Total pages in book: 254
Estimated words: 240032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1200(@200wpm)___ 960(@250wpm)___ 800(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 240032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1200(@200wpm)___ 960(@250wpm)___ 800(@300wpm)
From the way it was all set up and the small number of cars parked in the lot in front of the main structure, it seemed like you had to leave your car there to get around.
“They didn’t have this back then,” Matti said, like he could read my mind. “The parking lot was here but not that building.”
I opened my mouth to ask about the parking situation when a nudge at my chin had me tipping it down to find Duncan’s pupils slightly dilated. “Everything is going to be okay,” I promised him with a stroke of his soft, floppy ears. He didn’t look all that worried, or even a little bit worried. Was it me? Was I giving off anxious vibes or something? “I’m fine.”
“Yes,” he told me.
It was my nerves then. “I’m just a little nervous. Don’t tell anybody.” I winked at him.
“Yes,” he assured me. He pressed his nose to my chin again, and I gave him yet another hug, grateful I had someone who enjoyed them as much as I did.
He was worth everything—all the nerves, all the stomachaches, all the uncertainty. I couldn’t think of a single thing I wouldn’t do for these long ears and his big, loyal heart.
We had to make this place work.
“Might as well get out. They’re going to have a million and a half questions,” Matti warned as he opened the door.
Shiloh, the satyr, hesitated for a moment before opening the door closest to him and getting to his hooves before jumping out. Following him was the white puppy, and last went the werewolf child. I tapped Duncan’s nose to get his attention one last time.
“Be on your best behavior. I don’t want to put you in air jail,” I warned him. He waved that fluffy tail behind him. We both knew, though, that he’d done enough stuff in the past that had required that kind of prison sentence.
But I didn’t want him to know that staying here depended on him, and I definitely didn’t want him to sense any pressure if he didn’t like it and we had to figure out plan B.
That was a burden he didn’t need to shoulder. He didn’t need to know yet there wasn’t a plan B.
I pet his head before turning and climbing out with him in my arms and then setting him down on the gravel. He wouldn’t run off—I was pretty positive—but confidence was built by experiences. I had to trust him. He’d be safe here.
At least that’s what Matti had told us, and I believed him despite the Jenny Greenteeth we’d encountered. I justified it by telling myself that she had been at least a couple miles away, and she’d taken off in the opposite direction. But I should probably get my fanny pack from where I’d left it on the front seat regardless. He rarely needed his leash, and I wanted to believe he wouldn’t need it now, but… just in case.
I was thinking about that as I took a few steps around the truck after getting out of the back seat, standing close to Shiloh, who had made his way over while he spoke to Agnes beside him. Pascal was saying something to Matti and Sienna on the other side of the truck. I swept my gaze around, too focused on the smell of the woods and the magic in the air to really listen to the low, consistent sound in the distance. The sound I would have recognized—if I’d been paying attention—was a heavy body running fast over fallen leaves.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Duncan’s ears perk up, his attention pivoting toward the trees. At almost the exact same time, Shiloh did the same.
Unfortunately, I missed their reactions, and I was going to blame the enchanted forest we were in for why I didn’t sense the wrecking ball of a magical presence running like the wind through it.
And it had to be because of all those reasons that I was totally surprised when a huge black mass appeared in my peripheral vision.
It didn’t click that it was running straight for us until it was almost too late, and I stepped in front of the two kids.
An animal the size of a Clydesdale took what I would call a flying leap at me not twenty seconds after I’d gotten out of the truck.
Matti shouted. One of the boys did too. Duncan whined deep in his throat.
It all happened so fast, and I barely had time to do anything but make sure it was me and not Duncan or Shiloh it was aiming for before gigantic paws hit my shoulders and tackled me to the ground like a pop star’s bodyguard would take down a fan running on stage.
The only good part was that I didn’t have time to tense and make hitting the gravel like a watermelon from a ten-story building even worse than it already was.