DAEMONEUM
Page 41
“Not sure how else to explain,” he huffed a breath, putting his hands on his hips. “He’s alive. He and Dracon have been working together since me and Kade were little from what it sounds like. He had a hand in Turning her into an Anamolia and was using her to seduce me or some shit so I could transfer my avian knowledge to her and he could use it to blow the Araneum, which by the way, he attacked himself three years ago. He’s out of his mind.”
“Himself?”
“Himself.”
“What the …?”
“Warden Caelius had the location of the Araneum moved,” Cole said. “He broke out of prison, by the way …”
Danny’s expression told Cole he wasn’t absorbing much more information. Cole couldn’t blame him.
“The Warden told me he had the Araneum moved before he told me to leave with Kade. And before he moved it—all this time, years, since it got attacked—my dad couldn’t exactly have just shown up out of the blue to work one day with Kade and blown the site sky high. So, he’s been trying to find where the new location is by blowing up half of Europe. I mean … how am I related to this person?” He threw his arms up. It was inconceivable.
“I’m … hang on—this is a lot to take in. He’s avian, your dad, so that makes no sense. He can find the Araneum on his own same as you no matter where it is. I thought you established that when we were going to try to find it and have Kade move it.”
“Apparently, that’s not true. My dad said there are a bunch of traps and crap that keep us from actually finding it. I guess we just fly around in circles? I don’t know, he was talking nonsense. He wants to control the goddamn universe with me at the helm.”
“I …” Danny’s head was shaking from side to side, green eyes vacant. “I don’t know what to say. The ring? Does he have it if he's the Patriarchae?”
Cole reached into his pocket and pulled out the coiled ring, resting it on his open hand.
Danny made a face. “Ew. What the hell? You gonna wash all the blood and crap off?”
“No. That’s bone," Cole pointed, “some finger, skin, nail—”
Danny gagged.
“He killed Plumb,” Cole said, shoving the ring back in his pocket. “Your leg is jacked,” he threw his arm toward Danny’s cast, “Lindsey is still in bad condition, G and Jake are laid up in the infirmary because of him, and Jake might be blind due the explosion.” He couldn’t even think about that. “Kade’s life was nearly destroyed by him, and he plans to finish the job if he can get his hands on her. I don’t even want to talk about what he put me through. So, no, I'm not washing the ring off. He's lucky all I have of him is part of his finger.”
Danny gave him a resigned look. “Enough said. What’s the plan?”
Cole could not have asked for a better Beta or a better friend than Danny. He always had his back. And even with a broken leg and crutches, limping around, today was no different. “Kade is no longer being tracked. I have the ring now. When you’re all better,” Cole grinned, “the hunted become the hunters.”
The front door opened, and Kade peeked out, her pretty, yellow-green eyes finding Cole’s. “Everything okay? The fire’s dying out again.”
“Everything’s good. Danny is basically useless, though,” Cole teased, grabbing a few logs off the pile he’d stacked before stepping up onto the porch. “Here.” He handed him a stick.
“Oh, that’s real nice.” Dan hobbled toward the crappy cinder block steps. “Real nice.”
“From now on,” Cole leaned close, holding Kade’s gaze, his arms laden with firewood, and kissed her forehead, “everything is going to stay good. I’m going to make sure of it.”
DON’T MISS
ANAMOLIA
THE PRIMORDIAL PRINCIPLES
BOOK THREE
COMING in 2017
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First, I’d like to thank my editor Mary-Theresa Hussey who always pushes me to dig deeper. Appreciate your efforts so much. My copyeditor Carol Brown who I love, and has taught me more than I can say. Also my cover designer Amalia Chitulescu who absolutely kicks ass. Thank you all for bringing this story to life.
Also to Jessica West who sparked the idea of Euryale, an addition I didn’t see coming until her silver scales and hissing snakes stared me in the face. Thank you.
To my beta readers Nancee Clark, Carol Brown, and Alex Nader, you keep me sane on a weekly basis. Words will never express how thankful I am for you.
To my sun and my moon, my angel children, love you both.
And of course to the voices in my head who never sleep, and even wake me up in the night, thank you for continuing to talk.
LANEY McMANN
With a passion for the supernatural and all things magical, Laney developed a
voracious appetite for reading fantasy at a young age. A vivid imagination helped set the stage for creating her own worlds and placed her onto the writing path.
By the time she reached her teens, she’d accumulated notebooks full of poems, which led to short stories and finally novels. Young adult dark fantasy, paranormal romance, and mythology are among her favorite genres.
A former classical dancer and chef, she grew up in sultry Florida where she still resides.
Laney is also the author of the Fire Born Novels.
Connect with her:
Blog: LaneyMcMann.com
Twitter: @LaneyMcMann
Facebook Page: Laney McMann YA Author