Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 109477 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109477 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
“That’s it.” She could barely understand herself through her numb lips. “That’s it.” Her breath still came in quickly. She couldn’t get enough air. “That’s the crystal chalice. That’s what he’s looking for. It must be.”
Lexi didn’t even spare it a glance, still looking into Daisy’s eyes with concern.
“We got a curious sergeant,” Boman called from the front. “He must’ve felt that blast of…whatever that was.”
Daisy looked that way, her head still rattled, thoughts coming slow. “It blasted out that far?”
“It nearly knocked us off our feet.” Lexi glanced behind at Thane.
“Yup.” He bent and scooped Daisy up, hugging her into his hard chest. “Let’s get you into the car, huh, princess?”
He knew she wasn’t a fan of that nickname. He was trying to rile her up and make light of this situation, knowing she didn’t like people to take care of the Chester. Knowing she hated proof of her weaknesses.
“I’m rattled, not incompetent,” she said automatically, but didn’t struggle away from him. She might be lying. Her feet were still mostly numb, and it felt like she had bugs crawling under her skin. She wasn’t sure how walking would go just now. “I can still stick you with something sharp when you’re not looking.”
“There she is.” Thane grinned.
“The sergeant has a gun,” Boman called. “He can’t see me, but he can hear me, and he’s about to take aim.”
“I got him.” Donovan jogged in that direction. He was a telekinetic and probably intended to yank the gun away.
Daisy lost sight of them as Thane neared the back door.
“Don’t use your hands!” Lexi hollered. “Are you crazy, Mordecai? You saw what happened to your sister. Use the sack or kick it in with your shoe or something.”
Thane pushed out through the back door to find Bria standing above a body lying prone on the brittle grasses.
“What was that?” she asked, her brow pinching when she noticed Daisy. “What’s going on?”
“The gremlin thinks she found the crystal chalice, even though there is nothing cuplike about it.” Thane didn’t take her to the SUV she’d come in. Instead, he hiked her up so that he cradled her in one arm while using the other to open the door of the SUV Lexi and Kieran had brought.
“What did it do?” Bria left the body to follow them to the car.
“Released what felt like a punch of power and knocked her flat on her ass. I had to kick the damn thing away.”
She let out a breath, hands on her hips. “Well, shit.”
“Yeah.” Thane settled Daisy in, adjusting her so she was comfortable before trying to smooth her hair.
“I’m good.” She swatted at his hands. “I’m fine. The tingling is going away a bit.”
“Oh yeah?” Bria pushed in behind him to look at Daisy as the first person with a filled sack came out. Jack. “What was it like? Did anyone else try it? Maybe it doesn’t affect magical people as much as it affects Chesters.”
Thane leaned against the side of the SUV next to Daisy, leaving the door open. “Or it could be infinitely worse.”
Bria nodded, turning to watch Jack load the sack into the back of the SUV Daisy sat in. The Demigods would be guarding the precious cargo.
“Good point,” she said. “I vote you try it and see.”
Daisy laughed as Dylan came out with the next sack. It didn’t take long for everything to be packed up and their convoy to be on the way.
“We’ll have to tighten up our territory defenses,” Kieran told Lexi as he turned onto the highway. “Even if we destroy those…magical items, eventually that fae is going to track down who took all of this and will come knocking. We need to be ready when he does.”
“We need to invite him over, actually,” Daisy said, watching the world go by out the window. “First, we need to track down better weapons, and then we need to set a trap. Hell—that isn’t a bad word, Lexi. That’s a place. The weapons we have will probably do if we’re prepared.”
“How do you plan to invite him?” Lexi asked her guardedly.
Kiss someone, Daisy thought immediately. That seemed to result in a punctual visit. She had a list of people who deserved his attention.
She didn’t mention that, though. She didn’t want to get into the details, like why she’d kissed him in the first place. Why she’d practically begged him to keep going. How many times she’d thought about the feel of his lips and his hard body under her palms.
“I can call him through—”
Glass exploded next to her. Something large hit the side of the moving vehicle. The tires screeched against the road as the SUV was shoved to the side. Kieran swore, yanking the wheel to go straight.
“What the hell was that?” Lexi yelled over the cold wind flooding the cab. Her phone started ringing.