Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 125422 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 627(@200wpm)___ 502(@250wpm)___ 418(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125422 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 627(@200wpm)___ 502(@250wpm)___ 418(@300wpm)
“Lord Death,” he says, voice dripping with sarcasm. “What can I do for you today?”
I ignore the mockery. I take my time, crossing my arms and regarding him. He’s still bruised, clothes rumpled. He knows he’s alive by my mercy—or rather, the Magician’s mercy. I loathe how that makes him feel more important than he is.
“You know Louhi better than anyone here,” I say evenly. “Or, at least you know this current version of her. You know how she thinks, how she strategizes. You were kept in this very castle by her side. Tell me what plans she might have. I want to know what leverage she counts on.”
He narrows his eyes. “What makes you think I’ll tell you? Your daughter already tried to interrogate me.”
I tilt my head, letting silence and my steady gaze unnerve him. Rasmus may be stubborn, but he’s not fearless.
“Because Lovia has told me your fears,” I eventually say. “I know you will favor only yourself, but you also know your own mother doesn’t care if you live or die. Unfortunately for me, the Magician does care. So, while you’re here, no harm will come to you.”
He continues to glare. “Until my purpose is served.”
I take a wider stance. “If your purpose is to help us win, then I personally won’t lay a hand on you. And I mean that literally.”
He tilts his head, mulling that over. “You’re not the only one here who wants me dead.”
“No one would dare. They want Louhi dead more,” I assure him, though it bothers me that I even have to. “Now, tell me what I need to know to defeat her. I know you know something.”
“Or what? You’ll try the same Jean Grey shit you’ve done with the Finnish troops?”
“I don’t know who Jean Grey is, but yes.”
He sighs, licking his lips as he looks around the room. “You know, this was my room before. I was under lock and key just as I am now. You really think she let me in on her plans? She kept me prisoner.”
“You still did her dirty work.”
“I didn’t have a choice. It was work for her or die. I’m sorry, but all I want is to save my own ass.”
I step forward until I’m looming over him. “You know something. Help us help you. Give me something we can use. Anything. What about Rangaista?”
“I never saw Rangaista. Louhi’s plan was to raise him in the crypt, some section that runs over a ley line…”
My brows raise. “The Sect of the Undead?”
“That’s it. She said she needed some more ingredients before she could call him forth. She said it would also release the saints from their prison.”
I picture the macabre statues lined up along the crypt and shudder. To think, that’s where Hanna and I got married. “Do you know what she meant by ingredients?”
He swallows audibly, running his tongue over his teeth. “Something about horns…”
Like a sword to the gut, I immediately know what she had in mind.
Either Tuonen’s horns or Sarvi’s.
Or both.
“Tuonen,” I whisper, quiet horror in my voice. “He was last seen by Tapio at Shadow’s End.”
Rasmus doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t have to. He knows.
“This won’t just be an attack,” I say. “It might have to be a rescue mission.”
Unless Tuonen escaped, but I can’t count on that, or on Sarvi, for that matter. They would be here already otherwise.
“I’d say she wouldn’t hurt her own son,” Rasmus says carefully, “but I have a couple of cracked ribs that say otherwise.”
I clench my jaw so hard, I think I crack a tooth.
“What else do you know?” I manage to ask, my hands curling into fists. Her goal will be to use Tuonen’s horns to conjure Rangaista, so she already hurt him. Now, I can only hope she has enough motherly instinct to keep him alive.
Or turn him against you, a voice says. I can’t bear to think of that right now. Either way, we’re getting him back.
I do my best to rein in my emotions as I bring my focus back on the attack.
“If she has Tuonen, she wants me to come and get him,” I muse. “She knows I won’t let go of my son so easily. She expects us, doesn’t she?”
Rasmus nods. “Yes. She knows you’ll go to her, but she’ll be ready. I really don’t think you’ll get to Shadow’s End without going through more than a few battles. The Old Gods are everywhere, as are the Bone Stragglers. Those fuckers have been waiting to exact their revenge on you for a long time, and that’s what she’s been counting on. You’ll have to get through all of them before you can get remotely close. They’ll be ready, and once you’re spotted, she’ll be ready too.”
I need to be strategic. “Boats on the River of Shadows—could she use them as a feint while sending another force through the forest?”