Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 75539 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75539 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
He rolled to a stop at my feet. “I’m sorry. You chose the wrong side.” I summoned a dagger of solid sand—hard as a diamond—in my grip and plunged it down into the vampire’s forehead. His eyes bulged for a moment as the light escaped from them.
Joshua and Simon came at me from nowhere. Joshua sliced at me with the dagger. I quickly jumped back, the tip of the starlight dagger cutting across my shirt. I swiped upward, raising a column of sand to try and knock the dagger out of his hand.
Joshua was fast. His eyes glowed red. He dodged the sand. Simon came at me from the side with a clawed hand. He got my shoulder and yanked backward. I fell with the momentum, blood warming my back. The ground slammed into my side.
Joshua came at me again. He tried to pin me down with his body weight and raised the dagger in the air. I quickly slipped into the time stream and reversed it, landing back on my feet and dodging Simon right before he could get his claws into me.
Roars and shouts sounded throughout the desert. The night sky blazed blue as Maddox tried to shoot the Shade dragon down with a stream of ice.
Joshua and Simon attempted to maneuver so that they surrounded me. Blake came to my side, still in his wolf form, snarling at the two men.
I glanced at him. His amber eyes locked with mine. A brief moment of total understanding passed between us.
This had to end.
We charged forward. Blake leapt in the air. He crashed onto Simon and dropped him to the ground. I went for Joshua. I summoned a sand dagger in my hand and swiped, slashed, and stabbed, all while dodging the attacks from Joshua. He had to kill me with the dagger in order for it to work, and I certainly wasn’t about to let that happen.
A strangled yelp froze my blood.
Joshua arced a blow, the dagger slicing my cheek. I tried to press the attack, but another cry from Blake made me stumble. I could see him from the side of my vision. Simon now had him pinned. How had that happened?
Damien and Warrick were busy with two Shade dragons, spitting acid saliva that burned through the rock. Robby and Claire were dealing with the fae, who fought like a maniac. Dawn had taken to the sky to help Maddox, while Caleb lay against a boulder, blood dripping from his forehead.
I was the only one who could save Blake.
I was the only one who could end this.
I fought with renewed vigor. Pushing Joshua back. He put space between us, his breathing coming in short gasps. He grew tired. Good. I let the dagger in my hand disintegrate and summoned a bow and arrow instead. There were a few feet between us. I let an arrow fly. It slammed into his shoulder. He winced but didn’t seem fully fazed by it.
I aimed again. I had to breathe. Had to focus. Had to—
A cry unlike any other made me let loose the arrow without even thinking. It hit its mark. Joshua looked down at his chest. Cassius shouted something I couldn’t hear through the pounding of blood in my ears. His father fell to his knees, the starlight dagger falling free from his hand.
But the cry, it had come from Blake. Simon had shifted. He was a wolf, much larger than Blake, and his maw was covered in crimson blood. Blake was underneath him, motionless, his throat ripped open.
The world around me collapsed. I wanted to cry out, but my throat caved in. My chest tore open, my entire being ripped to shreds.
No, no, this couldn’t be how this ended. How could this be happening? My Blake. So much blood. I failed him. I failed. I couldn’t. I couldn’t save him. I couldn’t.
My Blake.
My Blake.
No. This wouldn’t be how it ended.
I dove for the starlight dagger, still on the ground. Simon came running at me. I wanted to rip him apart, piece by piece. I wanted to inflict an entire galaxy’s worth of pain on him so that even his ancestors felt the torment.
Instead, I raised the dagger in the air and plunged it into my own heart.
Light erupted from the stab wound as my heart ceased to beat. The fighting stopped, my family yelling, coming to my side. Time slowed and sped up and slowed and sped.
Stars burst across my vision. There was pain, but there was peace as well.
The ground spun out underneath me, meeting with the sky above. Everything blended together until there was nothing but empty space. Nothing but the past, the present, and the future, all combined into one singular moment.
Manipulating time was in my DNA. I knew how this worked, but this feeling was beyond comprehension. I had the entire history of the world at my fingertips. I could pluck whatever chord I wanted and alter the lives of every being that ever existed. I could go back in time and stop wars, kill dictators, save heroes, spend time with my mother again.