Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 140780 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140780 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
“Lucien.” Scooting into him, I cupped his burning cheeks and brought his gaze up to mine. “Are you okay? Why are you still so weak?”
Raw terror filled me that I was too late. That I’d been able to wrench him back from death but—
“I’m fine.” He forced a smile and pulled away. Another rush of his feelings crippled me. He didn’t feel worthy of my comfort. Too fixated on his failure to allow me to make him feel anything other than regret.
“I know you’re hurting,” I whispered, sending love over that bridge. Drowning him in so, so much love. “But I’m here now, okay? Let’s go home and—”
“I can’t,” he snarled. “I can’t leave them. Not after what I did.”
“You weren’t the one who did this.”
He shook his head, his entire body trembling.
His skin was fissured everywhere—his shirt burned off and gone. Some of the cracks along his arms showed dull muscle but others continued to glimmer.
My heart clenched with fear.
All those warnings my mother had given me when I’d helped her in the lab. All those notes I’d read about the crux of evolution and the failure of mortal bodies.
I’d hoped we’d reached a level of ascension the night we’d taken each other’s virginity. That I was right when I said we were the reason we’d survived but...that was nothing compared to this.
He’d tapped into a different level.
He’d become one with the fire; claimed completely.
Tears poured down my cheeks.
He’d gone too far.
The flames had taken too much.
Whatever pause I’d been able to give him wasn’t enough.
I choked on a sob as his heart hitched, making him grunt.
I felt that too.
Felt the heat devouring him cell by cell, erasing him, changing him.
And I didn’t know how to stop it.
The urge to collapse and cry almost won before I shot to my feet and tugged on his arm. “We need to go. Right now. I’ll...I’ll figure something out, okay? Dillon might know something that will work. I’ll call Frank and get him to send me my parents’ files. I can fix this. I can help you. I know I can.”
“Nothing lasts forever, Rook. Regardless of whether it’s a tiny flea or a giant star—eventually everything dies.”
My mother’s voice echoed in my head, hurtling me back to my childhood where I’d eavesdropped on her talking to my father about the latest lab experiment that’d gone wrong.
“Its bones literally melted, Kristófer. Its blood turned to ash. It burned alive, feeding off its body until it just...vanished.”
“You won’t die. I won’t let you die.” Sniffing back sobs, I wrapped my arm around Lucien’s bulk and tried to get him to his feet. “Come on. We need to go.”
Listlessly, wordlessly, he placed the girl down and brushed her knotted hair off her face. He coughed again, sending another black splatter on the ground. It sizzled where it landed, causing little pockmarks in the dirt.
His brows furrowed as he glanced at his bleeding wrist. “If they were making more like me...why didn’t my blood help?” His gaze met mine, his voice raw. “Maybe if we mix our blood together, we can revive them all.” He looked at the pile of bodies beneath the trees.
Blood.
God, why didn’t I think of that?
I brought my wrist to my mouth and bit as hard as I could. “Here.” I grabbed the back of his head and pressed my arm to his lips. “Drink it.”
“Not me. Her.” He scowled and went to push me away but at the last second, his tongue slipped over my stinging skin. He shivered as he ingested my strangely silver blood. He only took a mouthful before grabbing my wrist, pressing his to mine, and squeezing us tightly together. A single drop combined...just before our wounds healed over.
Catching the rolling duality of silver and gold, he pressed his thumb into the girl’s slack mouth.
“Come on,” he murmured hoarsely. “Take it. You have to open your eyes.” His jaw clenched. “You’re hungry, remember? So eat...”
God, I couldn’t.
I couldn’t watch him break.
“Please,” he begged.
That single plea tore apart my already broken heart.
A sob caught in the back of my throat and—
Whisper suddenly roared. Locking his glowing gaze on the forest, his tail lashed like a whip.
Lucien narrowed his eyes in the same direction.
I heard the weary curse he didn’t verbalise.
With an exhausted groan, he used whatever remaining strength he had left to clamber to his feet, leaving the girl to rest on the ground.
“Rook.” Holding out his hand, he never took his eyes off the darkness, waiting for me to take it.
Threading my fingers with his burned ones, I gasped as he jerked me tight against him.
“Whatever happens, I love you.” His gaze glowed crimson. “This is all my fault. I don’t know if I condemned you to breaking like me, but...having you here. Seeing you well and strong...it gives me peace to think you’ll somehow survive without me.” His lips twitched into a tired smile. “You’re better than me in every way, so you will find a way...I know you will.”