Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 97071 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97071 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Lizzie strides out of the dust of my destruction looking none the worse for wear. Her clothing is a little dirty, but I obviously didn’t do any lasting damage with a blast that would have killed a lesser being. Holy fuck, this woman is scary.
“I’m sorry, Lizzie!” Evelyn plants her hands on the ground and a surge of purple magic roars out from the circle we’re contained in. Lizzie’s eyes go wide as it hits her and then she’s gone, tossed away as if by a giant hand. The trees that I damaged crack and crumble in the wake of Evelyn’s spell.
Including the portal.
My pain disappears so quickly, it makes me dizzy. I have to focus on drawing in one breath after another. Evelyn slumps against me. “Won’t knock her down for long. We have to get out of here. This time, listen to me when I say run.”
I turn my head slowly. She’s too pale, and her eyes are too wide. Does she realize what she just did? The sacrifice she just made? “The portal.”
“I know. I see.” She shakes her head and sways. “Worry about it later. We have to go. She heals faster than anyone I’ve ever met. We have … five minutes. Maybe.”
Not long at all.
I still feel shaky in the wake of the vampire’s attack, but at least my magic comes when I call. I scoop Evelyn up, staggering only a little. “Hold on to me.”
“What are you— Oh shit.”
I lift us off the ground and, after a beat of concentration, hurl us into the sky. Flying takes a lot of power and a significant amount of concentration. If the vampire attacks now, we’ll both fall and we might not survive it. It’s still a risk I have to take to get Evelyn away from danger. “What’s her range?”
“I don’t know. Longer than it should be.” She presses her face to my neck and clings to me. “Did I mention I’m scared of heights?”
I tighten my hold on her, even though it’s unnecessary. My magic is wrapped around us; we won’t fall unless I let us go. Unless I’m forced to let go. “You’re safe.”
“I think you’ll find that that’s the one thing I’m not.” She hiccups a laugh. “Fuck, I destroyed the portal I need to get home. That was a big-brained move if I ever made one. Bunny would be so proud. And Lizzie can’t even change her mind and go home—as if that would happen—because there’s no open route. She really is going to kill me.”
“I won’t let that happen.” I’m not sure how I’m going to stop it when she defeated me so handily. I could claim I didn’t see her coming, but the truth is that I don’t know how to combat that kind of power in someone who isn’t overly affected by physical attacks. “I thought you said she was a vampire. I don’t know any vampire that can do that.”
“A bloodline vampire. Lizzie’s family is one of the seven families of born vampires, not turned. She has a whole treasure trove of fun magic powers as a result, but her bread and butter is, well, blood. She can control it in other people, use it to form physical things, and shit like that.”
Ah. That explains it. She wasn’t manipulating the water in my body, but the blood itself. A crucial difference, apparently. I know how to fight a person with water elemental magic, but this vampire is another beast entirely. I want to say that I’ll have something figured out the next time I face her—because at this point, I’d be a fool not to believe Evelyn’s claim that she’ll keep coming after making her way to Threshold—but I don’t even know where to begin.
There’s also the problem that I might hesitate to kill Lizzie, but she’s obviously intent on murder.
I bring us down as carefully as possible near the docks. Even with all my concentration, we fall the last two feet to the ground. I stagger. “Sorry. Carrying people is more challenging than objects.” I look around. After that fight, it feels odd that nothing is amiss here. There’s the sounds of people starting their day in the distance and the soft sound of water lapping at the shore, the docks creaking with each small wave. There’s only one ship present. The Audacity.
I wasn’t happy about sailing under Hedd, but there’s no choice now. We need to get on that ship and we need to leave Sarvi. Immediately. “We have to get off this island.”
“Agreed.” She doesn’t let go of my neck, though.
That’s fine. I’m not feeling the need to set her down right now, either. I hug her closer and press a kiss to her temple. “It will be okay. We’ll figure this out.”
“I’m in the middle of a mess of my own making. You should drop me on my ass and take off for the horizon. She has no vendetta against you.”