Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 137871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 689(@200wpm)___ 551(@250wpm)___ 460(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 689(@200wpm)___ 551(@250wpm)___ 460(@300wpm)
“It’s okay. It’s me.”
Her eyes opened, but she couldn’t see through the smoke and tears. A white light flashed over the cave's crevices, and the familiar silhouette of Dane took form. He was armed and dressed all in black. His mission was clear.
“I’ve got you, Ade. We’ve come to take you home.”
“Careful,” another voice called as Dane laid her on a blanket by the cave's opening. “Put her here.”
“She’s as fragile as a broken bird and needs blood.” The slightest touch brought agony. “We can’t move you any further until you feed. I’m sorry if I hurt you.”
The other figure drew closer, and she gasped, praying this was a dream and she wasn’t actually seeing her son emerge from the shadows of smoke and flashing light as a battle broke out behind them. “You’re safe now, Mother.”
No! She wanted to argue, but panic choked her. Christian had a mate. She needed him. It was too dangerous! They must leave this place.
“Mother, be still.”
When she tried to stop him from helping her, Dane restrained her. “Adriel, let us help you.”
Her heart jolted as she tried to speak, but her jaw was broken, and she was far too weak to fight them.
“She needs blood. Now. We cannot wait.” Her son rolled back his sleeve, blocking her view of the cave.
Cerberus roared as Juniper chanted in ancient tongues. A whirlwind of energy erupted and twirled through the cave, lifting debris and pebbles that whipped around with hurricane force.
They needed to leave this place before Cerberus went too far. She could bear the physical pain, but seeing her greatest loves harmed would destroy her in ways she couldn’t bear.
Her voice scraped against her crushed throat.
“Do not strain yourself, Mother.”
Christian draped a light cloth over her withered body. The weight of the material burned her flesh but shielded her from the wind.
When she couldn’t escape the hallucination, she shook violently. Were they truly there? Chills wracked her battered limbs. She could feel the blanket on her skin and smell her son’s hair.
“Drink, Mother.” He pressed his wrist to her mouth.
Warm, life-giving blood coated her tongue, but her throat was too ravaged to swallow. She coughed and sputtered, choking violently.
Dane cradled her head in his lap. “Try to relax, Ade.”
How could she relax when there was a nightmare unfolding behind him?
She coaxed a few drops down but then violent growls spewed from the dust clouds. A blast of wind swirled with ghostly howls into the cave and someone’s body slammed into the wall.
Juniper screamed, and Adriel’s heart stopped.
“You must keep drinking, Mother.”
She weakly pushed Christian’s wrist away and rasped, “Help… June.”
“The witch knows what to do.”
What did that mean? Cerberus would kill her.
Adriel’s throat was a ravaged open wound, and her voice no more than a scratch of sound, but she refused to let Juniper die for her sake. “Hel—p her…Chris... Plea…” Her body convulsed with a hacking cough, and she could speak no more.
“Adriel,” the sharp command cut through the chaos as Eleazar’s tall figure appeared, his dark eyes as familiar as his authoritative tone.
“We aren’t leaving without you or the witch. But you must listen to your son and drink.”
Are you truly here?
He pressed into her mind. We are here, my friend. He crouched before her and carefully cupped her cheek. And we’re taking you home, but you must feed.
Juniper—
Is helping us. No one will harm her.
Her eyes fluttered shut as her strength depleted.
“I’ve got her.” Dane gently cradled her hand, curling his fingers loosely around hers. “We need you to drink now, Adriel. Please.”
The few drops of blood she managed to swallow hit her insides like cannon fire. There was too much damage to repair. Bile rose and her body rejected the offering, pain knifing through her intestines where Cerberus had injured her.
“Mother, please…” Christian held his wrist to her lips, but she couldn’t do it. “Eleazar, you’ll have to compel her. She’s resisting me.”
The sharp intrusion of the bishop’s compulsion came without anesthetics. Her broken jaw opened as life-giving blood flooded her ravaged throat. The agony in her belly locked into knots like barbed wire, and she screamed, but they kept feeding her.
“You’re doing great,” Dane whispered, gently cradling her head in his lap. The comfort broke her more than the pain, and she wept inconsolably as they forced the blood down.
Cerberus broke free of the scuffle with a feral roar. “You dare to touch my mate?”
He lunged at them, his claws outstretched and his face dripping blood. Something came from the darkness with supernatural speed and crashed into him head-on, plowing him back into the shadows and smoke.
The clash reverberated through the cave. Fists flew, claws raked, and blood spilled as violent hisses spattered the earth as it spewed through the wind-swept air. Whoever they were, they fought with primal ferocity. They fought without rest. They fought to kill.