Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 121924 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121924 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Much as she hovered near him, she was always very careful not to touch him. I’d heard that he was not casual about touch. Much like the Laelaps and Arions.
Likely because he was more beast than man, there was something so very untamed about Talon. He possessed an animalistic intensity. Like someone who had been raised by a pack of wolves or something.
I’d heard stories of what he was like in bed. It was said that he liked to fuck. No kisses, no cuddles, no sensual finesse—he kept it basic and primal. Most likely reserving everything else for Eva, I thought. He was, in a sense, emotionally committed to her.
My insides seized as his eyes flew to mine. I saw no point in quickly averting my gaze—he’d caught me staring. So as his eyes narrowed and hardened, I mouthed, “Oh, Bitsy.”
With a short shake of his head, he turned his attention back to his friends.
A bell from outside tolled loudly once, twice, three times. The sound as urgent and alarming as a yell for aid.
I froze, dread flickering to life inside me as silence crashed down on the tavern. A silence that lasted all of two seconds. Then every officiate jumped to their feet, their faces hardening, and rushed out of the building—all bar one.
Keyes’ perceptive gaze skimmed over those who were left. “Candidates, we have company. Go to the armory now, arm yourselves fast, and then get onto the battlements.” His face hardened. “Whatever’s here cannot be allowed to get over the wall.”
CHAPTER SIX
Armed with a scythe, bow, and quiver of arrows, I rushed across the bridge that led to the city’s left curtain wall, dozens of candidates both in front and behind me. A bubbling sense of urgency pumped through my blood with every beat of the heart working overtime in my chest.
The torches on the rise had been lit, indicating the direction from which the invaders had come. But I would have known which way to head whatever the case—the officiates had already reached the battlements, and I could hear the distant cries and growls of the invaders who were fast approaching.
Archers were keeping the aggressors at bay, along with those operating the catapults projecting large rocks that were either on fire or covered in boiling oil. Phoenixians were tossing balls of cold air, and Delphiae were letting out elemental energy blasts that shimmered in the air. Among them, Talon held his arms out straight as power rushed from his splayed fingers in vivid gold streams.
The moment we were all across the bridge, Keyes ordered us all into position on the battlements. Stood only a few feet away from Talon, I could hear every snap of his power cracking through the air. Soule was also nearby, busy filling bubbling cauldrons with various things—liquids, animal fat, oil, and hot sand.
I balanced the scythe against the battlement wall in front of me, hoping there wouldn’t come a point when I’d need to use up-close-and-personal weapons. Reaching back to grab an arrow from the quiver, I looked down. Dog-like creatures were swimming toward the island while others sprinted across the expansive terrain that lay between the river and the city walls. They had pointed ears and strangely spiked marbled black/gray fur.
“What are they?” I asked no one in particular.
“Mutated Molossian hounds,” replied Soule. “And they’re rabid.”
They also weren’t alone.
Hundreds of clawed, shrieking, dark-haired women with pale skin were among them. “Lamiae,” I noted. Both creatures came from different areas of the Dark Lands. “Is it normal for them to join forces?”
His expression grim, Soule shook his head. “No.”
I positioned my bow just right. “How is it I’m seeing through the fog right now?”
“Anyone within the city walls can. It’s only if you’re out in the Pines that it obstructs your vision.”
Huh. All right.
Noticing that Bevan was beside me, I spared him only the briefest glance before I shot an arrow straight at a lamiae. Satisfaction gripped my belly as it speared her head and took her down. Thanks to my years hunting food, pure muscle memory had me retrieving another arrow and—no hesitation or fumbling—firing it through the heart of another lamiae.
I drowned out the nervousness beating in my system, letting my mind center on the weapon in my hand, as I targeted one enemy after another.
I noticed that Deimos’ creatures were joining the battle. Horned panthers with scales on their back wrestled the swimming-invaders. Massive golden eagles flew down, their talons extended. Lions with vipers for tails tore across the land, roaring fire. As if it wasn’t weird enough that those felines could breathe fire, it made it weirder that their snake-tails were hissing and snapping.
The lamiae fearlessly attacked the beasts on the ground—shrieking, lunging, clawing, biting. The hounds also fought back against Deimos’ creatures, tearing into them with their teeth; whipping their prehensive tails back and forth.