Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 55221 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55221 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Grumbling, he pulls my chin up and kisses me hard. “Only a minute, kedves verem, and if he touches you—”
“He’s dead. Yes, yes, I know.”
He narrows his eyes, then disappears somewhere at my back.
When Gage makes it to me, he stops, his eyes roving all over my face. “It’s you.” He huffs out a breath, his face pink from running. “I knew—I fucking knew he was lying to me!”
“Gage, it’s good to see you.”
He peers at me, and I see when the realization hits. He goes cold and backs up a step. “He turned you.”
“He saved my life at the Black Cavern. Yes, he had to turn me.”
“You’re one of them. You’re …” The disgust in his tone is unmistakable.
“I’m still me, Gage.”
“You’re not.” He shakes his head.
“You think I’m a monster?”
He doesn’t answer, his entire posture rigid. Then he glances over his shoulder. “You had something to do with this, then?”
I shrug. “We worked as a team.”
“You worked to preserve your food source. That’s all. You worked to keep us alive for your new master. Who is it? Valen or Harald? Or maybe the Corvidion, what’s his name, Coal?”
“Master?” I put a hand on my hip. “I don’t have a master. What are you talking about?”
“God, you wear her face so well.” He shakes his head. “But you’re not her. You’re a fucking demon.”
“That’s enough.” Valen snarls at my side. I’m surprised he managed to stay away for this long with all the seething he was doing through our bond.
Gage stumbles back, surprise in his eyes.
“You turned her into a monster, took her from her own kind.” Gage spits the accusation at Valen.
“Valen, don’t hurt him,” I say through the bond.
“What you really want to say is that I took her from you, captain,” Valen sneers. “Which I did not. She was never yours, never would have been yours. She was always meant to be mine as I am meant to be hers.”
Gage’s face is redder now, his hand twitching toward the gun at his hip.
Valen shrugs. “Perhaps one day you’ll find your own mate. Surely out there right now, a litter is being born, or perhaps a brood mare. Something more fit for a cretin like yourself.” He kisses my hair. “But you see, Georgia was never an option for you. She is a queen, both among humans and vampires. As I told you before, she is your god, though I see now you aren’t even fit to worship her.”
“Laying it on thick.” I shake my head.
“Just telling him the truth, my Blood.”
Gage takes another step back. “The Saints were right. This vaccine is some sort of trick, some way to get us all under your control.”
“No, Gage, it’s just a vaccine. That’s all. We made it to save lives, and that’s all it does. With—”
“I don’t believe you.” His hand is on his gun now, his fury turned toward Valen. “You’ve twisted her into something wrong, something evil.”
Valen steps in front of me, his snarl visceral as he splays his claws. “You dare threaten my mate?”
“Gage, just go.” I grab Valen’s arm. “Go!” I yell.
He takes off, the acrid scent of fear left in his wake.
“You should’ve let me end him, my Blood.” Valen turns back to me, his eyes feral. “He’s a threat.”
“He’s misguided and scared.”
Valen cups my cheek, his eyes returning to normal. “He won’t rest. You know that, don’t you? Not until he has you. I will kill him eventually.”
“He just called me a demon,” I deadpan. “I don’t think he’s interested anymore.”
“This isn’t over, not for him. I know his covetous heart.” He leans down and kisses me softly, so softly. “And one day I will rip it out.”
“Maybe let him get the vaccine first?”
“I would never steal your laurels, my love. Vaccinate the whole world if you wish. I already have what I want.” He kisses me again, holding me close as the sun shines, Wyatt continues to say all the wrong things, and my hope, though battered and bruised, basks in the new dawn.