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)
“Never mind.” Lexi waved it away.
“Several humans have crossed the fringe.” The Celestial’s voice took on a hard edge. “More now than ever.” Her muscles tensed. She didn’t approve of that fact. One wondered why she didn’t do anything about it. “I don’t recall one that was carried or forced. Several have not had magic, female and male. You believe this tale, and so you may pass to do as you wish. We will not darken your path. However, given you were not invited by a royal, you will need to brave the wylds as any human would. You—”
Her head jerked left. A group of three fae had run through the border line, appearing from nowhere. A body could see the fringe from a ways off, but on this side, they could only see a white haze.
“I got it!” Bria shouted. “I need something to do.”
She took off toward the coming fae before the Celestials above could descend.
“Wait for me!” Jack took off after her, Thane after him, followed by a few of the undead. Those were probably the human spirits they’d brought with them. The others were hunching and uncomfortable in the presence of the Celestials.
“What strange creatures you are,” the Celestial said, watching the others confront the incoming fae. “It is not your battle, but you would still defend the fringe?”
“No.” Lexi’s eyes were hard. “They realize you lot are mostly ineffective and want to stop your kind from coming and going. Killing them will do the trick.”
The Celestial’s light eyes, a beautiful shade of blue, bored into Lexi.
Lexi huffed, the Celestial having said something directly into her mind.
“If this is the best of your ability,” she said, “then it’s the task asked of you that is the problem. That implies a leadership that doesn’t want Guardians to actually guard, no?” She paused. “Sure, sure. It’s complicated, yeah.”
Lexi turned and strode toward an enormous gate that appeared within a massive wall.
“I’ll take my chances,” she told the Celestial. “Keep your deal for the next fool that comes along.”
With smirks and sparkling eyes, the others followed after Lexi. There wasn’t a creature in this whole land who would speak to Celestials like that and get away with it. Lexi definitely had a way about her, and it didn’t matter if she was sweet or spicy, she made herself heard.
Zorn stayed where he was, looking at the female. Glancing at those flying above. Waiting for Bria and the others to rejoin him.
The female’s eyes slid to his. They narrowed.
Your quarrel is not with me, she said into his mind.
We shall see, he thought back, peeling away as an out-of-breath Bria caught up with them.
“Zero power or know-how,” she said without sparing the Celestial a glance. “Guarding the fringe has to be child’s play. It’s a wonder they need so many people…”
No, it was a wonder their leadership didn’t want them to do a better job…
He pondered that as he neared the large, arching doors leading into Faerie, clearly the main entrance that held no peril. A trick, a trap, or a pass, they would soon see.
As he moved to pass through, something above caught his eye. He glanced up.
A massive being rested its forearms along the top of the walls, hundreds of feet in the air. The face smiled down at him, with hair as dark as the night and spotted through with what looked like stars. She, for it seemed female, covered her mouth with her hand as though to hide a laugh.
What fun, he thought he heard, the voice strange and echoing, far away but in his head at the same time. The form pulled her hand back to bite a nail. Her violet eyes flashed as she looked down at him, her skin fleshlike one moment, then wispy and nearly see-through the next. The humans have come to play in my games. One of the human god’s favorites, no less. Maybe I will invite him for the show. This will be a grand treat…
Her laugh was horrible and beautiful at the same time, and then she was gone. Vanished like the darkness within the new day.
Cold washed through him. It didn’t seem like this would be as simple as going after Daisy. This seemed a lot bigger than any of them could ever possibly know.
15
Daisy
Slightly too-big servants’ attire draped down her frame, hiding the weapons stashed or strapped on her body. The cloth was old, her slippers worn, and ash from the fireplace marred her face. No one seemed to notice her passing through the halls behind Niall and Lennox.
They stopped beside a set of nondescript double doors. Niall pushed his way inside and Lennox paused so Daisy could go in the middle. The room opened up into a lovely domed affair with stained glass, couches, maps, and scrolls everywhere. Literally everywhere. On chairs, the floor, stuffed in bookcases, overflowing from two different desks, from all the tables… It was madness. Mayhem.