Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 145341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 727(@200wpm)___ 581(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 727(@200wpm)___ 581(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
Find a way without triggering Olga into action.
That will be difficult. She is snarling and going from wolf to woman and railing against us as if we treated her like garbage the entire time she was with us. None of what she is saying is the truth, Siv. None of it.
She is not Olga. She is a Trojan horse with an army of the enemy inside her, waiting for the signal to get out and murder the royals. That includes you, sívamet. All of you must be prepared to fight for your lives.
We have been doing so since we were very young. My mother began my instruction in the art of fighting demons when I was a toddler.
There was confidence in her voice, but he could still feel her fear for him. She was very opposed to the two ancients making an attempt to turn the tables on Xayvion. He sent her reassurance and continued inspecting every fold, looking for the slightest anomaly. Surprisingly, it didn’t take them long to find the tiny bump nestled in a crevice of Olga’s occipital lobe. The occipital lobe was located at the back of the skull behind the temporal lobe. The occipital lobe had been their first choice to search because it would allow Xayvion to use Olga’s vision and also, through the temporal lobe, hear what was being said.
Now would be a good time to create a diversion, one that has Xayvion watching you closely and trying to keep all of you in sight. Try not to trigger Olga, but one of you slip out and warn the Lycans of the possibility of vampires or demons or even humans being used to try to wipe out as many families as possible. Then get back inside as quickly as possible before Olga notices one of you gone.
Benedek interrupted. Tell me which royal will leave the room, and I will duplicate him. The women are hidden and protected. I can aid you.
Vasilisa swamped Afanasiv with warmth, and then she spoke to her brothers. Grigor, you are closest to the door. Benedek will cast an illusion that you are here with us. Slip out and warn our people.
The room is small to fight adequately, Petru observed. All of the royals could slip out and we could duplicate them.
Afanasiv had already considered that possibility. His every instinct told him the mage had thought of that likelihood and had somehow prepared for it. I think he would know. One, if there is chaos for a moment, he wouldn’t feel the difference, especially if Benedek gets weight and feeling exact. He added the last as a caution to his brother from the monastery.
“Olga, I don’t understand you.” Vasilisa took a step toward her aunt. “I really don’t. You’ve become so belligerent toward all of us for no reason at all. When did your animosity start? When we were just children? If you really did hate our mother, if she really was that awful to you, and I’m in no way conceding that she was, how could you extend her behavior to us? We all adored you. We put you up on a pedestal. You know we did.”
As she spoke, she let her voice go from calm to that edge of anger. The walls of the room expanded and contracted. The floor beneath their feet undulated, the boards creaking and moaning in protest. Vasilisa didn’t seem to notice as she took another step toward Olga. Her eyes changed dramatically, becoming a deep blue that seemed to pierce right through her aunt like twin lasers. Her dark hair, the mass of silk that had appeared to be tamed, was suddenly wild, crackling with energy, tendrils rising into the air around her head like antennae.
She appeared so threatening that Olga took a step back, her hands coming up, fingers curling defensively. Fur broke out on the backs of her arms and hands, and her immaculate crimson nails appeared to be hooks that could rend and tear. She snarled and growled in warning.
“Why would you hate us so much when we were just children and couldn’t possibly know how our mother treated you?” Vasilisa demanded. “We loved you. We loved you before our parents were killed and even more after. How could you not feel that from us?”
Olga tossed her head and then shook it over and over, the growls still rumbling in her throat. As Vasilisa became more belligerent toward Olga, the building reacted to her anger. She was clearly trying to keep it under control, pacing back and forth. The walls continued to breathe in and out. The floor undulated as if a seismic event were occurring. Pieces of plaster fell from the ceiling so that it rained white powder and chunks of mortar.
“Vasi, take a breath, you’re losing control,” Andros ordered, backing away from his sister, his hands up defensively.