Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 50512 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 253(@200wpm)___ 202(@250wpm)___ 168(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50512 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 253(@200wpm)___ 202(@250wpm)___ 168(@300wpm)
I shove it down. I won’t stand a chance against him. I know that with absolute certainty. Not unless he’s weakened.
“It’s all right,” he urges me. “I’m well fed. You won’t harm me.”
I’m so not worried about that. “If you’re sure.”
“I am. We will be united. And our reign will be incredible.”
I strike, sinking my fangs into his flesh, biting harder than I’d ever dare bite Saint.
Samuel hisses sharply, but a rough laugh follows. “I’ll have to teach you how to bite properly, pet.”
I could vomit. His blood tastes awful as it pours into my mouth, like a sick combination of something chemical and rotten. It reflects his soul. I almost gag but clench my eyes shut and drink in fast, panicked swallows.
“That’s enough,” he says calmly.
I don’t stop. Even as my stomach twists as his blood hits it. I keep going. He’s too strong. I need more.
“Enough, pet.” His voice is a bit sterner. “You’ll gorge yourself and I’m in no mood to discipline you when you inevitably get out of hand.”
I tighten my grip on his arm, drinking more, swallowing more, pulling as much of him as I can into my mouth.
“Enough!” he snaps, jerking his arm out of my grip. My fangs drag against his flesh so fiercely it tears his skin in two long gashes. He examines the wound before glaring at me.
“You will learn,” he says softly, then backhands me. The crack is powerful enough to snap my head to the left. Pain bursts beneath my cheek. “You will learn to yield to me.” He licks the wounds on his arm, sealing them himself.
My stomach rolls as adrenaline surges along my muscles. His blood may taste like shit, but it’s ancient, like all hunter blood. It courses through my very being, feeling other, separate, and wrong. My body floods with strength, my power threatening to burst through my very skin.
He rakes his fingers through his hair, composing himself.
“Now,” he says, reaching his hand toward mine. “We go home.”
I eye his offered hand. The hesitation isn’t all for show. Not as anticipation rises inside me, stealing my breath. I know all too well what that hand is capable of, what he’s capable of. I know that I could take it, and he could use his power against me, filling my veins with acid or stealing my eyesight. He could slow my breathing to the thinnest of wisps until I lose consciousness, only to rouse me with new scars on my body.
He can do terrible, terrible things to me.
But, I’m no longer weak. No longer powerless. And while I’m not fearless, my rage outweighs it. So, I slide my hand into his and let my power surge. “You’re not going anywhere.”
The confident grin melts off Samuel’s face. His eyes flare wide as he looks down at our joined hands.
“Stop,” he commands. “Stop this now!” He tugs, but I dig my nails into him like they’re claws.
That thread inside me, the one connected to my power, draws his life from him. Just like the plants, I feel it suck like a vacuum. This is so much more potent than the lives of those flowers. So much more complex. The two strings of power are right there, one to heal, one to kill. The one to kill is stronger, more like a chain than a thread. I don’t give myself a second to worry about the reasoning behind that, instead doing my best to take and take and take. Gabriel always said this power is ninety percent intention. And I certainly intend to put an end to Samuel’s terror.
We need to get him down so we can bind him in iron—
“Stop her!” he yells, wrenching himself free from my grasp.
I yelp as the connection breaks between us, the room erupting into chaos as a handful of Sons of Honor soldiers, including several bloodmad vampires, reveal themselves. The soldiers are armed with what look like dart guns while the bloodmads race toward the stage.
“You didn’t come alone,” I snap. “Neither did I.”
Cassandra and Annika step into the paths of the bloodmads, one taking them down with blades while the other takes them down with water. Some go down without anyone near them, each of them looking more confused than the next at the invisible attack. Avianna.
Sparks of purple energy light up the room as Jocelyn reveals herself, hauling another swarm of bloodmads away from the stage.
“You stupid female,” Samuel says. “You think you can stop us with your girl gang? I have hundreds of years on you. Pathetic.” He snatches my hand back, and I immediately drop to my knees.
Nausea rolls over me in waves, so fierce I vomit all over the stage. A headache bursts in my skull, pounding until I see lightning streak across my vision. I scream against the onslaught, trying everything I can to battle it, but my power is nothing against his.