Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 37136 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 186(@200wpm)___ 149(@250wpm)___ 124(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37136 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 186(@200wpm)___ 149(@250wpm)___ 124(@300wpm)
With those eloquent words imparted, each of them spoken in a voice trembling with rage, not fear, Lora let out a cry of rage and flew at Gideon.
The Maker had not been attacked in a very long time. He laughed at the impudence of such a brash act and prepared to end the woman for a second time, but instead of destroying her with an easy slashing of fang, he felt her pass under his muscular guard like a shadow. He was allowed only the most vanishing moment of surprise before he felt his flesh being rended with claws and teeth, his stomach, his neck, his thighs. She was like a whirling devil of death spinning at him almost more quickly than he could see. The power was tremendous and primal, coming from a place beyond the mundane world. His eyes lit up as he felt it meet his flesh and he felt pain.
In the last ten thousand years, Gideon had never been assaulted by any creature with potential to harm him. He felt her energy even before she reached him, a total twisting of the fields of possibility and calamity around him. He was not merely being attacked. He was being unwound on an entirely existential level.
As her claws slashed through his flesh he felt a surge of something he did not recognize at first. Later on, he would identify it as the first time he felt fear. For the moment it was nothing more than pure exhilaration, and he shouted with absolute glee.
He felt wet and hot. When he looked down, he saw himself coated in sanguine essence. It was not the first time he had been in such a state, but it was the first time it had been his own blood that slaked his flesh.
“Oh my,” he mused.
He was distracted, so very distracted. So much so he did not notice his chained hounds loosing their bonds and fleeing, their chains dragged behind them as they made good their escape. He staggered backwards, looking down at himself with an astonished gaze.
“Father!” Ray’s angsty cry filled the night air.
Candy was gone. It appeared the undead dervish had danced her dance and departed, content to mortally wound rather than outright kill on this cursed occasion. Gideon crumpled onto his knees as visceral blood ran down his midsection, and the coiling interior of his form escaped through deep gouges.
He had seen many people lose their stomachs before and had laughed as their viscera had spilled out into desperately clutching hands. Never in all of his eternal existence had he imagined one day he would be on his knees in the dirt attempting to claw his organs back into his body.
3
Will could not believe his luck, or his freedom. He and Henry fled through the streets, the pads of their feet pounding against the tarmac. They were free. They were unleashed. The chains and collars still remained heavy about their necks, but they would be dealt with soon enough. Finally, after months of anguish and captivity, air flowed about them and the world unrolled itself before them, and all was finally well.
He had seen Gideon go down and instantly turned tail. Henry was right by his side. Will could feel the pack master’s relief and see it in his lolling tongue, his pricked yet flopping ears. They were running with joy. The two of them had spent months enduring humiliating imprisonment, and now they were free. Completely, entirely, beautifully free.
They had discussed in quiet whispers many times what they would do if they were ever to get free. There was a protocol in place, a set of actions, instructions, and safeguards. They were not running blind in a feral panic. They were heading toward their first rendezvous point, just as they had planned.
They had always known that one day their chance would come, and they were prepared. This was no desperate flight at random. This was a journey with a destination.
Lorien had planted a cache for them in an apartment several blocks from Central Park. At the border of the park, they shifted back into human form, which made the collars instantly far too loose and easily slipped off. They were naked, but better to be seen naked running through the streets of NYC than for two great wolves to be caught on CCTV.
Nobody bothered to look at them in their human forms, which closely resembled drug addicts. People would pay attention to wolves, but nobody wanted to make eye contact with a naked man on a city street.
They got to their destination in very short order, a railroad apartment with peeling paint and a faint scent of mold. Will didn’t care, he was just glad it wasn’t Gideon’s fucking mansion. Waiting for them there was a box of food, clothing, money, and ID. There was also a note for Henry, his name written on it in Lorien’s hand. Henry grabbed the note before he grabbed anything else.