Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 125179 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125179 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
“Especially when we know that our own blood was used to reinforce our cage,” said Lilith, flexing her fingers. “It makes it feel as if we are partially responsible for our own imprisonment.”
Eve swallowed. “I’m sorry this was done to you. I’m sorry I was not able to help.”
Seth briefly touched her arm. “You’re helping now.”
Rima looked at Wynter. “As are you, apparently.” It wasn’t said with attitude, it was simply an observation. Which meant Cain didn’t have to tell her to watch her fucking mouth.
“I might not be needed,” said Wynter. “I’m just here in case I am.”
Cain half-expected Ishtar to snort in disdain at his consort, but the female Ancient paid her no attention. She was focused on the prison she couldn’t see. Good. He wanted them all fully focused on the matter at hand.
He swept his gaze over each and every person. “I’m assuming everyone remembers just what it is they need to do and when they need to do it?” They’d already discussed it the previous night.
People answered in the affirmative. They all then lined up, fully facing the transparent cage. Cain looked at his consort, who stood between him and Abaddon. She gave Cain an encouraging nod, her eyes practically yelling You can do this.
Azazel raised his hand. A narrow beam of shimmering power shot out of his palm and crashed into the forcefield, making a small portion of it flicker, showing its honeycomb pattern.
Aiming power at the construct wasn’t like throwing a dart at a board, because the wall wasn’t hard. It was flimsy like gossamer and swayed like a cloth in the breeze, but it was tougher than any steel.
Azazel kept the needle-thin flow of power concentrated on one spot. Dantalion went next, focusing his own blast on that exact same spot. Lilith added her own power, as did Seth. Then the sisters. Then Cain. Soon the needle was so thick it was more of an arrow.
“The cage definitely isn’t as strong as it once was,” said Azazel. “But it’s still like poking a finger at a damn veil—all you do is stretch the material, nothing breaks.”
“Not yet,” corrected Noah, more confidence in his voice than Cain might have expected.
The three Aeons then acted. Cain felt their elemental power fuel and interweave itself with the “arrow”, causing the construct to throb and hum.
Cain glanced at his uncle. “We’ve put as much of a strain on this part of the wall as we can. Now you go.”
Abaddon flooded the “arrow” with his own power, visibly amplifying it. The construct thickened, sharpened, and glowed more brightly.
Cain’s pulse jumped as he felt a slight give in the ethereal wall. Like a stitch was being strained. He looked at his consort and nodded.
Wynter let out a surge of dark, rippling magick. It crackled as it hit the arrow and then curled around it, smooth as a snake. There was something very predatory about the flow of magick as it slinked its way closer and closer to the tip of the arrow, like a serpent creeping fast toward its prey.
“Now,” Cain ordered, speaking to everyone at once. He dug deep into his reserves and boosted his own wave of power. The others did the same and then, at once, they gave the arrow an abrupt, forward shove.
Seams stretched. The wall tautened. The arrow vibrated.
A stitch popped.
Satisfaction curled his lips. “Again.”
They drilled the arrow forward once more. Another stitch broke under the strain, followed quickly by another. And another. And another. The wall bounded backwards as a perfect tear formed, long and wide enough for a person to step through.
Everyone pulled back their power and stilled. The prison was now once more transparent, but it didn’t matter. They all knew exactly where that tear was. And, having craved the sight of one for so long, there was no danger of them ever forgetting its location.
Ishtar moved first, her hopeful expression almost childlike in its vulnerability. She tentatively tried poking her hand through the gap they could no longer see. “I feel it, I feel its edges brushing my skin.” Her face lit up as her arm stretched all the way through the tear. Laughing to herself, she stepped through the hole. Then she was jumping on the spot, urging her sister to join her.
Like the other Ancients, Cain slid through the gap, feeling a soft brush of something . . . like the swish of a curtain. As he planted both feet on the ground beyond the prison’s boundary, a smile pulled at his mouth. Free. He was fucking free. Finally.
He let out a quiet exhale and then drew in a long breath through his nose. There was a lightness in his chest. As if a weight, a restriction, was gone. Warm energy trickled through him, leaving him feeling ultra-alert.