Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
Roan turns my way. “This was not my plan. Bloody hell! You better get your consort, Dellacourt. I don’t dare leave the queen unguarded.”
I turn, and Kaja is getting to her feet. She’s unsteady, but she reaches for a rock. There’s a goblin running straight for me, a wicked, curved blade in his hand. Kaja is weak and obviously disoriented, but she throws the rock at the goblin’s head. It hits him, and he turns, growling at his new prey.
Not going to happen. With a burst of speed I didn’t think myself capable of, I cross the distance between me and Kaja as the goblin lashes out. It catches me across the chest, opening a gash in my skin. I hiss at the pain. That blade went deep, but I would rather take it than it hit her. Kaja screams as the goblin raises the blade again. Her hands pull at me, as though she wants to take my place and the blade for me.
My brave, sweet Kaja.
I don’t have time to avoid the blade. I shove Kaja back and take it straight in the gut. The pain burns, an agonizing fire in my flesh. I’m close, so close to the goblin.
“Enjoy that, vampire.” He shoves the blade in further, twisting it.
I stumble back, the blade coming out of my gut. Blood. So much fucking blood. The world seems to slow down. It gets louder. Meg is screaming. Kaja calls my name. The goblins begin to circle, sensing blood.
I need a fucking weapon.
“Kaja, run.” I hold my hand to my gut, trying to keep myself together. The goblins will tear me apart, but they’ll take their time. Their bloodlust is up. They’ll ignore Kaja until they finish with me. “You have to run, baby.”
It will be all right as long as Kaja gets away. I can take the pain. My hands shake, but I can stay alive long enough for Kaja to get away.
The ground underneath me shifts. Fuck. Why is the ground shaking?
I fall as vines burst from the ground, sending dirt flying. Kaja is suddenly kneeling beside me, her hands covering mine, trying to keep my guts on the right side of my skin.
“I told you to run,” I growl her way. Even as I rough up my voice, something inside me calms as her scent, the touch of her skin, her nearness washes over me.
She shakes her head. “I cannot.”
“This is going to cost you a nasty spanking, Kaj.”
“Survive, Dante,” she replies, tears coursing down her cheeks. “Survive and I’ll lay over your lap.”
Her arms wrap around me. The ground seems ready to swallow us whole. Vines and roots spit from the dirt.
“Retreat!” Roan shouts, his eyes wide as he seems to catch sight of something terrifying.
“Baby.” I force myself to talk when it hurts to even move. “You have to go. Something bad’s happening.”
Kaja’s arms tighten.
Roan is suddenly in front of me. “Feed. No one likes to talk about it, but your consort can save you. Her blood can heal you, Dellacourt. I never meant to hurt the women. If I’ve been betrayed, then I assure you I’ll take care of it. Feed and live.”
Roan takes off, and I finally get a good look at what sent the mercenary running.
Cian.
He strides forward, the trees and bushes bending to give him access. Cian Finn’s hands are stretched out as though he embraces the world around him and it embraces him in return.
I watch as the goblins are caught by vines. They snake across the field and catch their fleeing prey. The vines wrap around their ankles and pull the goblins screaming into the ground. It’s as though they’re being swallowed feetfirst. The goblins claw and fight, but they go down screaming, the earth sucking them into the dirt.
“What is happening?” Kaja asks, her voice tiny and frightened.
“Cian is happening, love. He won’t hurt you.”
My cousin is utterly transformed. The Green Man walks toward us now, and he’s pissed off.
The vampires flee, but some of them get caught by the trees. The mighty oaks lean over, and their heavy branches become wooden swords.
Kaja’s hand covers my heart as though she can stop the trees.
Smart trees. And they have damn fine aim. A vampire screams and explodes as a tree branch catches him straight through the heart.
Chaos reigns. Blood flows. Weariness floods my system, adrenaline fleeing as I realize we’re going to be okay. Kaja will live. Cian will see to it. Cian will take her to my family, and my father will take care of Kaja. My father. All my anger is gone. I love my dad. And my mother. And my annoying sister.
The world is loud with the business of dying, but I still speak to Kaja. “Baby, tell my family I love them. Can you do that? You go to them. They’ll take care of you.”