Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 111353 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 557(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111353 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 557(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
“Sleep.”
Closing my eyes, I let the calming, comfortable cold carry me a—
“Argh!”
Light and heat exploded behind my lids, ripping me awake. I shot up as Dora and Nik burst onto the scene—bellowing and coming at me with the torches like they planned to beat me with them. A sight that should’ve been alarming, but it had nothing on the impossible one before me.
My shadow moved.
The normal shape of me sitting and slumped it should’ve been, but as the flickering flames came closer, it freaked out.
Writhing, contracting, and racing wildly around my body—it tried to hide behind every part of me until giving up when it spotted its salvation.
Zipping for the archival storage box placed innocently before me, my shadow jumped inside just in time for me to leap forward and slam the lid down—trapping it within.
Chest heaving, I gaped at the box—eyes huge and sweat beading on my still-chilled skin as faint screams poured out of the box. “We... we did it?”
Nik nodded slowly, his thin ears and whiskers twitching with nerves. “I... think we did... do it...”
“So...” I looked between the two of them. “We won? Team Freak... won?”
“We won!” Dora cried, jumping up and down and scaring me half out of my wits. “We won! We won! Team Freak! Team Freak!”
Sharing a look, Nik and I raised our brows, then burst out laughing.
“Team Freak! Team Freak!” we chanted along with her—caught up in her infectious enthusiasm.
“Team—”
A stronger than expected force banged against the lid, screaming unintelligibly and scaring the rest of my wits out of me. “Okay, celebrate later,” I cried. “Get this guy out of here first.”
“Good idea,” Nik agreed.
Slowly, carefully, I stood up—holding the box out in front of me.
Nik and Dora were right by my side, holding the torches as close to the box as possible without setting it alight. Shades didn’t like light or heat, as much as it didn’t like being trapped in an archival box, so we were making sure outside of it was still the least appealing option.
Nik led the way to the door. As the one who spent much more time in this library than we ever have, he knew the twists and turns of this bookish maze better than we did.
Along the way, we crossed paths with other search parties who caught sight of the weirdos with their silly little box, and dismissed us completely. It didn’t occur to them for a second that we caught the shade.
We made it to the main area beside the double doors, and stumbled onto a sight that couldn’t be so easily ignored.
The Sins Gang—as I was now calling them in my head—had snapped away more than a few shelves, and conjured themselves a hangout.
Chaises, plush carpet, and armchairs took up the drab space, plunging the room in a new riot of red, gold, green, and pink décor.
Raven, Sauda, Ursula, Eris, Kama, and Ronin stretched, reclined, and all-round chilled out in the new library lounge as miserable-looking demons of all sizes and animal breeds trudged around, offering them drinks and food on a tray.
Offering it to all of them except for Ronin, who was passed out on a chaise—arms folded and still looking like a damn angel even in sleep.
Right then, I had no problem seeing this guy rising from prince to the king of sloth. I was fairly sure I’d never seen him do a flipping thing other than smirking at everything that moves, and lying around sleeping—
Oh, wait, no. I internally rolled my eyes. There were those times he summoned the energy to torment me and put my life in danger. Can’t forget that.
Annoyance burned in my chest as I gazed at him, and it was not because Kama was leaning over the head of his chaise, running her fingers through his hair and breathing him in like barbecue roast.
Nik held his two torches with one hand, and then rapped on the library door with the other. “Master Erlik?” he called. “Sir?”
“What the fuck do you want!” blared Erlik’s dulcet voice. “If you’re dying, do it quietly, you idiot!”
“Uhh, we’re not dying,” I called. “We caught the shade.”
“What!” Eris bolted up, nearly fumbling her phone.
“We won,” I said.
“Like hell you did!” Eris was up and coming at me so fast, there wasn’t a chance to back away.
Over her shoulder, Ronin cracked an eyelid open.
“You’re lying!” Eris was well-chosen as the princess of envy, because there was hella jealousy burning in her eyes. “There’s no way some mortal bitch, an empty-headed freak, and that worthless limp caught the shade before my girls!” She fell on the box, trying to rip it from my grasp.
“Hey!” I strained against her. “What the hell are you doing!”
“Give it up!” Eris roared.
She took a swing at me, popping my eyes out of my skull as I lurched back.