Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 43414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 217(@200wpm)___ 174(@250wpm)___ 145(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 217(@200wpm)___ 174(@250wpm)___ 145(@300wpm)
Alweth’s face hardened, his pale eyes narrowing as he turned to look at her. “And why should I have done that, Theodora? Power was within my grasp, yet you sought to cage me with demands. And I wisely refused to yield.”
“Your refusal to change told me what I needed to know,” the witch said, her voice low with old grief, “you didn’t love me enough. Here, at this very place, the day before our vows were to be spoken, you chose to serve the dark arts over your love for me.”
His features twisted with remembered rage. “And I told you then what I tell you now—vengeance would be mine. I waited, watched, and planned, Theodora, to see which daughter of yours would suit me. With Aura’s knowledge of plants combined with my dark magic, we will make a powerful couple. Besides, when she settled so close to the ring of stones, it confirmed I had made the right choice. Your daughter will become my bride today, twenty years to the day you should have, and you don’t have the power to stop me.” He laughed. “How foolish to think that a hag stone you left here all those years ago would prove helpful.”
The witch’s defiance faltered, her shoulders sagging, and Declan saw in her face the truth that turned his blood cold—the warlock was right. She could not match him in power.
Declan tightened his hold on Aura, his voice rough with fury. “Over my dead body will you take my wife from me.”
Alweth’s smile curved with pleasure. “That can easily be arranged.”
“Nay!” Aura cried, slipping from Declan’s grasp and moving to stand in front of him and shield him with her body. Her voice shook, but her chin lifted with fierce resolve. “You will not harm him. Take me if you must… but do not harm my husband.”
Declan’s blood roared in his ears. “Nay, Aura! You will not give your life for mine.” He stepped in front of her, his hands seizing her shoulders and his eyes burning into hers. “We are one. I will never let you go.”
Alweth’s laughter rolled low and cruel, echoing around the ring of stones. “How touching. But you are not truly husband and wife. I saw to that, though this would have gone more easily if at least one of those fools hadn’t failed me and abducted Aura as ordered. They all paid the price for their failure. And you, Declan, would have been rid of Aura before you lost your heart to her.”
“My heart was lost to Aura the day I first laid eyes on her. She will always have my love.”
Alweth turned an angry sneer on him. “I will see that memory wiped from her mind.”
“Nay!” Aura said, turning to Declan, his arms slipping around her once more. “Never. There is no power strong enough to wipe you and our love from my memory. I will never forget you.”
“Aye, you won’t, since we won’t be separated,” Declan said with fierce determination.
Alweth turned a smug grin on Theodora. “Tell me, Theodora, how does it feel to watch the daughter you have kept safe all these years pay the price for your broken word?”
The witch’s face twisted with fury. Her arms rose, words of power tearing from her throat as the air snapped with sparks of wild magic. Energy surged against Alweth like a raging storm, but he shielded himself with ease, barely moving as he did, and he smirked as though her effort amused him.
Declan didn’t hesitate. The witch had given him time to take flight, and he did. Tightening his hold on Aura, he headed for the pines. But the ground shuddered beneath them as they reached their only way out. A loud crack split the air, and he shoved Aura aside just as a massive pine branch came crashing down, slamming to earth and blocking their escape.
Alweth’s laughter rang out, rich with triumph. “Did you think it would be so easy? Theodora has no power to best me. None of you can.”
Declan glanced back, the witch’s chest heaved, and her face was pale with exhaustion. Her power was spent.
“Come to me, my love, it is time for us to go,” Alweth said, and summoned her to him with a wave of his hand.
Aura felt the pull, her legs moving against her will, and she clutched Declan’s arm, her voice breaking. “Declan…”
“Nay,” he said, keeping tight hold of her and being drawn along with her. “Never will I let you go.”
The pull grew stronger, tearing between them, and Declan fought to keep hold of her just as she fought to stay latched to him.
Alweth laughed as he teased them, letting them hold on, then putting space between them only to bring them back together again.
The witch watched helplessly, not a shred of power left to help her daughter no matter how hard she tried to conjure it.