Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 113319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
“I caught their combined blast,” she continued. “It killed me almost instantly. That’s not an easy feat. Hollace was above, moving into position. Niamh was there, too. Hollace let down his lightning, and then Niamh swooped in. She speared one of the twins—oh, yeah, I forgot to add that two of them were twins. The kind that look alike. Anyway, Hollace killed the two non-twins. But there was some sort of blast or explosion—I don’t know, I was dead—and the twins got away. One of them had a hole in her side. Hopefully she bled out.” She crossed her fingers. “But they were gone in a moment.”
Two things pulled at the gargoyle part of me, lighting up my intuition.
“Twins,” I said, leaning harder into the post as I considered the first thought that had grabbed at me. “Twins.”
Who would work together better than twins? They’d be accustomed to sharing everything. A strong magical worker…doubled, the sum worth more than its parts. Then, using their affinity for working together, they could bring others into their fold. People without huge egos and a me, me, me attitude. I’d fall into that mold, no problem, because I liked the unity of working with others. Clearly there was strength in that.
It was a good strategy.
The bad news? They were working for Momar.
“I need to find some mage friends,” I murmured to myself. If Momar could orchestrate a magical collective, I could do it better. I knew I could. Probably.
I’d just need to scour the books in Ivy House for more information. If only Sebastian were here to help.
The next issue slithered into my brain.
…they were gone in a moment…
Like how they’d shown up in that territory out of nowhere, without any clear point of entry. We still didn’t know how they’d gotten there. There had been no signs of helicopters. No sounds of automobiles. No strings of cars going through the surrounding towns. Their appearance was a mystery, even after the fact.
That hadn’t sat well with Sebastian. I had a feeling that was why he’d left—to find out how the mages had done it. He and Nessa had dark ways of accruing information, and they wouldn’t want to drag me down with them.
Niamh and Tristan were working on finding them. On tracking them. I had no idea how, but I knew they had a knack for that kind of work. All I could do was wait and hope our friends were okay. No news was definitely good news, because we’d hear in an instant if Elliot Graves and the Captain had been captured.
“Sorry…why are you here again?” I asked Cyra, my mind whirling.
“As I might’ve said—we’ve gotten off track and I can’t remember—Edgar expressed an interest in getting rid of the gnomes. Given I’m now holding a grudge, I firebombed one of their larger nests. The basajaunak were not impressed. They’re trying to put out the fire, but—”
“Wait.” I held up my hand, realization dawning, and rushed toward the window.
Out in the back third of the wood, billows of smoke rose into the sky.
“I think it’s spreading,” Cyra said, joining me. “We—well you, I guess, since it’s your territory or land or whatever—could use some elemental magic to stop it. Because, strangely, I don’t know that fire kills those things. What even are they? They aren’t plastic like the dolls. I can melt the faces and limbs off the dolls.”
Two dolls, who’d been lingering in the doorway with glasses of water, suddenly backed slowly out of the door.
“You couldn’t have started with this immediately?” I yelled, and this time I didn’t hold up my hand for going overboard. In fact, I wanted to try again, louder.
I reached down to rip off my clothes, but I didn’t have any on. I’d been naked this whole time.
“Do you need me?” Austin asked, emerging from the bathroom, still dressed in only his jeans.
“Not unless you know elemental magic.” I sprinted out of the room, running full speed into Mr. Tom’s back.
“Miss! Now, you don’t want to end up like your father. Put on some clothes!”
“The wood is on fire,” I said, shoving him out of the way.
“Well, then use the secret passageways!” he called after me. “You’ll traumatize Master Jimmy.”
I hadn’t been thinking. Going through the passageways was the faster option anyway.
Reaching the nearest entrance, I quickly got inside and ran along until I hit the stairs. Up a little higher, and I emerged onto a type of shelf on the roof of the house. I heard sirens in the distance.
“It’s under control,” Ivy House said as I shifted into my gargoyle form.
“What are you talking about?”
“You think I’d survive this long without being able to control the elements on my land?”
I jumped off, flapping into the air. “You’re not doing much to stop the fire.”
“As I said, it’s under control. I’m just allowing it to burn that nest the phoenix was talking about. The gnomes are getting a little out of hand. That vampire is too preoccupied with his flowers.”