Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 121324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
“At last, we are alone,” said Saul, a smug glint in his pale-blue gaze.
The dude didn’t look good. Not at all. There were dark smudges beneath his eyes. His face was pallid and gaunt. His dark-blond hair was dull and unkempt. It didn’t look like he’d shaved in a while. And his clothes were dirty and wrinkled, as if he hadn’t changed in days.
“I do not believe we have ever had a conversation before now, have we?” he asked.
She’d seen him a few times at Aeon over the years but, no, they hadn’t once spoken. “You never seemed to show any interest in mortals.” As if, to him, they were beneath his notice. Many Aeons appeared to feel that way.
“You are all fairly boring, really. Easy to read. Easy to predict.” He paused. “Even easier to kill.”
“Not all of us.”
“If you think I would struggle to snuff out your life, you are very much mistaken.”
Maybe. “I thought that you Aeons don’t want me dead. I can’t otherwise lift the curse I placed on your land, can I?”
“I no longer care about the curse. The land can perish for all I care. But I will avenge my sister’s death.” The sheer wrath in his voice seemed to scrape at her skin.
She hadn’t expected him to declare an intention to kill her, all things considered, but maybe she should have. A highly vengeful creature herself, Wynter could understand how such a dark craving for justice could hound a person even to a point where they would commit an act that turned their own people against them.
“Even if you do manage to kill me,” she began, “it won’t be something you get away with. Deities don’t take it too well when someone targets their Favored.”
Cain, too, would freak. He was probably searching for her right now, since Anabel would surely have alerted people to her disappearance. The news would have quickly reached him.
Saul threw her a look of incredulity. “You do not think that I truly believe you are Favored by Kali, do you?” He snickered. “I have come across a few revenants during the very long life I have lived, so I can be quite sure that you are not one.”
Wynter didn’t correct him. If he wanted to underestimate her and ignore her warnings, that was on him. And it would make it more fun when she proved him wrong. Small pleasures and all that jazz.
“I could have taken you a little further away from here, but no. I am going to kill you right in this very spot. Your blood will soak the ground. Your death will leave a mark on this place. And your body will be left for Cain to find.” Saul grinned. “I have been hanging around Devil’s Cradle long enough to hear that you are his new plaything.”
Wynter narrowed her eyes. He’d been hanging around awhile, huh? That explained why he was in such an unkempt state.
“He will not like that I have broken his toy. Just as I did not like it when he took my sister’s life.” Saul pointed a finger at her. “You are as much responsible for Lailah’s death as he is. You cursed Aeon. You ran here, dragging others into your mess. You forced us to come here to take you back.”
“Whoa, I didn’t force anyone to do anything. You chose to start a war, despite that you had other options. Lailah died because you all made the mistake of launching an attack on the Ancients and their home—that’s not on me.”
He snarled. “They shouldn’t even be alive. They should have been slaughtered long ago.”
“They should have slaughtered each other, you mean. That’s what you figured would happen when you helped cage them, right? You thought they’d turn on each other.”
Surprise rippled across his face. “Cage?”
“Not going to play dumb, are you? I know that the Ancients aren’t here by choice.” Cain had trusted her with that little titbit. “I know that you, Lailah, Abel, and Adam dumped them here and surrounded the place in an invisible shield they cannot break—a shield that’s reinforced by the Ancients’ blood. I also know that the deaths of you, your sister, Adam, and Abel would destroy that cage.” One down, three to go.
“And you think that would be a good thing?” Saul gave a fast shake of the head. “There is a reason we imprisoned them, and it was not simply to be cruel—though, yes, we found some satisfaction in it. The reality is that it is best for the world at large that they remain contained. Surely you have heard enough about them to know that it is necessary.”
She inwardly sighed. The Aeons were so very fond of tossing mud at the Ancients, accusing them of this and that. They even claimed that the Ancients had sold their souls to Satan—a rumor that many people believed, since the seven beings possessed the ability to grant a person their heart’s desire in exchange for their soul.