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)
Metal creaked as the doors opened, and the jeep rocked slightly.
“So you’re from Devil’s Cradle?”
“Yes,” Xavier simply replied.
A grunt. “Your girlfriend will stay right here. Quick warning, if she does anything stupid, my friend over there will put a bullet in her brain. Now move.”
Wynter heard two sets of footfalls make their way to the rear of the vehicle, so she had to assume that Tito had gestured for Xavier to head that way. Her pulse kicked up, and she licked her lips.
“Open it,” said Tito as the footsteps paused outside the trunk.
“I need the key fob for that,” Xavier told him.
An annoyed sigh. “Wood, use the damn key fob to open the trunk.”
Wood, huh? Wynter remembered him, too. The mage had been a friend of the boys who killed her when she was just a child.
There was a jangle of keys, a slight snick, and then a low whirr as the trunk slowly opened, moving higher and higher.
Delilah pounced in a flash of movement, shifting mid-air into a monstrous cat and slamming Tito’s body to the ground, burying her iron claws into his chest. Screaming, Tito fired his gun, but the shot went wide.
Wynter moved a mere millisecond after Delilah, lashing out with magick, sending an ultraviolet orb smashing into Tito’s skull. Still a cat, Delilah tore out his throat before he had the chance to retaliate.
Wynter turned to see Xavier impaling Wood on his rapier sword. The keeper had claw marks on his face that she guessed came from Hattie’s talons. The crow was now perched on Anabel’s shoulder.
“Anyone hurt?” Wynter asked, relieved when everyone responded in the negative.
Hearing voices calling out in the distance, they looked to see a cluster of people racing their way who’d no doubt heard the shot firing. Good. Because that had been the whole point—lure keepers their way and take out as many as possible before they stormed Aeon.
“Move,” Wynter barked out.
She and her coven quickly huddled behind the jeep—and not a moment too soon. The vehicle jiggled as bullets and orbs of magick crashed into it again and again. Her heart pounded in her chest as footfalls thundered along the ground toward them.
Anabel squeezed her eyes shut. “So this is how we die.”
“Don’t start with that shit. The plan will work.” Wynter looked at Xavier. “How many are coming at us?”
He peered through the windows. “Eight.”
Knowing some would carry swords that she’d enchanted, Wynter briefly chanted beneath her breath to swiftly disable the runes. No one got to use her own magick against her or her coven.
Xavier launched two balls of magick over the jeep and then ducked down again. The colorful flashes of magick would wonderfully act like freaking flare guns to any nearby keepers.
Her monster stirred menacingly, wanting to surface and attack. But a cautioning brush of air from Kali stayed it.
Xavier and Wynter took turns tossing orbs of magick at the approaching men, managing to take out two. Hattie and Delilah returned to their human forms and joined in, their magick more feral in nature—it bit and clawed, scoring and puncturing flesh.
Wynter looked to where the forest lay behind them. It looked so small from here, but she knew the army hiding there could get to them fast if necessary. It wouldn’t be necessary, though. She and her coven had this.
“Do you think Cain will definitely hold back until all the keepers are close?” asked Anabel, using the sword she’d conjured to deflect bullets and orbs.
“Yes,” replied Wynter. “He’s protective, but he knows better than to let the army’s presence be noticed too soon.”
After all, if the keepers saw a small cluster of enemies, they wouldn’t bother to sound an alarm; they’d come to help their fellow keepers handle the situation. But if they spotted an army, well, things would go differently. No one wanted the Aeons to yet know just how close their home was to being invaded.
“These shitheads are almost on us,” said Xavier even as he blasted them with more magick. “And I can see more in the distance now heading our way.”
“Then it’s time,” said Anabel. “Call her.”
Wynter leaned forward and sang into her ear, “Mary, Mary, please come out.”
A glimmer of madness sprung to life in the blonde’s eyes. The sounds of magick crackling, bullets firing, and men shouting out challenges made her face light up. She looked fondly at her sword. “We fight?”
“In about, oh, ten seconds,” replied Wynter, calling to her own blade. She hurled a few more blasts of magick while counting down in her head. “Okay, now!”
Delilah and Hattie shifted into their animal forms once more as they all broke cover and attacked. A few keepers skidded to a halt, clearly not expecting the bold charge. They recovered fast, aiming their weapons.
Wynter concentrated on the one directly in front of her. She blasted his gun with a ball of hot, toxic magick, heating up the metal until he was forced to drop it with a hiss of pain. He charged at her, shifting into a coyote, moving too fast for her to impale him on her sword.