Total pages in book: 401
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
And I was ready to do it now, too.
I just needed to fuck Kolis up enough that it would give Casteel and Kieran time to fight and save themselves and as many as they could.
That was all that mattered now.
I drove the dagger down with a scream, burying the dagger in his chest. Kolis grunted, his body jerking. Blood sprayed across my hands as I yanked the blade out and slammed it back down. I stabbed him over and over as a raw, hoarse sound filled my ears, and shimmering crimson coated my hands and dripped down my face. My throat ached, and that sound—the pained screaming—was coming from me as I lifted the bone dagger high once mo—
I didn’t even see Kolis’s fist.
I felt it, though.
Pain exploded along the side of my head as I was flung sideways. I hit the floor and rolled until I smacked into the side of the dais. Groaning, I forced my arms to move. I pushed up onto my knees and spat a mouthful of blood onto the floor. A different sort of buzzing droned then, muting my hearing. I rocked back and started to stand—
The floor began to tremble as my vision went in and out. Head and face throbbing, I felt the tile crack beneath my palms before I gripped the edge of the dais. Using that for support, I dragged myself upright and turned.
What I saw standing there looked nothing like a man. Instead, it was a being that was more crimson bone and churning shadows than flesh. I wouldn’t have even known it was Kolis if not for the bloodstained white pants. My gaze lifted to the blurry image of wings behind him—wings that reminded me of a draken’s.
Kolis was in front of me before I knew it, and something struck my chest, knocking me back against the dais again. My eyes locked with red ones that glowed with an unholy fire as I went to take a breath, but I couldn’t seem to get enough air into my throat or chest. I felt something hot and warm running down my stomach as a faint icy yet burning sensation rippled across my chest. Confused, I looked down.
A leather-wrapped hilt jutted from the center of my chest. It wasn’t flush against my skin. A sliver of the blade was visible, revealing the dull-white of Ancient bone. Of Attes’s dagger.
He’d stabbed me.
The fucker had stabbed me.
With trembling arms, I lifted my hands and gripped the hilt as I moved my gaze.
His fleshless mouth opened wide in a grotesque smile. “Figured I owed you one.”
“You missed,” I breathed, the taste of blood stronger. “You missed…my heart, you jackass.”
His laugh was like dry bones. “I didn’t miss.”
I pulled the bone dagger free—
Kolis’s arm clamped around my waist, trapping mine as his other hand fisted my braid and yanked my head back roughly. Before I could take another breath, he struck.
I screamed.
I couldn’t stop it. The pain was too sudden, too shocking. I screamed as his fangs pierced the skin of my throat, tearing deep. Muscles in my body locked up as my hand opened on reflex. The dagger slipped from my fingers. I didn’t hear it fall.
The fiery agony of his bite didn’t let up. He didn’t pull his fangs free. He kept them buried as he drank, taking long, hard swallows as he held me to his cold chest, slick with both his blood and mine.
The eather pulsed wildly as a primitive sort of instinct took over, pushing my body past the paralyzing pain. There was no skill in my attempt to free myself. I became panic, anger, and fear. I went wild against him, kicking at his legs as I strained against his hold. Nothing worked. Nothing dislodged him. Stopped him. He kept feeding, kept taking my blood—my essence—into him, and it felt like his fangs hadn’t just pierced my skin but had lodged deep in the very core of my being. My chest rose and fell rapidly as I tried to summon the eather, but I couldn’t pull on it.
“Stop,” I whispered, begged—or thought I did. I couldn’t be sure. It sounded like someone else was screaming it as I fought.
The edge of the dais dug into my back as he trapped me between it and him. It didn’t matter. My legs no longer kicked. I couldn’t even feel them.
Oh, gods.
I couldn’t feel my hands or arms, either.
Oh, gods, I wasn’t ready.
I wasn’t.
I didn’t want to die.
I wanted to see Casteel.
I wanted to hold Cas, tell him how much I loved him. I wanted to see Kieran, witness his rare smiles. I wanted to apologize to Tawny. I wanted to feel Delano’s soft fur as I hugged him. I wanted to get to know Millicent, my father, my grandparents. I wanted to live—to really live.