Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 78886 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 394(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78886 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 394(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
True, that knife thrust had hurt as if a thousand Labrador puppies tested their razor-sharp teeth on my insides, but thankfully my wound healed in a matter of seconds. “Maybe I won’t kill you. Maybe I’ll keep you locked up, so you can watch as I win the loyalty of the primordials. You had to chain them, but they’ll adore me, their liberator.”
Scowling, she swiped at me, moving so swiftly I couldn’t mimic her and avoid injury. Like me, she possessed thick black claws, and the tips scraped across my cheek.
Skin split and blood trickled, stings erupting. My rage burned hotter.
“Hurt her good, Clove!” Juniper called.
Valkara’s smile returned and widened. “Last chance to surrender.”
As she spoke, I tracked Viktor and Deco from the corner of my eye. They beat at each other without mercy, ripping out organs with their hands. Both failed to do a heart amputation, but not for lack of trying. Any love between them had died.
Juniper freed her other leg.
My mother wanted me to surrender. “No, thanks,” I snapped.
Valkara delivered a dramatic sigh. “Very well. I would’ve shown you a smidgen of mercy and let you say goodbye to your sister. Instead, I’ll let Viktor experience sudden loss exactly as Deco did. The results won’t be as pure, but I’ll find a way. I always do.”
Nothing but a blur, she latched onto my arm and flung me into the combatants. I slammed into Deco just as Viktor swung his claws at the beast’s chest.
I rolled out of the way as he pulled back. The actions cost us. Deco raked his claws through Viktor’s throat, and Valkara zoomed over. She grabbed a fistful of my hair and, rather than tossing me back into the fray, which had moved closer to Juniper, she threw me into a wall.
Breath abandoned my lungs, but I didn’t let the lack prevent me from diving into her when she approached, driving her to the ground. We rolled one over the other, striking and blocking without mercy. Adrenaline surged until I felt nothing but the icy frost of my rage. No, no, this wasn’t rage but fury, and it burned so hot it left me cold. I maintained my wits, and yet, still she delivered injury after injury. Strength began to drain, weakness taking its place.
I slowed gradually until my knees collapsed. Down I went, unable to do anything but huff and puff. What the—I scanned my body and gnashed my teeth. She’d cut me open from hip to hip. Things had spilled out, and the sight revolted me.
Juniper gave a cry of denial. Viktor released a guttural roar and headed my way. When the shifter king moved into his path to strike, the berserker king ripped out his trachea. It would have been his heart, but Deco repositioned at the last second. Dropping the bloody mass as the shifter collapsed, Viktor resumed his sprint to me.
How long before Deco recovered?
At my side, Valkara grinned, drawing back her elbow, claws spread. “Told you I’d win.”
I spotted Juniper, sneaking up on us and smiled. “Wrong.”
With a high-pitched war cry, my sister slammed into our mother. Both flew to the ground. On the way down, Valkara swiped her claws across my twin’s throat, just as Viktor had swiped at Deco’s. Juniper’s yelp of pain died a split second after it began.
“Nooo!” Despite my weakness, I threw myself at the pair at the same time Viktor threw himself at me. My hand latched onto my sister’s, who reached for me. At the moment of contact, a bolt of pure power shot through me.
Wounds healed in seconds. Strength flooded me. No part of me was left untouched. But there was too much to contain, a glowing light flickering with various colors shooting from my pores. It hurt as much as it helped, and I screamed from my deepest depths.
The same power must have hit Juniper. She reacted similarly, the torn skin across her neck knitting back together. Our lights drew together and snapped into place like two lost puzzle pieces finally connected. A ball of light formed around us, lifting us both off our feet and blurring out the rest of the world.
My sister and I hovered mere inches apart, eye to eye. Health and vitality had returned to her cheeks. Locks of dark hair with hints of red floated around her.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hi,” I replied.
We shared a tentative smile. When we both reached out, offering the other our hands, a little laugh escaped me. We linked fingers.
“Any idea what’s happening right now?” she asked.
“If one is good, two is better?”
Like me, she gave a little laugh, and oh, it did my heart good, seeing her happy. But she sobered all too swiftly.
The gravity of the situation sobered me as well. “I want to get to know you more than anything—except saving my future husband. Help me dial down our, um, whatever this is, so I can jump back into the fight.” No telling what was going on out there right now.