Total pages in book: 362
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
On the hunt…
A kynakos barreled past Nektas, its jaws snapping at the air as Ash turned, the length of his blade soaked in blood. Like before, the beast ignored closer targets.
“The Primal of no Court,” I murmured, my stomach dipping as Attes grabbed the kynakos around its waist. Fear punched through my chest.
Ash shoved the dagger under the massive beast’s jaw and turned his head toward me.
“I didn’t overreact.” Red-hot fury replaced the fear and had me stalking toward the veranda steps. “They’re hunting you.”
Nektas’s gaze shot to mine. Understanding flared. “Fuck.”
The corners of my vision turned white as power swelled inside me. Summoning eather to fight wasn’t something I’d done often. When I used the eather against Kolis before my Ascension, it had been instinctual, born of panic and rage. The essence had just responded to my emotions—
No, it wasn’t only that.
It had also responded to my will, just as it had when I summoned the water to fill the rivers. Even before my Ascension, the essence responded to what I wanted. Yes, it could be stoked by my emotions, and I had lost control before, but I wielded it. The eather didn’t have power over me, and I was no longer just a vessel.
I controlled it.
Me.
No one else.
I lifted my hand, and the essence responded immediately to my summons. I understood the downside of using the essence, but these furry bastards were hunting my heartmate. And if I had to choose between him and anything—anyone—else, I would always choose him.
Bands of gold-tipped silvery light sparked, swirling down my arm. My will formed in my mind, and within a second, it transformed into raw energy. Eather erupted from my fingertips, forming several torrents of hissing, twisting gold-and-silver energy bolts. The tendrils of eather snaked through the air, casting flickering light and shadows across the grass.
Ash whipped around as a kynakos launched itself at him. The first current of eather slammed into the beast, and because I willed it a quick, soundless death, the Dog of War was snuffed out. Obliterated.
“Fuck,” rasped Ash, tracking the essence as my gaze flicked to the right. Eather caught a kynakos mid-jump as a branch of energy spun between him and Nektas, arcing and then diving—
Attes swore, springing toward Lailah. He grabbed her around the waist.
“What the—?” she exclaimed as he lifted and spun her away from the tendrils of eather. “Was that even necessary?”
Attes held her several feet off the ground. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Coils of crackling essence formed a web and streaked above the grass, fanning out in every direction. The moment the energy brushed up against a kynakos, it was extinguished in a flash of bright light, leaving nothing behind but a shower of glittering dust. That, too, disappeared.
The field was empty, but I didn’t call the eather back to me. The twists of pulsing power reared back, poised to strike.
“Liessa,” Ash said, coming up the veranda steps. “I think you got them all.”
Nodding, I scanned the forest once more, seeing nothing. The sharp, uncomfortable feeling of apprehension had eased. It wasn’t completely gone, but it was nothing like before.
My heart still pounded, but I released the eather. The strands of essence flickered out. I met Ash’s stare as he approached. “They were after you.”
Ash’s jaw hardened as he hooked an arm around my shoulders and drew me to his chest. He pressed a kiss to my forehead.
“Fucking Kolis,” Lailah growled.
“I don’t think that was him,” Attes said, and I frowned. “And trust me, I’m not giving him a pass, but he’s never demanded that we use the kynakos to do his bidding.”
“There’s always a first,” Nektas muttered.
“Yeah, there is.” Attes’s voice was closer. “But it’s more likely that my brother was trying to earn Kolis’s praise.”
Fury rose in my chest as I pulled away from Ash and faced the other Primal. “I really do not like your brother.”
He thrust his fingers through his hair. “Don’t blame you.”
“I assume you realize that summoning Kyn for the meeting is off the table now,” Ash stated, and I breathed a sigh of relief. “I don’t give a fuck about proving shit to him.”
Attes nodded and dropped his hand. “I understand,” he said, his voice heavy. “And I agree.”
A pang of sorrow sliced through my chest. I wished it wasn’t this way for Attes.
Lailah cleared her throat. “You said you had a feeling that drove you here?” she asked, glancing in Attes’s direction. The Primal was staring off toward the forest. “Was it like the vadentia?”
“The answer to that will have to wait,” Ash said before I could reply. “I need to speak with my wife.”
My belly did a series of little wiggles and flops as I dragged my gaze from the bushes. I didn’t know if I should be worried.
Or excited.