Total pages in book: 247
Estimated words: 235897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1179(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 786(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 235897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1179(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 786(@300wpm)
I startle, then wince as my knee cries at the sudden movement.
“Damn, Sorrengail, you didn’t have to—” he starts.
“I didn’t.” I shake my head.
“I did.”
Our heads whip right, and the silver-haired venin walks toward us, her purple robes billowing in the breeze. She doesn’t bother to look at Tairn as she passes mere yards in front of his hind claws, just keeps those eerie red eyes pinned on us. On me.
Wait. She did…what? Lightning?
Blood drains from my face and I throw up my shields, drawing on Andarna’s power.
Holy Dunne, she wielded lightning. But venin aren’t supposed to have signets…let alone mine.
Dread pins my heart to the ground, but my hands are fast as I unsheathe and fling two daggers at her chest.
She waves her hand left and right, and the knives fall mid-flight. “Is that any way to thank me?”
Fuck. I should have brought the mini crossbow Maren gave me.
“Thank you for what, exactly?” Garrick raises his sword and moves to my side as I reach for Tairn’s power again, finding a dim hum.
“Now wouldn’t be a bad time to manifest a second signet,” I tell Andarna as the dark wielder approaches. My heart thunders like a drum. All the venin has to do is palm the earth and the four of us will be desiccated in seconds.
“As if I control how you use my power?” Andarna counters.
Second signet. My gaze darts toward Garrick, but a glance is all I can afford with the dark wielder sauntering toward us.
“Not killing you, of course.” The dark wielder cocks her head to the side and runs her gaze over me in blatant appraisal, then pauses about ten feet away. The scarlet veins beside her eyes remind me of a masquerade mask topped by the faded tattoo on her forehead, and the red glow around her irises is ten shades brighter than Jack’s. A Sage, probably…maybe even a Maven, and were it not for the physical signs of her lost soul, she’d be stunningly beautiful, with high cheekbones and a full mouth, but her skin’s eerily pale. “Though I must say I’m disappointed you were so easily lured from your wards.” She tsks at me. “Shame the girl’s family raised weapons at me, or they might have lived.” She shoots a warning glance at Garrick, but he doesn’t lower his sword.
The girl’s family… My hands curl into fists.
“You killed Maren’s family?” Rock and ice crunch under my boots as I take two steps toward her. “To lure me?” Anger curdles my stomach.
“Only the parents.” She rolls her eyes. “I left the boys as a sign of goodwill, though you can’t say the same about my wyvern, can you?”
“Goodwill?” I shout. Maren’s going to be devastated.
“Violet,” Garrick warns, but he keeps with me step for step.
“Careful with your tone, lightning wielder.” The dark wielder flicks her wrist, and Garrick rises in the air in a nauseating reenactment of every one of my nightmares. His sword drops to the ground, and he scrambles for his throat. “You, I’m curious about. I’ll even admit to wanting, considering all that power, not to mention being an effective leash. But him?” She shakes her head, and Garrick begins to kick.
Leash. That’s exactly what Jack called me. She knows about Xaden.
“Let him go!” I draw another dagger and shove every hint of fear aside. Nothing’s happening to Garrick on my watch. “This might not kill you, but it will hurt like hell.”
“Let’s not compare weapons.” She reaches for a knife sheathed in the belt of her gauzy purple robe and reveals just enough of its green tip to seize my breath for a heartbeat. “Our paths are too intertwined to begin with such hostility. I know: you answer a single question and I’ll return the walker to the ground. That seems a civil start to our relationship, don’t you think, Violet?”
“Ask it.” I feel Andarna hovering along our bond, alert and hopefully nowhere near us. “Warn the others.”
“They’re coming.” Frustration sharpens her words.
“You prize his friend’s life over information. Interesting.” She shoves the knife back into its sheath. “I’m Theophanie, by the way. Seems only right that you know my name, seeing as I know everything about you, Violet Sorrengail.”
Fucking awesome. “Because of Jack?” It’s the only logical explanation.
She shrugs in a dismissive gesture that reminds me of the Duchess of Morraine. “Bonding one dragon is…enviable. All that power just given to you.” Her mouth tightens. “But two is unheard of. Aren’t you the luckiest girl on the Continent? Or maybe that’s me, being close by when your morningstartail was spotted.”
“Is that really your question?” My fingernails cut into my palms as Garrick’s kicks become more desperate.
“Just an observation.” Her gaze flicks toward Garrick. “For good faith.” She turns her hand and Garrick crashes to the ground beside me, wheezing as he draws breath. “Now tell me, which chose you first? The one who gifted you the power of the sky? Or the irid?”