Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 114925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 575(@200wpm)___ 460(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 575(@200wpm)___ 460(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
Astonishment charged the air. A single phrase snared me. Their power will become ours. Ours, he’d said, not theirs. He meant to accept a god, as well, but which one? Not Astan, the leader, since that “honor” (currently) belonged to Cyrus.
“Look past your shock,” he said. “Listen for the call . . .”
My ears twitched, and my brow wrinkled. There was nothing, no sound.
Wrong. A soft melody drifted over the airwaves. A familiar, haunting song hummed by . . .
“Arden Dawn Roosa . . .”
My gaze zoomed back to Briar Rose. The sound had come from her, her vocal cords trembling the slightest bit.
“Arden.” She angled her head toward me and blinked. Her stony gaze peered into my soul. “Not as lovely as the high princess, but able to do what she never has: inspire loyalty in a king. Well, a future king.”
“You’re speaking. You’re a statue, and you’re speaking.”
“Yes, but only in your mind, just as you are speaking in mine.”
I shook my head, attempting to dislodge her. Had to be the alcohol.
My gaze swept the room, landing on Roman. He stood in front of his look-alike statue, staring up, quiet, utterly entranced. In fact, everyone stood in front of a statue, staring up. Trainees and royals alike. Cyrus had returned, and he, Felix, and Summit stood in front of Astan. High Princess Lolli now pressed at my side, focused on Briar Rose.
What was even happening right now?
“Let me know you,” the goddess said. She shifted her position and extended a flower down to me, as if in offering.
Queasy, I rasped, “You think to choose between the high princess and me.”
“I do. The problem is, Soal seeks to recruit you.” The barest tendril of hatred slipped into her tone. “He’s erected a hedge of energy around you, preventing me from performing a proper read.”
The queasiness worsened. She sensed Soal. How long until she and the others realized he protected me not because he desired to work with me but because he already did? “Let me make your decision easier. I refuse to host you.” Perhaps the wrong thing to admit to her face.
Her chuckle tinkled like bells, the amused sound seemingly genuine, telling me she was unoffended by my refusal. “That’s because you haven’t yet realized the truth about Soal. How dangerous and deceitful he is. How we are the only line of defense capable of defeating him.”
“And yet you didn’t defeat him,” I reminded her. “Even now, you’re trapped in stone because he bound you.”
“And you think we learned nothing from our failure?” Bitterness hardened her voice, making the words as sharp as blades.
I rapidly blinked. Okay, so, I’d touched on a sore subject. Got it. “Why would you pick me?” She’d already hinted, but I wanted the reason(s) stated in full detail.
Her lips quirked. “Two reasons. You are Cyrus’s chosen, and Astan is mine. But right now, the only thing that matters is stopping Soal before he ends us all, your people included. So I’ll make a deal with you. Accept me, and we will reign beside Cyrus. His agreement is already secured.”
Already secured?! “No,” I snapped. “That’s a lie.”
“Refuse me,” she continued, “and I’ll merge with Lolli. She’ll be the one at his side, and you’ll be dead.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Guard your thoughts, for they pilot your heart and decide your life.
—The Book of Soal 1.20.4.23
I didn’t recall walking away from Briar Rose or falling asleep, and yet, the next thing I knew, I opened my eyes to find myself in bed with Cyrus. We lay side by side, facing each other and still dressed in our formal wear.
Cyrus’s eyes were closed. He remained so still.
His agreement is already assured.
Anger sparked and swiftly escalated into fury. On top of everything else, Briar Rose was a liar. But what was that prickling sensation on my cheek? I craned my head.
A scowling Domino stood beside the bed, his ghostly hand tapping my face. He dropped his arm to his side. “There’s a problem.”
Instant sobriety achieved. Heart racing, I jolted upright. “What happened? How’d I get here?” The bedroom I shared with Cyrus.
“Use the rift inside this castle and be at the Rock in nine minutes,” the librarian commanded, speeding past my questions. “Both of you. It’s a matter of life and death.”
His harsh demeanor and stark warning sent my nervous system into a tizzy. “How are we supposed to get past the—” I pressed my lips together, going quiet. The librarian was already gone.
Argh! Did the matter involve the plot against Cyrus? I patted his cheek, frantic. He reacted not at all. “Cyrus. Sugar bear. Focus on me.” The words “a matter of life and death” echoed inside my head.
When he failed to respond, I patted with more force. “Cyrus.”
Nothing.
I bent my head to press my lips to his once, twice. I mean, it worked in fairy tales.