Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 128087 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128087 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
His red eyes bulged from the lack of oxygen, his tongue lolling out of his mouth as he clutched at the invisible vice.
Zepharali dragged Mercurius so close he could smell his putrid stench.
He balled his hand in a tighter fist until his enemy’s bones began to crack.
Zepharali was so angry he barely refrained from snapping Mercurius’ neck.
The violent wind still rushing in gave him the strength of a thousand storms. His voice was amplified by his heat so that when he spoke, it singed the skin on Mercurius’ cheeks.
“The only reason I do not bury you beneath my lands is because I want you to return my message to the dark worlds.”
Mercurius thrashed and writhed in a desperate need to breathe.
“The tribrid is my heart’s prophesied love. He is under the full protection of Tir Scáthanna. And any attack on him will be considered a declaration of war. The next time…if there is a next time, there will be no mercy…and no survivors.”
Zepharali squeezed again until Mercurius went limp and his eyelids fluttered.
His whispers were hotter than the breath of a dragon. “Come for my heart again, and I will take great pleasure in killing you slowly. And I’ll hang your scorched body from the gates of your own land as a warning to others.”
Mercurius was seconds from death before Zepharali opened his fist to release him.
He didn’t even wait for the dark lord to fall to a battered heap on the floor before he turned his back and allowed his legion to escort the trash to the border.
Lazaar
“How dare he!” Lazaar paced back and forth in Zepharali’s chambers.
There were so many guards positioned not only outside the door but inside the room that Lazaar didn’t bother to try to fight them to get out.
It was pointless.
“Your grace, please calm down.” Elephaa sighed. “My father had his reasons. You are everything to him, and if—”
“I won’t be handled like a child!”
Lazaar was sure his anger was creating a stifling heat because Dyan and Lyan were removing layers of their clothes.
“I’m his partner, and I want to be treated as an equal. Not a boy he can lock away until he’s ready to play again.”
Lyan shook his head. “I swear that’s not how—”
“Silence!” Lazaar barked, rattling the windows.
Dyan took Lyan by the waist and eased him toward the door and out of the line of fire.
Oleksandr tried to catch Lazaar on his hundredth pass, but he blinked away from him.
He didn’t want to be talked down, placated, or reasoned with. His beloved was wrong, period.
Lazaar could hear the battle was over. The sound of weapons clashing and the foundation shaking had come to a halt rather quickly. He’d known it would. But he should’ve been allowed to stay.
He had enough power to assist.
But Zepharali had denied him the opportunity to show his daughters and the leaders of Scáthanna his strength and that he was worthy to stand at their titan’s side.
The more he thought about the embarrassment of being carried to their bedchamber, the more furious he became.
“I cannot believe this!”
Lazaar didn’t know how many times he’d shouted that. His fists were balled tight and turning brighter red with each passing minute.
“Stay calm, lord. I beg of you,” Oleksandr pleaded.
“Calm! Calm!” Lazaar got in his face. “Have you ever been carried like a weakling, thrown into a room, then locked inside it against your will?”
Oleksandr didn’t answer.
“Exactly!”
Lazaar pressed his fists to his throbbing temples. It felt as if his head was about to burst into flames.
“I’m so tired of others deciding what’s best for me. First, the deceit of Chessuven, now this. Will my life ever be mine?”
“I’m so sorry, your grace. But it wasn’t my father nor your beloved that gave the direct order. It was the Titan of Scáthanna, and I—all of us—had no choice but to obey.”
“So you’re saying I have no one who will defend me against wrong? Not even my own guards.”
Elephaa appeared apologetic.
“The only way to fix this will be to voice your concerns to your beloved and—”
Lazaar threw his hand up to stop her so he could hear. He tilted his head, listening to the nervous breaths outside the door.
“Get in here now! You think you can hide out there?”
Zepharali walked inside, sans his guards, slowly removing his royal blue-and-gold cloak, yet to make eye contact with him.
“Thank you all for your service this evening. Will you please leave me and my—”
“Yes. Out! Out!” Lazaar pointed to the double doors.
Once the room was clear, he glared at Zepharali hard enough to make him flinch.
“Please don’t be upset with me. I only did what I thought—”
Lazaar blinked across the room and got in his beloved’s face.
“Upset…you think I’m upset?” Lazaar growled. “I. Am. Furious! Do you have any idea how betrayed, how belittled I feel?”
Zepharali appeared so hurt that Lazaar almost lost some of his ire…only some.