Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 107652 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107652 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Three of them.
Probably the last three I hadn’t dispatched out of the sixteen or so who’d come to murder me. They formed a semi-circle, bleeding from the night, dressed all in black like me.
The dark-skinned model to my left grinned, knowing she’d hurt me with whatever weapon she’d thrown.
I felt it embedded in my shoulder, blood oozing down my spine.
Over the years, they’d tried different methods to take my life. Throwing stars, knives, a metal garrotte—one even sneaked in a collapsible bow and arrow.
Why Marcus allowed it, I didn’t know. Perhaps he liked the sport of watching me fight to survive, all while knowing I begged for death. Maybe he hated me so much, even the allure of all the money my company made him couldn’t quite stop the glee he’d feel at killing me.
Either way, I was getting sick and fucking tired of this never-ending war—of not having a say in my own existence.
Whisper’s low rumble tainted the night.
Fisting the dagger for a different purpose instead of a jailbreak, I glanced at each woman. “I wouldn’t bother if I were you. You don’t stand a chance.”
The brunette grinned. “I think we stand a very good chance.”
I arched my chin at Whisper. “With one slash of his claws, your intestines will be all over the lawn.”
“Not if we gut him first.”
“Go ahead.” I smirked. “I’ll wait.”
The circle tightened.
I let them look at me like I was prey. Let them think they would win. Who knew, perhaps they might—
A high-pitched whine echoed behind me, coming from the other side of the wall.
I stiffened.
The hum grew louder, followed by another and another and another.
My shoulders slouched as all hope of getting free tonight—no matter how ridiculous—blew up spectacularly in my face.
I might as well go to bed because that was where Marcus was about to send me.
With a heavy, bone-weary sigh, I pushed off from the gate as ten drones flew over the wall and clustered like a swarm of mechanical wasps overhead.
It only took three seconds.
The drones lined up with the girls.
They went to run.
And then dropped dead thanks to bullets fired directly from the snipers mounted on the flying machines.
Whisper leapt upward, trying to snatch the closest one.
Marcus’s voice echoed, smooth and amused. “Lucien, Lucien, Lucien.”
I gave him the finger and stalked back to Cinderkeep.
The drone followed me even as Whisper tried swatting it again.
“Must you always be so dramatic?” Marcus tutted. “You should know by now there’s no escape unless I give you one.”
I didn’t bother turning around.
My heart fluttered with twenty years of hate. One of these days, I would get my revenge. One day, I would kill him.
Slowly.
Painfully.
I would relish in his screams.
“I see you’re feeling rather good tonight. There’s almost a pep in your step,” Marcus said, the buzz of the drone making my ears ring. “It seems I’ve been remiss in monitoring your dose.”
Shit.
My hands fisted but I refused to give him the satisfaction of my misery.
So much for Rook curing me.
So much for feeling normal and healthy and—
PAIN.
The vitalsync core clicked, beeped, and drenched me with burning, burning agony.
My knees hit the grass as every muscle seized, every bone sizzled, every droplet of blood turned molten.
My spine arched, my skin blistered, even the roots of my teeth felt scorched.
Every breath was full of knives. Every blink set my skull throbbing.
Colours bled out of my vision.
Whisper’s howl turned to a whimper.
Consciousness abandoned me as the pain became too much.
I fell sideways.
I bit my tongue as I landed.
And choked on precious Ashfall blood as I passed out.
Chapter Forty
I STOOD OUTSIDE MY PAVILION, WATCHING the drones put on a show.
I didn’t know why they’d suddenly appeared over the wall or why so many of them clustered in one spot. Whatever the reason, I’d heard a soft popping sound while getting a midnight snack and came out to investigate.
Shivering in the cooler evening, I rubbed my arms as the twinkling lights on the drones danced like comets. I counted ten, weaving around each other, almost forming patterns.
If I let my eyes go hazy, I could almost imagine it was a lightshow like the one I’d witnessed in Hong Kong on New Year’s a few years ago. Back then, there’d been thousands of flying machines, all programmed to spiral and combine, transforming into a sinuous dragon in the sky.
Watching them had been calming. But tonight, these felt...oppressive.
Their lights were too bright, too...hunting. Their movements too fierce and threatening.
My floor-length white satin nightgown couldn’t protect me from an icy chill. Not because of the cutting breeze, but because the longer I watched them, the more I felt something was dreadfully wrong.
Were some of the girls in trouble?
Was Laura okay?
Lucien?
My feet moved to go. To dash across the grounds to see why those nasty drones hovered like murderous sentries but...my temples throbbed.