turned red. He walked left and right, taking her spells and then throwing them back. She walked straight at him, like an animal cornering its prey. Blood seeped down her skin from a dozen or so wounds, but she didn’t let it slow her. Sebastian’s clothes were ripped and charred and sticky with blood in places.
“Damn it, what are these spells?” Sebastian muttered to himself. “Think it through. Think it through…”
His knees started to buckle. Still, she bore down on him. His breath came fast.
“Uncle,” Sebastian said, staggering backwards. “Uncle!”
“Take him out,” Austin barked.
Tristan snapped his wings and hop-stepped forward, snatching Sebastian out of harm’s way as Jessie hit him with a spell. A sheet of skin ripped from Tristan’s arm where it wrapped around Sebastian. He growled with the pain but didn’t recoil. Blood immediately started running down his arm. He bent and then rocketed into the sky, his wings jetting him high in a blink.
“Hey.” Austin took Sebastian’s place with his arms out in surrender. “Back down now. Come back to me. The challenge—both challenges—are over.”
Jess stopped, her eyes flickering with uncertainty, lost in the viciousness of her gargoyle, and then they cleared.
She took a deep breath. “I’m tired,” she finally said as Nessa bounded over with her pink dress. “Indigo, Tristan is going to need healing. He gets surly when he’s hurt.”
“I don’t mind putting my hands on that gargoyle,” Indigo replied from somewhere in the back of their people.
“Uh, Jessie?” Drex still stood on his porch, a grin peeking through his expression. “You’ve got a rogue vampire on the loose.”
Two tense shifters on the porch made a show of staying perfectly still. Standing too close to their backs, as though trying to push into their line, Edgar waited with that strange simpering smile. As Austin watched him, one eye blinked before the other.
She sighed. “Edgar, go into the backyard and check out Drex’s flowers, would you? I love his layout. I’d love something like that for Ivy House.”
“Oh. That sounds like the perfect use of my time.” He stepped through the line of shifters, bumping them out of the way. “Everything is going smoothly up here, in case you were wondering.”
“She wasn’t,” Niamh drawled. “Is it just me, or has he gotten worse?”
“You both have,” Mr. Tom intoned.
Jess slipped on her dress as Tristan landed with Sebastian. Indigo stepped forward immediately, waiting long enough for Tristan to shift back into his human form, then pushed in close and put both hands on his chest. She smiled up at him in silent laughter. It was clear she was joking about how much she enjoyed their proximity, and just as clear he didn’t care either way. That spell had obviously hurt something awful.