Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 92232 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92232 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
My sister has not mastered the type of power needed to heal them both. If I were not with child, I would still need a few days rest after doing what needs to be done.
They have waited too long to come to me. Death has already claimed them. I would be snatching them from the reaper’s door. It is a fight I cannot win in my condition.
“You will leave,” Yanique says with more force. “We cannot help them. The most we can do is ease their pain for a little while.”
“You’re all spawns of the devil. You pray to gods who have not shown themselves in centuries. I’ve never seen them. I’ve only heard stories since I was a boy.
“We are left with nothing, and they have no care for us. Where are your gods? Where is your power? They are right. You should all be burned,” he rages.
“Leave,” I say, shaking the room.
He wants to see power? There he has it. I will not be spoken to like this, not inside the place we have built to help.
His eyes widen and he takes a few steps back. His wife rushes over to grab him by the arm, but he pulls free from her hold. He narrows his eyes on me.
“I told you we shouldn’t have come here. Let us just go,” she pleads with her husband.
“All you have done for them,” he almost sobs.
“She would if she could, my love. Please, let’s go,” she replies.
“I am sorry, Annabeth,” I say softly.
“It is okay, mistress. I understand,” she says, her eyes dropping to my belly as a smile graces her lips. “May the gods grace you with favor.”
“May they also be with you,” I say sadly, my hands going to my belly.
“Curse you and the gods,” her husband says bitterly as he scoops his daughter into his arms.
Ask For Help
Yanique sighs for the millionth time as we read through scrolls in the caves. It’s been a few days since I first shared my plans with her. With some reluctance, she decided to help me.
“You know you don’t have to do this. I can manage on my own,” I say tiredly.
“And leave you to spend hours exhausting yourself and that baby? I don’t see why you won’t tell Zandra and Annaniah. We’d make it through all of this so much faster,” she groans.
“I don’t think that’s wise for now. They are young and talk too much.”
“Gods forbid the father of that child finds out,” she says and rolls her eyes, her words dripping with sarcasm.
“I will tell him when the time is right,” I bite out in frustration.
“Have you thought for once that he may know the answer or someone who could provide one?”
“No, I have not because erasing his true mate may not be something he desires.”
“Which is why we shouldn’t be doing this.”
I look at my sister with wide eyes. Her skin is glowing, and her eyes are changing color—almost as if flashing between her natural warm brown and a fiery bright orange. My mouth falls open. This has never happened before.
However, I’ve been sensing a change in her power in the last few days. At first, I thought it was a result of the spell I’ve been casting, but something else is going on here.
“Yanique,” I gasp.
She closes her eyes and takes a calming breath. I watch as the glow slowly dies down. The scrolls before me are forgotten.
“Forgive me,” she whispers. “I didn’t mean to lose my temper. This is just so dangerous and doesn’t feel right. I beg of you, reconsider and speak with Kendrick.”
I swallow hard and shake my head. “And if I lose him… Maybe not once I tell him, but how about a year after the baby is born or ten years or fifteen? His true mate could appear and then what will me and my child do? You do understand there’s no rejecting his true mate. It will be her over me.”
“Yes, I understand. I know better than you can imagine. This is wrong. Nothing good can come of it. You are playing in things that aren’t meant for us to touch.”
Her eyes are glowing again. I place my hands over my belly as I get this overwhelming, strange feeling. Yanique closes her eyes again and places a hand to her head.
“I’m sorry, I’m not feeling well.”
“Let us continue this another time. I think I’ve reached my limit for the day as well.”
“I will walk home with you.”
“Thank you.”
I stand and move to the wall next to the bookshelves in this area. I wave my hand before the hidden place I’ve created for the scrolls. The wall vanishes and reveals an opening. I place the scrolls inside with the others and quickly hide them away once again.
I furrow my brows as I gather my notes and my satchel. I’ve been so consumed with my quest I haven’t been checking in with my sisters as much as I should.