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)
Your mind is truly a dizzying place, Tarian said when she’d put the container to her lips.
There’s always a lot to think about.
It seems so, yes. It hasn’t been quiet since we started traveling together.
Maybe just walk farther away, where you can’t hear my thoughts. That would be quiet. We’d both be happier then.
He tsked. I didn’t say I was unhappy with the proximity. Quite the contrary. Besides, what if something jumped out at us? Who would I throw in the way if you weren’t in arm’s reach? I quite enjoy your saving yourself while I stand by.
Lean by, you mean.
He laughed softly, his big back shaking. His inked skin glistened in the sunlight, a light sheen of sweat coating the healing flesh. The obsidian circles glimmered, and it seemed like they were part of him. Not placed there but born there. She was about to ask about it when he stiffened.
What is it? She scanned right and left, then looked behind. Nothing.
It’s too quiet, he said, picking up his pace. It’s never been this quiet.
Are you always attacked when walking this path?
Seldom, but that is because I am usually warding creatures away with magic. I’m not doing that now. I haven’t been since we started, actually. Even when I am, I usually hear signs of life. This area is more unbalanced than most, but there are still benign creatures. There are prey animals and insects. It is still an ecosystem. I haven’t heard any of them.
The memory of the voice-presence echoed in her mind. It prowls.
She pondered that as they walked, remembering the pulse when she’d woken up. Remembering when the creatures had fled by the brook before the darkrend revealed itself. Remembered being charged.
She called up each detail, how they had made her feel, the parts that had to be magic. Her mind churned over the memory as they walked, nothing else to do but analyze, thinking of ways in which she could beat the feeling in the future.
It wasn’t until the pale blond sun had reached its zenith, when her stomach felt like it had started sucking in her ribs, she was so hungry, that something niggled her awareness. Souls popped up on her radar, along the sides of the path, two on each side. Humanoid, not animal/creature.
Her knife had been low while her mind was distant, but she brought it back up. The movement in the trees was a whisper, the steps nothing more than a coosh of compression. Something was there. Lexi’s gift, though Daisy was far from mastering or sometimes even remembering it, gave her a fantastic edge.
She stopped Tarian with a thought. Her knife turned into a dagger. A leaf wiggled on the other side where it shouldn’t.
Someone is there, she murmured.
They stepped out as one, four large men—males—equally spaced and surrounding them in a square. She quickly scanned for the information she needed: shoulder size, muscle mass, stance, weapons, height, reach, leg size, footwear. A couple other things also trickled in—long hair, large necklaces and adornments practically begging her to choke the men with them, tattoos in a similar configuration. Their weapons were not the faerie blades she and Tarian held, so she assumed they wouldn’t change shape. The men held them comfortably, though, with obvious familiarity. They’d be good with them. All the other information pointed to their being fast, experienced, and good swordsmen. They’d give her some trouble.
Luckily, she had Tarian.
But he put his blade away. “She’s all yours,” he told the males. Then to her, “Good luck, dove. Sorry for tricking you, but…it was necessary. I told you that you wouldn’t want my touch for long. Betrayal tends to do that. It was a treat knowing you. I’m sure they’ll be gentle.”
23
Zorn’s voice: If you can save yourself, don’t wait. Being on the run gives you better odds than being locked in a box.
Tarian stepped away. One of the largest males stepped forward to grab her.
She knew a moment of pain and confusion at the deception. A moment of vulnerability as she struggled to process his actions. Tarian had been lying about several things, and she’d stupidly let down her guard. After all they’d been through, after how well they’d worked together, he’d always planned to screw her in the end.
But she only took that one moment, because he’d always said he would do it. She should’ve been ready for this. She should’ve known this was coming. She’d been a fool for forgetting the dire situation she was in that he had created.
So she bottled up the fleeting hurt and quickly morphed it into rage and action.
She launched at them. They were big and strong, but she was quick and had extensive practice in fighting multiple people at the same time, almost always larger than her. Thank you, Kieran, for the gift of your guys training me. She’d only do enough damage to get out from under them, and then she’d run. She needed to get far enough, fast enough, to hide. Or hell, take her chances with the wylds.