Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 110757 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110757 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
“She annihilated them,” Pax says. “None of us did anything but watch.”
I’ve never wanted to punch him as much as I do right now. He’s trying to make me into the guy who doesn’t believe in Briar, and himself into the one who does.
Briar is powerful. I’ve seen what she can do with plants. But there are too many ways for this plan to go bad, and I can’t lose her.
“How’d you kill them?” I ask her.
“Lianas and strangler figs.”
I wait for her to continue. “Okay, but how?”
Amira answers for her. “She used the vines to chop off their heads and legs and squeeze their guts out.”
Holy shit. I just look at Briar for a couple of seconds.
“Don’t make me mad,” she says lightly.
“Marcus.” Nova’s serious tone makes me turn to face her. “She’s the greatest weapon on this island. Greater than you, even, because she can control who the vines attack. You can make the volcano blow, but it could kill all of us.”
I nod, the reality of Briar’s abilities hitting me like a blow. It’s a good thing, but it’s not without a downside.
“I don’t think I can hide somewhere while she does it,” I admit. “I know she’s capable. But my emotions trigger my connections, and if I feel like she’s in danger, I can’t control what I do.”
“So leave the island until it’s over,” Pax says. “You obviously have a way to do it.”
“Like hell.” I glare at him. “You’re as likely to kill her as help her.”
“And what would I gain from that?”
“This could all be part of your plan. With them.” I lock eyes with Briar. “Whose idea was it for you and Pax to take out Theron and the exiles?”
Her brows drop down a notch in answer.
“It was you, Pax,” Ellison says.
He throws his arms out. “Yeah, because it’s the best idea we’ve got. When Briar took my people in, I pledged my loyalty to her. I meant it.”
I shake my head. “Your word means nothing to me.”
“He saved us.” Briar gives me a pleading look. “He didn’t have to, but he did. I love you with every ounce of my being, so don’t take offense, but this isn’t a dictatorship anymore. It’s a democracy. There are seven people here. We’ll vote on whether to go forward with the plan. Majority wins. And I’ll remind everyone here that we have no food, limited weapons, and Ingrid’s people are hunting us.”
I’m stunned silent. Briar is the opposite of a damsel in distress, and it’s one of the things I love most about her. I wish we’d had this conversation in private so I wasn’t put in my place with Pax watching, but it’s too late for that. Even Ellison, my oldest friend, is fighting a smile.
“Okay.” I put my hands on my hips. “All in favor of Briar, Pax, and me confronting Theron and the exiles while the rest of you cover us?”
“Wait.” Briar gives me a puzzled look. “You? You don’t even have your aromium on.”
I shrug a shoulder. “Guess my badass woman better protect me, then. I’m sure as fuck not hiding in the woods and leaving you alone with Greasy McGee.”
Amira bursts out laughing. Pax gives me the finger with one hand and raises his other arm into the air, stone-faced.
Briar doesn’t look away from me as she raises her hand and I follow with my own, her lips quirking with a smile. She wants to fuck just as much as I do right now—I can tell by her pebbled nipples.
“It’s unanimous,” Nova says. “Everyone else prep while Marcus, Briar, and Pax game-plan peacefully.”
There’s movement around us, but Briar and I are still focused entirely on each other. She grabs a fistful of my T-shirt and pulls. She can’t actually move me, but I indulge her by closing the distance between us.
I put my arm around her waist and lean down, putting my forehead against hers.
“Still love me?” I whisper against her lips.
“For now.” She kisses me softly. “Don’t make me change my mind.”
“Get a private, shit-covered, snake-infested cave, you two,” Amira quips.
I stand up straight, the gravity of what we’re about to do settling over me. My urge to grab the backpack and get the switch is strong, but Briar would be furious.
I’d be confident going into this fight with my aromium on. I’d have Flavius rip Pax’s throat out if he turns on us.
It’s just going to be me, though. Regular old, partially connected to wolves and the earth me.
I believe in Briar completely. I’d feel a lot better if it were just me and her doing this, but that’s not an option. We have to rely on Pax fucking Thatcher.
I never thought I’d see this day.
40
“There’s a brothel the former mistresses of the leaders are sent to. I can get hired to pick up and deliver the laundry there. I get it now. These are the relationships you were talking about.” - Decoded message from ILF undercover operative Nightingale to ILF handler Hiro Tanaka