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)
“Aurora,” Talon’s voice is a warning.
“Talon?” I gasp, feeling the last of my energy evaporate like a dead battery. “Help him—”
Everything goes black.
My eyes are heavy as I wrench them open. Warm, amber lighting illuminates Saint’s bedroom, his scent enveloping me.
Memories crash into me—the opera house, Samuel, Saint dying.
I bolt upright, panic fueling my racing heart.
“I’m so fucking mad at you.” Saint growls a second before his mouth is on mine.
The kiss is punishing, sending heat soaring through my body. I melt into his embrace, gripping his neck and hauling him closer to me.
“You’re alive?” I ask against his mouth. “You’re here?”
He jerks his mouth from mine, fingers tangled in my hair to keep me in place. “I’m here.”
Relief uncoils all the tightness in my body. I move toward him again, but he releases me, climbing off the bed to pace the floor next to it.
“I’m sorry.” It’s the only thing I can say.
“You’re sorry?” he growls. “You almost died! Annika and Avi and Cassandra—”
“Are they okay?” I gasp. “Did they get them out?”
His eyes meet mine. “Yes. They’re fine,” he says. “We all are. Because of you.”
I furrow my brow.
“Samuel is dead. The Sons of Honor have fallen. Alek and Zachariah captured some of the higher-ranking soldiers and we were able to track down their central headquarters in the last of the Greenbriar land. Together, we’ve dismantled them. We’ve destroyed their weapons and Night Thistle stockpiles too. Some have been captured, others killed. All bloodmads have been eliminated.”
Tears roll over my eyes and I let my head drop into my hands.
“Aurora,” Saint’s voice is soft, no more of the ire in his tone as he climbs back onto the bed, dragging me into his lap. “It’s over. This was is over because of your bravery. Yours and the other girls’.”
“I’m so sorry about Samuel,” I say as he pries my hands from my face. “He was killing you. I couldn’t…I couldn’t stop. We meant to capture him. I promise. I didn’t want to kill him. Well, I did, but I didn’t plan to.”
“I would’ve done the same exact thing,” he assures me. “I was prepared to kill him myself. He just beat me.”
“He beat us both,” I argue.
“You saved my life.” He leans his forehead against mine.
I swallow hard, relief and guilt and hope swirling together in my heart. “I couldn’t lose you.”
He threads our fingers and pulls our hands to his chest. “Never.”
“You forgive me?” I ask after we’ve held each other for a few moments.
“I’m so angry with you for putting yourself in danger like you did,” he admits. “But of course I forgive you. I’m in awe of you. Your courage. Your strength.” He sighs. “If there’s ever a next time, you have to promise to talk to me.”
“To be fair,” I say. “I did talk to you. I talked to all of you. If there’s a next time, maybe you need to listen.”
He holds my gaze, a muscle in his jaw ticking. “Agreed.”
“Good.” I lean forward, almost timidly. I don’t want him to pull away again, but the last thing I want to do right now is argue.
His lips find mine in a rush, and it’s all I need to feel whole again. I pull away, hopping off the bed and reaching for his hand.
He takes it immediately.
“Shower first,” I say, guiding him to the bathroom. “Then we can meet with everyone. I’m sure…I know I have a lot of explaining to do.”
“We have time,” he says, turning on the hot water in the shower. “All the time we want now.”
“Really?” I ask, hope washing away every other emotion as we undress and step beneath the hot water. “We have a life now? No more wards?”
“Well,” he says, grabbing body wash to lather me up. “I don’t know if I’ll want to fully rid us of the wards.”
I sigh at his touch, gentle as he washes the blood and grime off my body, and then I do the same to him.
“But, we’ll have a life,” he finishes.
I grin up at him. “Where should we go first?”
He smooths his hands over my hips. “How about Italy?”
“Thank you,” Alek says from where he stands on a raised dais in the formal part of his estate. The grand ballroom is filled with noble vampires, assassins, hunters, and…family. Our family. “Your votes and confidence in me to serve you as your king means everything to me.” He raises a glass of champagne, looking down at all of us. Lyric looks regal next to him, the power couple exactly where they should be, on the thrones.
“I know these times have been trying,” he continues. “But I’m grateful for the hunters and my assassins and my family, who helped bring an end to the terrible war we’ve suffered as of late.” His eyes find mine, and I smile sheepishly at him. “Thanks to them, we’re able to confidently say the Sons of Honor are no more, and we’ll be entering a time of peace you all more than deserve. And we will do our best to keep it for centuries to come.”