Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 129912 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129912 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
I pause when I feel a presence behind me. There’s an itch on my neck, eyes on the back of my head. When I whirl around, I catch a flash of silver.
My fists clench in an instant as Vassilis appears, standing between the doorframes.
“No one to stand in our way now, monarch,” he sneers. His eyes are lit like silver rings, and his hands curl into fists too.
“I don’t have time for your shit, you ugly fuck,” I grumble.
He steps forward. “The Regals say you’re the chosen one. You’re the one who can defeat Selah. Everyone thinks you’re so special because you carry the blood and Seed of Yuri.” He takes another step. “I may not live to see tomorrow, but believe me when I tell you I’ll die a happy man knowing you are de—”
A single gunshot echoes across the marble terrace.
Vassilis stands before me, his sneer fading, fists uncurling, and a hole in his head so large it gives me a clear view of the flames behind him.
He drops to his knees, and I lower my smoking gun, stepping around him and retrieving a blade from my belt. I press the edge of it to his throat. “The thing about you, Vassilis, is that you talk too fucking much.” I drag the blade across slowly, clenching my jaw as I watch silver blood spill down his chest. “And I told you if you ever threatened my mate again, I’d kill you.”
I haul him up and toss his body over the rail.
Good fucking riddance.
Something thuds behind me. I twist around to see the ceiling collapsing.
I rush back inside and hustle through the castle, shouting my fiancée’s name again.
THIRTY-NINE
WILLOW
“Let’s try the door again,” I offer. “Maybe we just need to pry it open. I’ll use the rod, and you can twist the door handle.”
“Yeah.” Killian tosses me the broken rod, and I stick the end of it into the gap of the door, wedging it in deep. I grunt as I add more of my weight to it, and Killian twists as hard as he can.
I can feel the heat of the flames on the back of my neck. They’re so close. Fuck, we’re gonna burn alive in this place.
“It’s not working!” Killian shouts, the veins on his neck bulging as he twists.
I push the rod harder, and it snaps in half. “No!”
I drop the broken rod and press my back to the door as Killian does. The flames skid down the rest of the staircase. It’s only a matter of time before they reach us.
Smoke clouds the room, wafting past my nose and sneaking its way into my lungs, ready to claim me with its partner.
“I’m so sorry, Killian.” I put my attention on him. “I’m sorry for everything. If I’d just stayed on Earth—if I hadn’t come back here with Caz…” A sob builds in my chest. “None of this would be happening. None of it. You’d all be safe. I was so stupid to think I could create a life here. All that I had on Earth was taken, and I clearly brought that bad luck here.” I swallow hard as the flames near the tips of my shoes.
Killian starts to speak, but there’s a bang and a clatter next to us. A gust of wind sweeps inside, and the flames skitter backwards.
I look to our right to see Callista floating. In front of her is an open wall revealing the darkness outside and a pile of rubble before it.
“Come!” she shouts. “Now!”
We run her way, climbing over bricks and dirt, but Killian comes to an immediate halt at the top of the rubble. I stop right next to him, and my heart drops when I see the steep cliffs below along with the dark, crashing waves illuminated by the flames.
“You’ll let us fall!” Killian shouts at Callista.
“I will not let you fall!” Callista raises a hand, and the wind that’d blown by us wraps around us. It circles us like a tornado and carries us away from the cellar.
We drop onto ash-coated snow, and I fall onto my side as Killian tumbles over.
Groaning, I press up, balancing on my palms as Callista lands next to us, scowling up at the castle.
“She lied to us,” she hisses, eyes glistening. “She told us we’d have everything, but she just took it all away!” She screams as she throws her hands up and causes a nearby boulder to shatter.
Panting raggedly, she shoots her silver eyes down to mine. I drag in a few breaths, anticipating her next move. Will she blow me up too? Beat me up out of rage? For all I know, she only saved us to offer us to that psychopath who torched her castle.
Callista’s mouth parts open, but a flurry of lavender slams into her before she can speak. Her body sails a short distance away, crashing into nearby cliffs. And if that weren’t enough, that same burst of lavender snatches her back out and slams her into it again.