Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 132625 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132625 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
“I don’t want her to kill herself,” Felicity shouts. “Not in that way, at least.”
My sister’s nostrils flare. I’m not the only one lacking patience today. “Explain.”
“I thought they wanted her in stasis until her birthday because they didn’t want her to end her life, and I was right, but there’s more than one way she can end her life and, by doing so, invalidate her deal with Erith. She’s a phoenix,” Felicity says. “When she burns to ash and rises again, her life begins anew. She can end this life before she would have to surrender it to Mordeus. And when she rises again, he’ll have no claim on that new life.”
The room goes hushed but can’t compare with the complete silence inside me. This is the way out.
“She has to harness her power before the moment she turns eighteen,” Pretha says, “and she has to wield it—burning to ash and rising again before the bargain’s terms can be recognized.”
Kendrick’s throat bobs. “But you said that very few people survive the transformation of the phoenix.” His gaze bounces around the group, looking for someone to reassure him. “How do we know Jas can survive it?”
Pretha’s quiet for a long time. “We don’t.”
“But there’s another way,” he says. “There has to be another way.”
Abriella’s face is pale but even she shakes her head. “If there is, we haven’t found it yet.”
“Even this isn’t a guarantee, thanks to the blood magic,” Pretha reminds him. “Until this life of hers ends, Mordeus is connected to her. When the agony of the fire begins, he will do everything he can to be the one who can hang on the longest.”
Panic marks Kendrick’s face when he turns back to me. “I need you,” he says, voice as soft as a whisper. “I need you to beat this thing.”
I want to promise him I will. I want to give him all the reassurance he needs. But if I can’t even bring a single flame to my fingertips, how am I supposed to burn myself to ash? “I won’t stop trying until my last breath.”
A shadow passes over the room and the mood shifts with it. Gray storm clouds have blocked the afternoon sun, and it’s given a weight to the very air in the room. In the distance, thunder rolls.
“They’re coming,” I say, eyes fixed on those dark clouds.
“My generals haven’t said anything.” Brie rushes to the windows and looks right to left. “Do you see them?”
“This was in what the oracle showed you?” Kendrick asks.
“The storm. They take the palace during the storm. By nightfall they . . .” I push out of my chair and go to my sister, taking her by the shoulders and turning her to me. “You need to leave. Get out of here. They are coming for you first. I saw them string you up at the gates.”
The ferocity in my sister’s face softens. “I won’t leave the palace. I can’t.”
“Please,” I whisper. “Please go. For me.”
“I won’t leave that throne unattended for Mordeus to steal. I will stand and defend my court.”
Someone clears his throat and we all turn our attention to see my sister’s horned advisor stepping into the sitting room, his red eyes burning bright as ever. “My queen, the general has arrived.”
Chapter Forty-One
Felicity
General Hargova, the leader of the Unseelie Court’s Cursed Horde, gives me the creeps. While Brie said he wanted Jasalyn at this meeting, my presence seems to make him uncomfortable. I keep catching him staring at me—at Jasalyn.
“We expect the attack to come tonight,” the shadow queen says.
“Tonight? Why do you say that?”
“Our seers have had a number of visions,” she says, the lie smooth as butter. As far as I know, the only reason they have to believe this is happening tonight is because of what Jas saw at the oracle, and even she didn’t know a day for sure. We’re reading a lot into some gray skies and distant thunder.
He arches a brow and glances toward the window. “Where are these armies that are supposedly going to overwhelm your palace? I saw no sign of them on my way in.”
Brie doesn’t cower under his scrutiny or his doubt. She merely shrugs. “I would rather be prepared too early than too late, wouldn’t you?”
“Tell me again why Mordeus’s followers believe he’s been resurrected. Tell me why they think this dead man can steal your throne.” He cocks his head to the side. “Didn’t he try this before and fail because he didn’t have the crown?”
She narrows her gaze. “I can’t speak to why his legions are so convinced of his return. However, his failure to sit upon the Throne of Shadows didn’t prevent him from wreaking havoc on this court for two decades. As you know.”
He smiles. “Fair.” His gaze shifts to me again, and again, I want to shudder under the weight of it. “And other than my horde, what other defenses do you have for the palace? I don’t want to risk my people if this battle is a lost cause.”