Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 122946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 615(@200wpm)___ 492(@250wpm)___ 410(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 615(@200wpm)___ 492(@250wpm)___ 410(@300wpm)
“Oh, come on, you can’t hog her all to yourself,” Daiyu said, linking arms with me. “Druella and I are working on a friendship here.”
Did she forget that she offered to have me killed to punish Theseus? That was only like half an hour ago.
“I think this is how the rapture starts,” Mikhail muttered and even crossed himself, but it was the opposite way from what I was used to.
“He’s Christian,” Daiyu whispered for no reason.
“Yeah, I am. Do you have a problem with that?” Mikhail growled at her.
“May any god help me out of this elevator?” Taelon begged and then looked at Theseus. “What I would give to have a normal family like you do.”
Theseus looked over at him, and for the very first time since we got into the elevator, the tension in his shoulders relaxed. He didn’t say anything; he just chuckled, shook his head, and looked forward like he couldn’t believe he’d said something so foolish.
“You’ve never met the rest of the Thorbørns, have you?” Daiyu grinned, leaning over to look at her other brother. “Be grateful for us. Compared to them we are handpicked by angels for you, Taelon.”
“Ulrik Thorbørn is the worst of them.” Mikhail crossed his arms decisively.
Daiyu leaned into me once again to whisper, “Mikhail met Ulrik a few years after his rebirth and looked up to him, kind of like a big brother. Ulrik would play pranks on him constantly, and one left him alone in Vienna on Good Friday as a pig.”
Huh?
“As a pig?” Taelon also asked, confused.
“The damn bastard,” Mikhail cursed. “He can take other people’s gifts for a short time and give them to another. He stole a shapeshifting gift, gave it to me, and tricked me. He told me I was going was to fly, and I ended up as a pig for three days!”
I clamped my lips together, trying not to laugh at that or imagine the pig version of Mikhail, but Daiyu being her normal evil self said, “Oink, oink.”
And I lost it, breaking out into a fit of laughter alongside Taelon. Theseus had a small smile on his lips and nodded as if that was exactly what he was expecting.
“Not funny, I nearly became someone’s Easter dinner!” Mikhail yelled at us, which only made us laugh more.
“Is no one going to ask how a power you thought was going to make you fly made you a pig?” Theseus questioned, and he glanced over to Mikhail. “You should have become a bird, but why a pig?”
Mikhail looked away, his arms tightening. “He said the way to use the power was to think of the saying of when pigs fly because it was supposed to be impossible for people to fly, too.”
At that point, Taelon, Daiyu, and I were just balls of laughter. Theseus shook his head.
“Ulrik was the one who saved you from the butcher’s knife, right? No more hard feelings?” Daiyu teased.
“I hate him,” Mikhail shot back. And when we finally reached the ground floor, he came out first and pointed directly at Theseus. “Next time you see your brother, tell him that I am going to have my revenge—”
“You still haven’t gotten it?” I questioned and lifted my finger to point at him. “Not if I get you first, let’s see if I can make you a toad.”
At the end of my index finger, a tiny orb appeared, glowing a soft orange color. The moment he saw it, he vanished so quickly that Daiyu let me go and stuck her head out the elevator, grinning before turning back to me. “Very well done, young one. You act more like one of us by the hour.”
I flexed my hands and luckily that put an end to the glowing. “I haven’t forgotten that you threatened my life.”
“Very bad, young one.” Daiyu glowered, but amusement was still on her face. “Vampires do not hold grudges. Well, the mature ones don’t, at least not over words. If we did, we’d never have friends or places to go. You can’t be immortal and petty at the same time. Thank you for a very interesting morning. I’m going to take a nap and see what else you come up with before dinner.”
“We will not be here,” Theseus said, stepping up beside me. “We will be leaving for Ankeiros.”
Daiyu rolled her eyes at him and looked at me.
“In the 791 years I’ve been reborn, his reputation for being a destructive wonderer is the only thing that does not change. I suggest you learn to travel lightly. He’ll be dragging you all over the world, invoking chaos, terror, and fear.”
“I don’t mind traveling.” I’d lived my life in one place for so long that seeing the world was a bit exciting. “But I doubt I’ll invoke any of those things.”
“Oh, but you do, young one, you do.” Daiyu’s voice had lost all humor. Her eyes were sharp and clear. “Your existence, your gift for magic might be the most terrifying of them all, just look around you now.”