Page 90 of The Book Reader
My whole body shakes at their words. I close my eyes and cry silently, praying to whoever is listening to save me.
But no one is coming.
No one ever comes.
Chapter 32
GAELAN
Panting for breath, I sit up as I’m ripped from Ari’s dream. Something was stopping me from seeing where she went after she disappeared through the sand trap. Usually, I can manipulate dreams—I am a Dream demon after all—but Ari’s powers stopped it for some reason. No one has ever stopped me before, not even Ari.
I turn to reach for her and frown when I find the bed empty. “Rose?” I shout, getting out of bed and heading to the bathroom. Seeing it empty, I slip on sweatpants and head down to the kitchen in search of her.
One of the housekeepers smiles up at me as I enter the room, before bowing. “Good morning, my lord.”
“Good morning, have you seen Ari this morning?”
She shakes her head. “No, my lord.” She bows again before rushing off.
Trelor shivers against my skin, and both of us try to reach out with our senses to see if we can feel anything amiss—it all seems fine; there are no daemons that shouldn’t be here.
Walking out into the courtyard and looking up into the sky, something doesn’t feel right. Turning to walk back into thehouse, I pause when I see Rex sitting at the gate, his body larger than usual. He turns his head and growls before turning back and clawing at the gate.
“Rex?”
He whimpers, and it’s then that I notice a gold symbol etched into the ground—a spell. Moving closer, I have no idea what spell this is, but it’s one of Ari’s. I can tell from the feel of it. But how? She has no power, not from the book anyway. How did she do this? Rex whimpers again, and the spell begins to flash, slowly fading. Fear rushes through me, making me clench my fist.
“Rose?” I shout again, rushing back into the castle and calling Leah to my side. She shimmers within seconds. She moves to bow but stops when she sees the look on my face and the markings covering my skin. The last time I watched one of Ari’s spells fade, she died soon after. “Ari is gone. Someone has taken her.”
“Where?” She questions, making me growl in return.
“If I knew, do you think I would be standing here?” I snap.
She shrinks back in fear at the anger in my words. Walking past her, I head for the main office. Pushing the door open, I walk over to the map of the underworld on my wall.
Ari was dreaming of a sandy wasteland last night. The only sandy wasteland left in the underworld is Westrey lands—the place where the first Book Reader was born. The place we first fell in love.
Leah moves next to me, her eyes taking in the map. I lift my hand as I start to shift, pointing to a place on the map with a claw. “She's here.” I let Trelor come completely forward, my body growing in height, towering over Leah. My skin turns blue as it covers itself with my daemon lord markings. Wings appear on my back and my tail uncurls, landing hard on the ground with a thud. My voice comes out deeper. “Get the guards and meet mehere.” I don’t wait for her to answer—someone has my mate, and Iwillget her back. She ismine.
I shimmer to Westrey.
My feet sinkinto the hot sand, my tail swishes on the ground behind me in anger. Someone touched what is mine, and Gaelan let it happen. I will not allow him to be around our mate again. I grin, feeling him move under my skin, and I growl out to him, “You are weak.” He tries to take back his body, but my anger keeps him bound. He can come back when I say he can and not a moment before.
I am the best daemon to find our mate. Not a weak, tiny daemon.
Lifting my head and sniffing the air, I smell a mix of death and daemons, with the sweetest undertone of roses.
“Ari-Rose,” I growl out and step forward. She was here. I can smell her blood; someone has hurt her.I will rip their beating heart from their chest for touching her. She is mine.
Narrowing my eyes when I see a ripped shirt lying on the ground, I pick it up and inhale deeply before growling—it’s Gaelan’s.
Tiny daemon.I grin. Must find a mate.
Walking farther, two daemons are up ahead arguing; they stand in front of a large metal cage that has my mate inside. Tears stream down her face, and blood is smeared across Ari-Rose’s body. I can feel the daemons' anger wash over my skin; it ignites my rage to have their severed heads in my hands. These daemons took my mate, and these two daemons will die today.
The air around me shifts, and Rex appears beside me; his body is much larger now, his fangs longer, and his eyes burning red fire. I grin down at him and mind-link so he can hear my thoughts.
“Go, save Ari-Rose.”
