Total pages in book: 214
Estimated words: 195876 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 979(@200wpm)___ 784(@250wpm)___ 653(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 195876 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 979(@200wpm)___ 784(@250wpm)___ 653(@300wpm)
Typhon prowls into my view, teeth bared as his long, serpentine body coils around the girls, wings slowly unfolding.
"You told me to stop asking if I could eat people. So I shall not ask."
"Telling me you're not asking is pretty similar to asking, Typhon."
"Noted."
"I was wondering if either of you know where I could find Raith."
They share a knowing look. One folds her arms and eyes me up and down again. This time, it's more of a feminine appraisal and has nothing to do with my affinity. "So the rumors about you two are true?"
"No," I sigh. I've already had my fill of talk about rumors and silliness for one day. It's taking effort to keep my temper from flaring now. "I just need to talk to him."
The girls share another look, as if deciding whether they want to tell me.
"Okay," one says. "We're actually on our way to meet him right now. You can tag along. Just promise to keep your little flying fish away from us."
I force a smile as they laugh at my expense and start walking.
"I am not asking to eat them, but I am sending you awareness of my hunger through the tether. Do you feel it, angry human?"
I grin. "Quit trying to circumvent the no eating people rule, Typhon. I get it. You want to eat them."
"If I were permitted to speak about my desires to eat humans, I would start with the one on the left. And I would do it in my prestigious kuratokken form. The 'flying fish' as she so dismissively puts it.”
I continue following the girls as we leave the fire tower and pass through the courtyard. "I think your kuratokken form might be too small for eating people."
"I am Typhon. I would find a way."
We enter the eastern wing of campus, pass through halls that are mostly empty at this hour on a weekend, and stop outside a pair of doors. "This is it," one of the girls says.
I hear muffled voices inside and nod.
The girls push open the doors and I follow them inside.
And then they slide in behind me, closing the doors tightly and throwing the latch over the lock.
I frown, then squint against the brightness of torches in the empty classroom. There are nearly a dozen figures approaching me.
"Raith?" I ask, my voice coming out as little more than a whisper.
"Oh... what did you bring us?" asks a familiar voice.
And then Malakai steps in front of the torches, flanked by Serena and several very large and angry looking students.
Fuck.
23
"Careful," Serena says, hips swaying as she walks into view, her figure outlined against torchlight like a predator stalking prey. "Her water dragon will be here, too. Nobody try anything stupid."
"At least someone recognizes my power," Typhon mutters in my mind.
A sharp pulse hits through our tether—hunger, raw and demanding. He's asking, again, if he can eat them.
"Let's be smart, Typhon. Even you probably couldn't fight off fifteen students and elementals."
"It would be a glorious death."
"Right. Death. So we're going to be smart. I have no interest in dying tonight, no matter how gloriously."
"Shall I alert the fire touched about your situation?"
I go rigid, eyes darting between the students slowly circling me like wolves. My heart hammers so hard I wonder if they can hear it.
"You can do that?"
"I can communicate with his elemental. I suppose I could also reach out to the air touched you are rumored to vigorously mate with."
"Bastian?"
"Yes. I should also admit I am only asking to give you the illusion of choice. I already reached out to them several minutes ago when I suspected the humans who led you here of treachery."
"And you didn't think to warn me?"
Rage explodes in my chest, hot and vicious. Typhon is supposed to protect me, and he just let me walk straight into this?
"Yes. Better to face our enemies than hide in the shadows from them. I will admit I didn't expect... quite so many of them, however."
The slight throb of apology through the tether softens my anger. We’re still screwed, though.
Serena slides inside my space and plucks my rapier from my waist. Blunted or not, I still feel naked once she takes it.
"Just to be safe," she says, eyes holding mine as she steps back, her smile cutting like a blade.
"Are they close?" I ask Typhon through our tether.
"Yes."
"I didn't see anything," I say, trying to keep my voice steady despite the situation. "Just let me walk out of here, and I won't talk about this. Whatever it is."
"Hmm," Malakai says, lips curving into a smile that doesn't reach his eyes. "Serena mentioned she gave you the opportunity to work with us. Said you weren't particularly receptive, though. We could use your dragon, Nessa. Maybe there's bad blood between us, but we're willing to leave it in the past."