Read Online Release (The Protector Book 3) by M.R. Merrick - Free Book Online
Authors: M.R. Merrick
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him gets here.”
“Oh gods, thank you.” Vincent tried to get to his feet, but he fell back to the ground and Tiki caught his arm.
“Don’t thank me yet,” I said, grabbing his other arm.
Tiki’s power wrapped around us and unfolded as he opened the doorway from our dimension to Drakar. The pressure built and a weight pushed me from above like the earth was trying to swallow me. The wind blew in all directions, rolling the colorful leaves across the ground and funneling them up around us.
“Tiki…”
“I’m trying,” he said through gritted teeth.
His orange eyes faded as his triangular pupils dilated until all that remained were solid, colorless eyes.
His magic continued to build and Rai screeched in my ear, causing sharp pains to shoot through my skull. Her claws tore into my flesh, and I felt the blood bubble to the surface. Vincent began to droop, his body becoming dead weight, and Tiki and I were forced to share the burden.
I caught a blur out of the corner of my eye, then a second, and finally a third. Whatever was after Vincent could move with more speed than I’d ever seen.
“Tiki?” I asked.
Tiki’s magic peaked and a dark circle grew beneath us. It blew the leaves away as the portal opened and gravity pulled against me.
Branches snapped and ruptured in a timber explosion as one figure appeared in the clearing, then another on the opposite side, and finally, one in the middle.
Transparent flesh revealed thick black veins and bones sliding down their arms. Talons as long as my forearms split their fingertips and extended outward. Fangs unlike any I’d ever seen hung from blood stained lips, and their eyes were filled with darkness.
Vincent’s arms twisted at unnatural angles and he screamed into my ear until his body collapsed against me. I locked eyes with the first creature and power rocked inside my skull—it was strong. It tried to tear me away from them, convincing me it was the right thing to do. The creature’s power begged me to break the hold I had on Vincent and to close the portal, but I couldn’t. The portal wasn’t mine to stop.
“What the hell?” I said to myself. I found myself moving my hand from around Vincent, ready to throw him to the ground and surrender ourselves, but just as I moved to push him off me, Tiki’s hand gripped my arm. The last thing I heard was the loud squawk of an angry crow before gravity sucked me into the earth, and then there was nothing.
Chapter 7
Time seemed to have stopped inside the portal. One instant I was ready to concede, give them Vincent, and throw myself at their mercy. The next I felt alone, surrounded by darkness, and crushed by unseen forces.
My body spun and I squeezed my hand. Skin moved beneath my fingertips and memories flooded back, shooting pain through my head. With it came clarity of who I was and what I was doing. Like I’d been put into a trance, my reality swam around me.
Darkness swirled and the pressure enclosed me. I was a snake’s dinner being swallowed whole and alive. Spikes of pain danced along my skin and hammered across my chest. The flesh began to tear like someone was pulling the skin from each side of my torso in a vice grip and winding it tighter.
Heat scorched my skin and flashes of light sparked from my chest. Streams of hot blue flame exploded from my torso, shooting off tendrils of fire into the darkness. With each burst, more pain cut through me.
Pain pierced my skull as the shadows banded around me. We spun faster and the dizziness won me over. I felt the vomit burning in my chest—or was that fire? My stomach rumbled and my muscles rippled. More blue flames erupted from my chest and the darkness stole my screams. I grew lightheaded from the pressure and lack of oxygen.
A flicker of light appeared beneath us. The light shocked my eyes, and like an instant migraine that had been amplified, pain reverberated through my skull.
Cool air rushed from below, carrying the smell of
“Oh gods, thank you.” Vincent tried to get to his feet, but he fell back to the ground and Tiki caught his arm.
“Don’t thank me yet,” I said, grabbing his other arm.
Tiki’s power wrapped around us and unfolded as he opened the doorway from our dimension to Drakar. The pressure built and a weight pushed me from above like the earth was trying to swallow me. The wind blew in all directions, rolling the colorful leaves across the ground and funneling them up around us.
“Tiki…”
“I’m trying,” he said through gritted teeth.
His orange eyes faded as his triangular pupils dilated until all that remained were solid, colorless eyes.
His magic continued to build and Rai screeched in my ear, causing sharp pains to shoot through my skull. Her claws tore into my flesh, and I felt the blood bubble to the surface. Vincent began to droop, his body becoming dead weight, and Tiki and I were forced to share the burden.
I caught a blur out of the corner of my eye, then a second, and finally a third. Whatever was after Vincent could move with more speed than I’d ever seen.
“Tiki?” I asked.
Tiki’s magic peaked and a dark circle grew beneath us. It blew the leaves away as the portal opened and gravity pulled against me.
Branches snapped and ruptured in a timber explosion as one figure appeared in the clearing, then another on the opposite side, and finally, one in the middle.
Transparent flesh revealed thick black veins and bones sliding down their arms. Talons as long as my forearms split their fingertips and extended outward. Fangs unlike any I’d ever seen hung from blood stained lips, and their eyes were filled with darkness.
Vincent’s arms twisted at unnatural angles and he screamed into my ear until his body collapsed against me. I locked eyes with the first creature and power rocked inside my skull—it was strong. It tried to tear me away from them, convincing me it was the right thing to do. The creature’s power begged me to break the hold I had on Vincent and to close the portal, but I couldn’t. The portal wasn’t mine to stop.
“What the hell?” I said to myself. I found myself moving my hand from around Vincent, ready to throw him to the ground and surrender ourselves, but just as I moved to push him off me, Tiki’s hand gripped my arm. The last thing I heard was the loud squawk of an angry crow before gravity sucked me into the earth, and then there was nothing.
Chapter 7
Time seemed to have stopped inside the portal. One instant I was ready to concede, give them Vincent, and throw myself at their mercy. The next I felt alone, surrounded by darkness, and crushed by unseen forces.
My body spun and I squeezed my hand. Skin moved beneath my fingertips and memories flooded back, shooting pain through my head. With it came clarity of who I was and what I was doing. Like I’d been put into a trance, my reality swam around me.
Darkness swirled and the pressure enclosed me. I was a snake’s dinner being swallowed whole and alive. Spikes of pain danced along my skin and hammered across my chest. The flesh began to tear like someone was pulling the skin from each side of my torso in a vice grip and winding it tighter.
Heat scorched my skin and flashes of light sparked from my chest. Streams of hot blue flame exploded from my torso, shooting off tendrils of fire into the darkness. With each burst, more pain cut through me.
Pain pierced my skull as the shadows banded around me. We spun faster and the dizziness won me over. I felt the vomit burning in my chest—or was that fire? My stomach rumbled and my muscles rippled. More blue flames erupted from my chest and the darkness stole my screams. I grew lightheaded from the pressure and lack of oxygen.
A flicker of light appeared beneath us. The light shocked my eyes, and like an instant migraine that had been amplified, pain reverberated through my skull.
Cool air rushed from below, carrying the smell of
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