Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 129912 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129912 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
“They turned the Tethered against me. My own creations against me!” she says in a louder voice. “I made more people, of course. Like The Council,” she says, gesturing to Callista, Arie, and Vassilis. “Your elders held much more power than the Tethered, but it didn’t matter. They were mine first, and my sisters fed them lies. They became attached to them…so I figured the only way to solve it was to get rid of them. Decius did that for me. Unfortunately, it didn’t last for long.
“With Yuri’s sacrifice, they were able to put me into an eternal slumber. They never wanted me to wake again, but that’s unfortunate because I’m here. And the only way they’ll defeat me again is with Yuri’s power…which your mate has, Willow.”
She sets another chair ablaze. This one is close to Arie, and he inches away a bit as she walks behind his chair.
“I don’t understand why you want us all dead. All the people of Vakeeli are your creations and procreations. Why wipe us all out?” I ask.
“Perhaps it’s spite for what my sisters have done to me. They’ve created love here. Families. Tribes. All of this they’ve built while I rotted in a tomb. It could be for that reason,” she murmurs, running a finger along the top of Decius’s chair. His doesn’t catch fire, but it does sizzle. “I should want them to suffer just as I did. But the truth—the absolute truth, little one—is because I fucking can.”
Right after Selah says that, she drops a hand on top of Decius’s head, and her nails stretch in length. The red nail bed turns into thick claws, and she curls her fingers, piercing them into his skull.
Decius’s eyes widen. “Mother! What are you do—”
With a twist and yank, Selah beheads Decius, and black blood gushes downward. I push back in my chair with a gasp, stumbling out of it as her mouth stretches wider.
“Oh shit!” Kilian barks, bustling back in his chair too.
Selah tosses Decius’s head into her mouth then twists the chair around to devour the rest of his body.
What. The fuck. Is happening?
The Council float out of their chairs with wide, horrified eyes, and we all watch as black veins appear on Selah’s skin and ride up to her shoulders. They crawl up her neck and slither across her face. She steps back, swiping dark liquid from the corner of her mouth before tossing her head back and breathing in through her nostrils.
“We need to get the fuck out of here, Willow!” Killian grabs my arm and tugs on it as Selah exhales with satisfaction. We run toward the door, and behind me I hear chairs flipping over, glass breaking, Callista and Vassilis shouting.
When I look back, Selah has grown four times her height, her head nearly touching the dome roof, and her orange eyes focused on The Council.
With one long arm, she reaches across the room and clutches Arie in her oversized hand. Then she tilts her head back and dangles him above her open mouth.
“What? No! No!” Arie screams.
“Your Majesty! No!” Castilla yells, throwing a useless arm out for her brother.
Vassilis vanishes all together.
It all happens so quickly. One moment Arie is dangling by Selah’s hand, and the next he’s falling into her mouth.
She chews, and I hear bone crunching as silver liquid coats her lips. After swallowing, she puts on a devious smile, places a hand on the floor, and sets the dining room on fire.
THIRTY-SEVEN
WILLOW
I’ve seen many unexplainable things in Vakeeli since my very first drop from the portal, but what Selah has just done takes the cake.
I can’t stop my jaw from falling even as Killian insists that we keep moving.
“This way!” Killian storms through the corridor, leaping over the lifeless bodies of servants and guards until he reaches a wing we haven’t gone through before. “There has to be a way out of here.”
He shoves a thick door open, and it takes us through a grand room made of tan marble and navy velvet curtains.
I glance back, stomach dropping when I see the flames trailing behind us. They’re a few feet away, but it’s strange they’ve made it this far already.
“How are we going to get out if we’re bound to this stupid castle?” I ask, searching for an exit. “If we try to leave, we might die!”
“I know, I know,” he pants. “But there has to be somewhere on these grounds we won’t be touched by that fire.”
“Why did she even do that?” I ask as Killian digs his fingers into one of the velvet curtains.
“She’s fucking demented, that’s why.”
He rips the curtain down, and the rod clinks to the ground. He picks it up, kicks the endpiece off, then snaps the rod in half to form two jagged edges. Good enough for a weapon. I’m not sure it can be used on any of those immortal monsters though.