Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 132138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 661(@200wpm)___ 529(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 661(@200wpm)___ 529(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
“Sorry!” Shim yells. “I didn’t know about the shielding.”
Bron steps forward, not seeming to care there’s still a powerful hag who was sent to ensure her death. “Did my uncle send you?”
The hag smiles showing perfectly even teeth that seem a bit too sharp for her face. “The king sends his greetings, Princess Bronwyn, and promises a glorious family reunion.”
“I don’t think I’ll take him up on that just yet.” Bron stands, her shoulders back. “You aren’t welcome in my village, hag.”
The hag sighs, her elegant gown moving with the sound. “I know when to take my toys and go home. By the way, I spent some time in that one’s head. A dark thing he is. Be careful that he doesn’t eat you up with his ambition. He wants the crown. He’ll say he loves you to get it, but you don’t think the Unseelie will truly accept a Seelie queen now, do you? Good luck, dear. Even if you get a crown, it won’t mean much when your head is separated from your body. And, Death Lord, I have a parting gift for you.”
The air around the hag shimmers, and then her hands fly out, a visible cloud racing my way.
Just before it engulfs me, Duffy leaps, tossing himself into the cloud. Horror overcomes me as darkness covers the gnome, enveloping his body until there’s nothing of him that isn’t black smoke.
Duffy screams. I start to reach for him, but Roan and Dellacourt pull me back.
“Don’t you dare. You can’t help him now.” Roan has a strong grip.
Shim tries to get to Duffy, too, but Bronwyn gets in his way. “Please.”
The eddy cloud shifts as the hag disappears once more into its depths. The sky clears and brilliant sunlight rains down.
Shim drops to his knees, covering his eyes. I squint, trying to see my little brother, the truly fierce one of our clan.
The cloud is gone and Duffy remains. His body is still, so still. I push past the vampires whose implants are safely guarding them from the sun’s bright rays. I struggle myself, but Gillian and Bronwyn shelter Shim. They haul him off, trying to get him under the cover of the buildings.
I put a hand on Duffy’s chest, praying for the beat of his heart.
One eye opens. “Damn me, Lach, but that was something.” Duffy sits up, flexing his muscles. “I don’t think I like that hag. I’d rather fight soldiers. A sword has got to hurt less than that damn cloud.”
I stare at my younger brother, letting my hand find Duff’s shoulder. For a moment we sit, acknowledging what we might have lost.
“Come along, Your Highness. You and Shim must both be fitted with the proper devices to protect you from the sun. It won’t take long. One pinch and it’s over. Well, one long, horrifyingly painful pinch and it’s over, but we won’t have to worry about ultraviolet light again.” Roan helps me stand. “Hurry. The hag will be back, and she’ll bring reinforcements. We have to move and quickly. We need to make the forest by dark or they’ll find us for sure.”
I stumble toward the shade where Bron sits with Shim. Her chin comes up, a stubborn look on her pretty face.
She ran. She didn’t stay and discuss the situation with us. If she did, we could have fled the minute the eddy cloud showed up.
My bride and I are due for a very long talk. And perhaps it’s time I put the relationship on the proper footing, starting with the wayward princess feeling her husband’s hand on her ass.
In the background, I hear Dellacourt yelling at his wife and threatening all manner of punishment.
Yes, it’s time my bride learns the meaning of discipline.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Bronwyn
“Stay close to me, Duffy,” my husband says to the gnome. “But not too close.”
Duffy sits on a rock near the river, his face turned up toward the moon. The gnome was quiet all afternoon. He simply shuffled along behind his brothers as we fled the village. The villagers all agreed that the hag will be back and she’ll bring another army with her. They decided to scatter, forming three large parties moving to the south, west, and north. And our small group is moving toward the east, to the mountains.
But we have to move carefully and not in a straight line. And that, I’ve been told over and over again, is all my fault. Despite my brilliant plan to save them, apparently the fact that they needed to be saved at all is, again, my fault.
“I’m going to set up our bed for the night. We’ve got a big bed, but we’re away from the rest.” Lach’s voice is deep and dark, and I practically shiver listening to it.
“You and Shim can sleep wherever you like.” I know I’m being stubborn, but he acted like an ass the whole long walk here. And my feet hurt. And I’m not about to apologize to him.