Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 117246 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 586(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117246 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 586(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Cyrus might not have lied, but he’d misdirected. Again. Anger heated into fury, boiling in my blood. I couldn’t stay here. Couldn’t stay with him. Not in this building. And I didn’t have to.
“Did you or someone else force Shiloh to break?” I demanded.
“I didn’t.”
“But someone else did. Or could have.” More misdirection. “I’m going,” I stated flatly, backing away. How did I ever fall for this monster? “Don’t try to stop me. You won’t like what happens if you do.”
His posture turned rigid in an instant. “You’re staying here, Arden. Darkness comes in a matter of hours.”
I didn’t care. Because I was going to do it. I was going to sign on with Team Soal. Full stop. Nothing held back. Decision made. Cured and its associates only ever dished out betrayal.
“I can be in front of the Rock in a matter of minutes,” I boasted. “Consider me your enemy. I’m accepting the invitation to the Tome Society. Until my dying breath, I will fight to dismantle Cured.” Soal wanted my loyalty. Very well, I’d give it. But he would have to help free my mother. “You and your family have done enough damage to the world. It’s time someone ended the deceit, thefts, and destruction.”
A muscle ticced beneath his eye. “I’ll escort you to the Rock in the morning, when I can do it without alerting Cured.”
“As if I will ever trust you again.” I pivoted on my heel and marched toward the door. “I’ll come back for my plant. If you or your father bring any harm to my mom—don’t harm my mom, Cyrus.”
Pounding footsteps sounded behind me, fast and sure, and I knew he’d overtake me any second if I didn’t stop him. So, I shifted, aimed, and fired my netter ring. He flew backward and hit the floor, pinned by a metal cage he couldn’t remove.
“Arden,” he snarled. “Do not leave this apartment. I mean it.”
“Goodbye, sugar bear. In case it’s not clear, we’re over.” I turned the knob, opened the door, and sailed into the hall, then the elevator. I removed a glove, pressed my palm onto the ID pad, and selected the first floor.
Down I went, determination hardening into unshakable resolve. Though my heart pounded with increasing heaviness, I exited as if I hadn’t a care, my steps unhurried. Chin up, shoulders back. Happy smile for all to see, even those watching the camera feed. But inside I boiled hotter and hotter.
Shiloh had tried to tell me. Ember had warned me. The more time it took to make my decision, the more tragedy I would be forced to face. Because of my hesitance, two men were dead. I wasn’t waiting a minute longer than necessary to join the Soalians.
I scanned the building’s lobby. An armed baron guarded the door.
“Please help me.” In my pink finery, I must look the part of a silly, lost little woman. I approached him, and he let me. All the while, I fiddled with the proper ring. “A tenant immobilized High Prince Dolion with a netter.”
Concern instantly seized the man. He palmed the gun holstered at his side and stepped my way, meeting me in the middle. “Do you know who did it?”
“Yes. Me.” I wasted no time in blowing half the powder into his face.
His eyes widened, and he jerked just before his knees buckled. He hit the floor hard. I stepped over him and approached the final ID pad. Thanks to Cyrus giving me royal access, the door unlocked.
Deep breath in. Out.
Ready for anything, I left the safety of the building and entered the warmth of the day.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The command was spoken, and the light came.
—The Book of Soal 1.1.1.3
I hurried down the abandoned street, my new mini dagger in hand. I expected a horde of feeders to attack, but a lone glower dressed in a hooded bloodred robe stepped forward.
Removing the hood, revealing a crown of rubies and skin aglow with symbols, he bowed his head in deference to me. The bearded guy—Domino—followed me in the flesh rather than from inside the Rock.
Trepidation proved a formidable foe, but I pushed on, even when second, third, and fourth glowers glided into my field of vision. None of the other faces looked familiar, but they wore the same hooded bloodred robes and ruby crowns. They also repeated the same actions as Domino, treating this as some kind of ritual. Soon I had an entire convoy of glowers behind me. They even lined the road, and it was an intimidating sight.
My trepidation magnified, but so did my determination. Every step increased the distance between me and Cyrus, the man who had betrayed my trust. If I intended to join the Tome Society, and I did, these glowers were my allies. I had nothing to fear.
I neared the Rock. My shadows stopped behind me, utterly silent. Ember stood before what had once been the bane of my existence but now acted as my only beacon of hope. She wore a robe, too, though it possessed golden trim studded with jewels. Hello, mistress of ceremonies. Her hood was already down, her ruby crown double the size of the others.