Total pages in book: 210
Estimated words: 200096 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1000(@200wpm)___ 800(@250wpm)___ 667(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 200096 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1000(@200wpm)___ 800(@250wpm)___ 667(@300wpm)
“The nymphs gave me those,” I stammer.
Anger ignites in his eyes. “They were gifts from us! This is bone, ripped from my very skull!”
“They’ve been very helpful. Thank you.” I should just keep saying this over and over again. Or better yet, shut my mouth entirely.
Aminadav drops the silver mask back in but holds the horn. “You do not even know what it does.”
“The elders told me it was for when all hope is lost.”
“Is that what they said?” He sneers. “You could use it today. Now.”
I throw caution to the wind and ask, “What would happen?”
“There is only one way to find out.”
“Would someone die?”
“Someone always dies in war.” He cocks his head, surveying my face like an archaeologist might admire a perplexing find dug out of the ground. “You do not value my gift.”
“I do! I just … I’m afraid of it,” I stammer.
“You are afraid of extraordinary power?” He holds the end of the horn close to my lips. “You could end your people’s suffering right now. All it would take is a sacrifice.”
I pull back a touch, afraid I’ll accidentally blow into it. “What do I have to sacrifice?”
Again, Aminadav studies me as if searching for answers hidden deep within. “That is for you to tell me. Who is the Queen for All willing to exchange for peace in her realms? Who would she sacrifice to save the lives of her people?”
I resist the urge to shrink away as I process his words. Agatha was right in her warning. A gift of this magnitude would come at a significant cost. I suppose the fates aren’t all that different from the nymphs. And there is only one answer to that question. “Myself.”
His eyes narrow. “You would sacrifice your life for these people from this foreign land, many of whom would have killed you ten times over? Would kill you still.”
I’m not doing this for them. “If you are saying the people of these realms will live…” Forget the ones who hate me, if we are in our darkest hour with no hope in sight and giving my life will save everyone I love … “Yes. My life for those of the realms. All the realms, including Islor.”
Aminadav’s gaze traces my features as he sets the horn in my hand. “That is a commendable sacrifice. An acceptable one.”
My dread bubbles. What have I just agreed to?
“If there is nothing else …” Vin’nyla’s voice trails.
I sense my time with these fates is running out. I hesitate, my fingers gripping the bronze token tightly. “Can I ask a question?”
“A question about a question.” Aminadav’s heavy eyebrow arches. “We are waiting.”
“Malachi took over someone else’s body, and that person is still alive inside. Is there a way to save them while getting rid of Malachi?”
He stares at me for so long that I squirm, afraid I’ve somehow offended him. “There is no scenario where he will survive.”
I nod. “Thank you.” Not the answer I wanted, or the one Sofie will accept, which means she’s back to being our enemy.
Aminadav steps in, herding me backward. “Unless you are summoning us for another request, so soon after you promised you would not again.” Strong hands seize my waist as he hoists me onto the altar and fits his hips between my thighs. “This one will cost you now, Queen for All.”
I swallow my rising panic as the Fate of Earth’s daunting frame looms over me, his meaning clear. He would break me in two. “I’m good, thanks.”
“Then we are finished here.”
I blink and they’re both gone, but his grip still burns.
Footfalls sound and a moment later, Zander, Jarek, and Abarrane are at my side.
“What happened?” Zander seizes my trembling hands, the horn still within my grasp. “Which one did you see?”
“Both.”
“Both of them!” Agatha sputters, easing up to the pavilion.
“I summoned Vin’nyla and Aminadav came too. They made some sort of deal.” Did all that just happen or did I imagine it?
“I’ve never heard of such a thing!”
“That is because you have never met the Queen for All.” Lucretia closes in. “My master is valuable.”
“Did they hurt you or make you do anything?” Zander asks through clenched teeth.
I shake my head. But I can never summon them again, that much is clear.
His head bows with his heavy sigh of relief. “What did they say?”
“Aminadav said to consider my request granted. Not forever, but for now. He will block the Nulling for us.”
“And you believe him?” Zander clearly doesn’t, given the doubt in his tone.
I shrug. “We’ll see what happens at the rift tonight before we celebrate.”
“Did they say anything else?” Agatha asks.
“Yes.” I struggle to pick through my frazzled thoughts. “Malachi’s fire burns forever, and there is no way to separate him from Sofie’s husband unless I wish to make it an official request of the fates, and that will cost me.”