Total pages in book: 163
Estimated words: 152616 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 763(@200wpm)___ 610(@250wpm)___ 509(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 152616 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 763(@200wpm)___ 610(@250wpm)___ 509(@300wpm)
And into a new nightmare.
Because Grady was right behind me. I should’ve known he wouldn’t listen. He caught me with the arm around my waist, hauling me back as the ni’mere turned toward me, feather wings whipping out as it screeched a warning. I skidded to a stop as I saw the Hyhborn who had to be the Prince. It wasn’t Prince Rainer. This male was blond like Lord Samriel. Blood splattered the exquisitely formed jaw and cheek. He held Allyson to his chest by her throat, forcing her onto the tips of her toes. Her left arm hung at an awkward, deformed angle. Her wide, terrified gaze met mine as Grady tried to edge me back, but I saw past them, to where Lord Samriel stood to the Prince’s right, a towering icy beauty. He smiled as he took a step forward.
Grady shoved me behind him, brandishing his sword. I cried out, grabbing his arm, but he shook me off. “Don’t come up any closer,” he warned, and the Lord halted.
The Prince tilted his head to the side, his grasp on Allyson easing up.
“Yeah, that’s right. You all are going to stay right there and you’re going to let my friend here leave,” Grady continued. “You’re not going to stop her.” He spared a quick glance over his shoulder. “Get out. I’ll catch up with you.”
Shock blasted through me as I stared at that brave, loyal fool in disbelief. Did he really think I would leave him? That I would run and leave him behind even if the Hyhborn allowed it? “No.”
His nostrils flared. “Damn it, go! Get the hell out— ”
“No,” I repeated, trembling as I grasped his sides, holding on to him with everything I had.
His head kicked toward mine. Panic filled his eyes, and I hadn’t seen that since . . . since the night in Union City. “Please.”
Tears burned my eyes. “I told you to stay hidden,” I whispered.
“So very charming,” Lord Samriel said, and I jolted. There was no impatience or annoyance tainting his words. He . . . he sounded like he meant it. He lifted a pale hand.
Grady cursed as his sword was ripped free of his hand. Lord Samriel snatched it from the air.
“Iron and steel? Cute.” Lord Samriel tsked softly. He slammed the sword down into the floor, piercing the wood. The sword reverberated from the impact. “Seize him.”
It happened fast— too fast.
Figures drifted out from the stacks, wispy gray tendrils seeping out from the openings of their cloaks and spilling along the floor. They moved so quietly and quickly they could’ve been wraiths, but the Rae weren’t spirits. They were bone and . . . some flesh.
They were on us in a heartbeat.
Grady broke free from my grasp, swinging his fists as he crashed into the Rae. The heavy thuds of the blows he landed knocked hooded heads back, scattering the gray mist, but he was outnumbered. A Rae captured his arms, forcing them to his back as he was driven to his knees and another held a . . . a sword to Grady’s throat. A blade that shone a milky white. I shot toward the Rae, reaching for the arm that held the sword at Grady’s neck.
Lord Samriel stepped in front of me.
I jerked back so quickly, I lost my balance and slipped, landing on my ass hard.
Chuckling, Lord Samriel glided— actually glided toward me. “That was unbelievably graceful.”
Shit. Shit. Shit. I crawled backward, my legs getting tangled in the skirt of my gown.
“You son of a bitch! Get away from her!” Grady shouted, struggling against the one holding him. “Let me go, or I swear I’ll— ”
“Silence him,” the Prince ordered.
The Rae’s cloaks whispered along the floor as it spun, bringing down the hilt of a sword onto Grady’s head. He went down, sending a burst of panic through me as I scrambled to my feet. I rushed to his side, dropping to my knees. “Grady?” I whispered as the Rae moved quietly back, forming a loose circle around Grady and me. “Grady?”
“Calm yourself.” Hymel walked out from between two standing stacks as I jerked to a halt, my gaze immediately drawn to his empty hands and then to his hips, where his . . . his sword was still sheathed. He hadn’t been disarmed.
And I was a naive fool to believe that Hymel’s presence had been forced. That he wasn’t capable of taking part in what was happening.
“You bastard,” I seethed, fingers curling around empty air as I glared up at him.
“That’s her, Prince Rohan,” he said, the relief evident in his features. “That’s the one that belongs to the Prince of Vytrus.”
My entire body locked up. “What?”
“Perfect.” Prince Rohan let go of Allyson.
She stumbled, cradling her arm to her stomach as she sobbed. Prince Rohan looked at the ni’mere perched on the shelf, and that was all it took. The ni’mere took flight, aiming straight for her.