Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 88010 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88010 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
“Take him up to the crypt,” I order the guards. “Stay with him while he washes the body. Ensure he does it with respect. If he steps out of line, says a single word that might be interpreted as disrespect, beat him to within an inch of his miserable life.”
They drag Equinox away, leaving me with the lingering sense that not all is well. He has more planned, and we may not be able to dismantle his entire network in time.
As I reach the main floor of the keep, Melissa rushes to me, her wings trailing behind her, flapping just a little, making her skim rather than walk. It’s actually quite an impressive feat of controlled flight, but she doesn’t seem to notice. She grasps my arm and looks up at me with those pretty, pleading eyes that have become all too familiar because she is forever in one form of trouble or another.
“Someone died today,” she says. “Was that my fault?”
“No,” I tell her immediately. “It was Nox. He opened portals; he’s been planning this in the same way he planned to capture me—badly.”
There are tears in her eyes as she tries to come to terms with what she saw.
“And then the dragons, and the burning…”
Terrible sights I wish she had never seen, and that I wish had not happened. It was all so unnecessary and so brutal, but I tried to allow them to escape. Only the ones who stayed paid with their lives.”
“The humans out there… if there are any left. Please don’t kill them. They’re stupid, but they don’t deserve to die.”
“Stupidity does indeed mean one deserves to die. It is one of Mother Nature’s most rigid rules. She punishes stupidity more relentlessly than almost any other sin.”
Her face crumples. “But they’re just people. They don’t know what they’re doing.”
She did not hear what Equinox revealed to me in the dungeon, so she does not yet understand what we are up against. She thinks that the people on the plains are harmless, aside from the one with the crossbow, presumably, because they seem soft, foppish, directionless, because they were wandering in circles and occasionally attacking one another.
“They’re not just people, Melissa. They’re gamers.”
Her eyes widen. “They are?”
“Yes. Equinox has set his army upon me. This is his revenge.”
“What a shit revenge.”
I chuckle in spite of the darkness of the situation. “Indeed.”
“Do you think there are any left?”
“I doubt it. They scattered, but they had a long way to run and my dragons are not merciful. We cannot tolerate loose humans, especially not those who came with the sole intention of attacking us.”
“Please. They’re just idiots. They’re gamers. They don’t know any better. One time they all got riled up to attack a military base because they thought aliens were inside. They didn’t come with proper weapons. They didn’t come here with any kinda armor. They were in cosplay and t-shirts.”
“Maybe, but a stray bolt has cost one of us his life. I’m sorry. No mercy will be shown. They do not deserve it. And pawns are always sacrificed.”
Her lower lip trembles and her eyes mist with emotion, but she does not argue. What is there to argue about? The humans were given a chance to unmake their mistakes and they chose to double down on them.
“I’m sorry, Melissa. I’m sorry you saw what you saw. These things change us. But we cannot allow invasions. Now I will have to send a team to the human world to completely eradicate every bit of technology Nox ever set up. The game will be removed. The buildings will be brought down.”
“Is that going to be enough?”
“I don’t know. He has made it clear that humans now have access to technology that can penetrate our realm.”
“So you’ve got to find out how they’re doing it and stop that too. Knocking down buildings won’t make a difference. It will make a mess.”
She’s right. My young human mate is quite wise at times.
“I can help,” Melissa says.
“How?”
“Well, for one, I’m a hot girl who knows other hot girls.”
“I fail to see how that helps.”
“And that is why you’re losing,” she says.
I raise a brow at her. “Melissa, tell me what you are thinking before I whip it out of you.”
“He’s not doing this secretly. Maybe it’s secret to you, but it’s not secret to the people who are doing the work. Tech bros love hot girls. Tempest and I could throw a party with everybody who has the capability or likelihood of being involved. We could lure them in, try to get some intel.”
“You want me to send you to the human realm to dress in scanty clothing and talk to men?”
“Okay, when you put it like that, it sounds bad. But you don’t know what’s going on.”
“I have my own connections.”
“And they’re not working. Please, Ornix. We have to try.”