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)
There’s a dull humming in my ears. I feel like I’m sleeping and floating. Like I’m a spirit without a body. I put my hand on his chest and see the ring there.
The ring that strengthens the bond between me and Mordeus. The ring I had to use magic to rid myself of. Did I put it back on? Where did I find it?
Kendrick is trying to tell me something, but he needs to know the ring is back. I lift my hand to show him what I can’t find the words to explain.
“Jasalyn!” Strong fingers curl around my wrist and I’m pulled back into myself.
“Kendrick?”
He looks down at me in horror, eyes panicked, mouth agape. His fingers loosen from my wrist. “Fight. It.”
Blood pools hot and sticky over my hand, and when I tear my eyes from his to look down, I see my dagger plunged into the middle of his chest, my ringed hand wrapped around the hilt.
“Kendrick.” My voice shakes. “No . . .”
“I . . . I love you,” he gasps before he falls to the floor at my feet.
I’m frozen. Shaking.
“What happened?” Skylar rushes to us, eyes on Kendrick, but she stops when she sees me. “Are you okay?”
“Help him!” I screech. I reach for the ring and yank it from my finger, letting it clatter to the ground.
Skylar drags her eyes off me and drops to her knees. “Kendrick,” she sobs, putting pressure on his wound. She shouts for help, then people are running all around me, but I can’t move. How did I get here? When did I pull out my dagger? Where did the ring come from? Why . . .
The dark, familiar chuckle at the back of my mind gives me the answer I should’ve already known. Mordeus.
Remme shoves me away and I stumble backward as he drops to his haunches. He rolls Kendrick to his back. “He’s still breathing,” he says.
“What did you do?” Skylar asks, her voice climbing to a pitch I’ve never heard from her.
“She missed his heart,” Natan says, “but we need to remove that blade before it can do more damage.”
“No,” I whisper. “This isn’t fair.” As if any of this has ever been fair.
“Remme, you pull the blade,” Natan is saying, “and Skylar, get down here and help me put pressure on this wound.”
“Get out of the way!” Skylar says, shoving at my legs until I stumble back a few steps.
I drop to my knees and crawl toward him. I stabbed him. I stabbed Kendrick. “Please be okay. Please, Kendrick, please,” I sob.
Natan turns to me and takes me by the shoulders. “Let us help Hale. You need to go tap into your power. It’s somewhere in there, Jas. Find it and win. Win for him. Beat the bastard who tried to kill the male you love.” He looks over his shoulder and when I follow his gaze I realize he’s looking at the big clock on the other side of the throne room. Fifteen minutes until midnight. Fifteen minutes until my birthday. Fifteen minutes until I have no way out of this bargain.
Even if I can find this inner flame, how can I endure the pain knowing I have to come back to a world where Kendrick is gone because of me?
“Natan, we need magic,” Remme says. “He’s not going to make it without a healer.”
“We need to get him outside,” Skylar says.
“He’ll be a sitting duck out there,” Remme says, “never mind the amount of blood he’ll lose if we try to move him. No way. We need magic here.”
“He’s dead!” All heads turn to Felicity as she runs into the throne room, her cheeks streaked with tears. “Erith is dead. I killed—” She stops in her tracks when she sees her brother on the ground. “No,” she breathes. She runs to his side and drops to the floor, pressing her hand to Kendrick’s pale face. “No, no, no.”
My heart is being carved out. Please, Kendrick. You don’t have to live for me, but you need to live for them. They need you. They love you.
“We need magic,” Remme tells Felicity. “I need you to find Misha and the Eloran silencers—they’re on the north tower. Make them lift the shield.”
She gives a shaky nod and runs from the throne room.
“I don’t know how long it’s going to take before Felicity finds Misha,” Natan says, squeezing my shoulders. “You can’t count on having the time to use your magic here. You still need to go to the lawn.”
“I don’t know how—”
“You are the phoenix,” Remme shouts. “We will take care of this. Get beyond these walls, keep to the shadows, and find your inner fire. Give him a reason to wake up, Slayer.”
I don’t know how to do this, but I can’t stand here and do nothing. I sprint for the door, pumping my arms and legs so fast my lungs burn. Get to the lawn. Get to the lawn and find your power. Get to the lawn and try to find your flame.