Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 47052 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 235(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47052 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 235(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
“I still can’t believe a young witch like you took out a primordial. That victory will give a lot of Loreans hope. It’ll certainly worry the Møriør.” Their alliance contained several primordials from various species.
“It’s about time something did.” What a difference a night could make! She kicked back in his chair, steepling her fingers. “So this place is half mine?”
“Everything of mine is, including my merc crew. I’m still hoping you’ll be the co-leader.”
She rose and sauntered over to him, holding his gaze. “Uh-huh. And what about all those pesky summonings?”
“Soon to be things of the past.” He’d just said those words when the edges of his body started to blur. “No. No, no, no!” Though he clearly fought it, he was disappearing. “Poppy, it’s . . . happening.”
Fatigue and disappointment crashed over her. “You gotta be kidding me. It’s like a horror trope.”
“One last scare, huh?” He looked gutted, his eyes gray with frustration.
His reaction reminded her of everything they’d overcome to get to this point—every foe they’d battled, every mystery solved, every ability realized. A queen like her would never shrink from a challenge.
She grasped his nape. “With the pact you and I made tonight, I summon you back.” Her first demonic summoning! Would it work? “Stay with me, Rök. Heed me.”
A breathless second passed. . . .
By degrees, his form solidified. The strain left his muscles, and he released a relieved exhalation. “Good save, Red.” Brows drawn, he rasped, “Just . . . don’t ever let me go.”
“I won’t.” She gazed up at him, her mate for life. “I’ll summon you back forever—the swimbo of them all—till everyone in the Lore gets the message.”
He leaned into her, as if he couldn’t get close enough. “What message?”
“That you’re mine.”
Nodding, he said simply, “You.”
She rose up to kiss him, saying against his lips, “You.”
TWENTY-ONE
The creature
He stared at Raven’s Murk in the distance, his prison for what felt like eons. After infinite attempts, he’d finally gotten the maddening combination correct and escaped that lab, with not a moment to spare.
Then he’d seen nightmares that defied explanation, even in the Lore, and had used them as cover to steal away from the castle. One thing he knew for certain: that witch and the demon had no idea what forces they’d unleashed. . . .
An immortal raven—once the wizard’s eyes and ears—trailed him from above as he turned from the castle. His stomach cleaved with hunger, his mismatched muscles weak. Ignore the lack. Wrath feeds you. Now he would know freedom—and more.
Retribution beckoned. Though the wizard had been vicious, the one who’d betrayed him first, putting him into the wizard’s clutches, was far worse.
Burning with hatred, he tore into the woods, starving for sustenance but even hungrier for revenge.
CAWWWW!