Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 42412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 212(@200wpm)___ 170(@250wpm)___ 141(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 212(@200wpm)___ 170(@250wpm)___ 141(@300wpm)
“Shit,” Kieran muttered at the same moment Jasper fell silent, and Malik’s head snapped toward the raven.
My brother’s eyes widened in recognition. “Fuck.”
“Excuse me?” Millicent demanded.
“We need to go.” Malik spun toward the person-shaped sack, grabbing it with a rough jerk. He hoisted it over his shoulder. “Now.”
“More like you need to go fu—”
I severed the connection to the chora, and the dimly lit Great Hall took shape around me. Moving silently, I let the essence pooling at my feet rise.
Kieran stalked toward me, his brilliant blue eyes like chips of sapphires. “Cas.”
I stepped forward as Kieran jerked to a halt, his eyes narrowing. Cursing, he spun and took off for the doors—at the exact moment I shadowstepped.
Kieran was fast.
But I was always faster.
Both froze as I appeared before them, shadowy eather spilling across the narrow passageway that ran behind the dining hall. Essence spun around me in streaks of dark gray and crimson as I stepped toward them.
“What in the actual fuck,” Millicent gasped, her pale blue eyes widening, “am I looking at?”
Malik dropped the sack, and it landed with a heavy, somewhat satisfying thud as he shot forward. Grabbing Millicent’s arm, he yanked her back, causing her to teeter on her heels.
“Brother,” Malik warned, voice low as he thrust Millicent back. “What are you doing here?”
“Brother?” Millicent’s head popped out from behind him. “That’s Casteel?”
“It’s him.” Malik shifted so he once more blocked her as if my presence there had anything to do with her.
“You sure about that?” Millicent darted to the side, avoiding the arm my brother threw out. “Wait a moment…” She squinted, as if that would help her peer through the thick mist swirling around me. Malik cursed, moving toward her as her head jerked back, and her eyes shot up. Scanning the vines, her lips parted, and then her mouth dropped open. “Oh, fuck.” Her chin snapped down. “It’s you,” she breathed.
“Yeah,” Malik said, his gaze trained on me. “It’s him. Cas. Like I said.”
“That’s not what I meant, dipshit,” she snapped, causing both of us to look at her. “But thank you for the unnecessary clarification.”
“Dipshit?” Malik murmured, brows furrowing.
“Yes. You. You are a dip,” she spat, “and a shit. You put those two words together and you get dipshit.”
I almost laughed as my attention shifted to the sack. Malik had planted himself in front of her again, leaving it on the floor, unprotected. Perfect. I drifted forward—
“Millicent!” Malik shouted. “No!”
I stopped. It wasn’t the words that caused me to halt. It was the bitter-tasting fear in them. I turned to them. They were blurs. Malik lurched toward Millicent—and, damn, she was quick, easily slipping past him as she raised her arm. Flickering light glanced off something glossy and black clutched in her hand.
Shadowstone.
There was only a heartbeat to react. My arm shot out as Malik’s face went as pale as bone.
I blocked her blow, stopping the blade an inch from the general vicinity of my chest. Her eyes shot to my hand and the slowly churning mist seeping from the fingers curled around her arm, then flew back to mine.
But I was still staring at her slim wrist, vaguely realizing that the Primal mist had caused her no harm. My head tilted. It should have worked on her, special Revenant or not. The essence had flayed the flesh from the bones of a Revenant just the other day. It had snuck into the Great Hall, and I’d feigned sleep, letting it get close before releasing the mist. But it didn’t even cause her to flinch.
“Where is my sister?” Millicent snarled, voice thin with anger, and breathless with dread.
I lifted my gaze to hers, slowly realizing why she was unharmed.
It was me.
My will.
“Where?” she demanded, the tendons in her wrist and the muscles in her forearm trembling, betraying her bravado. “What did you do to her?”
What did I…?
A rough breath left me as the mist collapsed around me. Her eyes widened with surprise as I felt the skin along my right cheek thicken while the flesh appeared on the fingers wrapped around her wrist.
Reaching up with my other hand, I pried the dagger from her grip. Holding her stare, I let the essence flow over my fingers. The shadowy eather licked over the smooth handle, turning it to glittering ash.
“Well,” she uttered. “That was impressive and also rude as fuck.”
“Malik,” I bit out, knowing better than to let her go. “You need to retrieve her.”
“He doesn’t need to do shit,” Millicent seethed, striking out with a leg. “But you? Mister Dark Lord, you need to answer my damn question.”
Ignoring Millicent, I held her back as she kicked at the air with extremely pointed-toe boots.
Her head snapped to the side as Malik slipped up behind her. “If you put that arm around me, I will break it.”