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)
I swallow hard. “What about the scientists I was working with? Gretchen, Evie, Wyatt? You said their convoy was hit, but are you certain?”
He shakes his head slightly. “Their convoy made it until night fell. After that …”
“After that you killed them all?” My chest aches, memories clogging my throat. The faces I couldn’t name, each one an icy thorn in my heart. “Did you?” I ask sharply, meeting his eyes.
“Tantun soldiers attacked them.” He says it so simply. Like a weather report. “Your friends were massacred. High of seventy, light wind from the south.”
The cure died with them. The formula for the vampire poison, too. Those three were the future of humanity. Slaughtered. It happened months ago, but the wound is fresh for me. The grief almost overwhelming. I clutch my legs tighter and clench my eyes shut, as if I could somehow ward off the pain. I can’t.
“Georgia.” His voice is softer now.
My gorge rises at the thought of them being killed, at the realization that the only reason they were in danger was because of me, because of what I did. I killed Theo, and now all of humanity will suffer for it. I can see him turning to ash, his eyes going from outraged to terrified in the space of a moment. His death at my hands. And then my friends, their bodies being ripped apart by Tantuns, poison oozing through their veins. Dead. All dead. All my fault.
In through my nose, out through my mouth. I focus on my breathing, on something that I can control. But I fail. Tears run and I can’t seem to tame my breath, to hold it. I gasp in air with panicked inhales.
“Georgia.” Valen is beside me.
I look at him through watery eyes.
“Breathe.” He reaches for me.
I flinch.
He pauses, then presses his palm to my cheek. “Please, kedves verem. Breathe.”
His voice is so gentle, his touch warm. “Deeper breath.” He presses his other palm to my chest, his fingers splayed over my sternum. “In.” He slowly inhales.
I try to match him, but I can’t. Then he does it again. Again. More and more until I do match him, the whistling terror in my mind slowing, fading, then falling to a low background whine.
He brings his other palm to my cheek and thumbs away my tears.
“His touch is comfort. Safety.” My mind whispers lies. Even so, the tightness in my chest is gone, my heart no longer pounding.
One more easy breath in, and Valen’s touch disappears.
He’s standing in the doorway again, hands at his sides. “I have to go. While I—”
“Where?”
“Back to Gregor. Word will spread soon enough that several high-ranking Tantuns are missing. I need to get to Gregor before the rumors.”
My skin goes cold. “What will you tell him?”
“That Carlotta and her minions were plotting against him and tried to assassinate me before going for his throat. Their attempt failed, but there was a casualty in the fight.” He gives me a pointed look.
Realization is like a slap. “You’re going to tell him I’m dead?”
“Just so.”
“Will he believe you?”
“He’ll have no choice but to believe me. Carlotta isn’t available to dispute it, though I will be taking him her head, what’s left of it.” Grim satisfaction graces his face for a moment before it’s gone.
“What if he asks for more proof? What if he compels you?”
His gaze darkens. “He won’t.”
“Why not? He’s insane! He doesn’t care if he breaks some vampire taboo by compelling you against your will. He doesn’t care!”
His dark eyebrows jump slightly.
“Melody told me.” Just saying her name still hurts. “She told me he can’t compel you directly without consequences. But he’s so far beyond that now.”
“If he tries it, whatever grip he has on power will be utterly gone. He knows that. The other houses would be in open rebellion, and they would move swiftly to destroy him and his bloodline. He also knows he’s cornered.”
“Cornered?” I shake my head in disbelief. “He’s ruling over a human extinction unchallenged. How is he cornered?”
“When he put me in charge of his armies, he never thought they’d give me their loyalty, not when I’m a half blood. But he was wrong. They are loyal to me. Not just one house. Two houses.”
I chew that over for a moment. “So I’m guessing you mean Corvidion and Dragonis. But not Tantun?” I swallow thickly when I remember them coming for us, for me. “Wait. If you control the armies, then why can’t you just turn on Gregor? Go there and—”
“Our bond isn’t broken.” He sighs. “The blood tie between us is still strong. I’ve spent so much of my energy shielding you from him, erasing you from my mind, my emotions—that I don’t have the ability to shield much more. And it likely wouldn’t work. He’s weakened, but he still controls the bloodline.”