Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 61523 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 308(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61523 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 308(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
Which is probably why the knock on the door feels like someone dropped a grenade in the middle of the room.
The sound cracks through the cabin, and everyone freezes.
Rook looks up, and I’m already on my feet, while Kane follows my lead to the front door.
No one ever comes to this cabin. Besides us, no one should know it’s here.
A second knock follows the first, and my senses sharpen automatically. I listen past the wood and glass, searching for the familiar chaos of multiple heartbeats or footsteps or weapons shifting.
But there’s only one set of footsteps.
Both of my brothers glance over their shoulders to make sure Blair and Kylie are still on the couch, and concern is clear on both women’s faces.
Without a word, Rook and I move closer to the door with Kane. Three brothers in one line, shielding the women behind us.
Rook pulls the door open, and one singular man stands on the porch.
He’s tall, expensively dressed, and has pepper-gray hair combed neatly back. His glowing green eyes move slowly across the three of us, like he has all the time in the world and we’re just the people he’s been looking for.
And he’s smiling with the confidence of a man who believes he’s untouchable in a way that only a very old, very powerful elite vampire would.
Because that’s exactly what he is.
It’s written all over his face. It emanates from his fucking royal blood. And it’s showcased in every inch of his expensive but completely-impractical-for-being-in-the-fucking-forest wardrobe.
“Hello, Rook. Kane.” His smile deepens as his eyes slide to me and flare slightly. “Calloway.”
A cold weight settles in my chest. He knows our names, but we don’t fucking know him.
“Who the fuck are you?” Rook asks without hesitation.
The man laughs, a full, amused sound that rumbles in his chest as his gaze moves slowly across us again—first Kane, then Rook, then me. “Lucian,” he declares. “Lucian Wrath. Vice President of the Elite Council.”
Fuck. They found us.
Something strange flickers across his face—not hostility, not approval, but something else entirely. Whatever it is, it sets every instinct in my body on edge.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment,” Lucian adds quietly.
The words hang in the night air.
His gaze drifts past us toward the inside of the cabin before returning to our faces. “I knew you three would be the ones to change things.”
Lucian Wrath’s smile isn’t of the happy variety—it’s fucking ominous—and then, with two fingers to his lips, he lets out a low whistle from his mouth. The sound barely leaves his throat before the night explodes into chaos.
Men in black cars screech to a stop in the driveway and move more quickly than we can react to surround the house.
We’re fast, but so are they—because they’re vampires too. I recognize the sharp jaws and superior physiques, but even if I didn’t, they’re the ones we’ve been expecting.
This war we started is in full swing. The men we’ve killed demand to be avenged. The women we’ve taken—though bound to Slaters by the universe’s decree—they believe were promised to them.
By their code, we owe them our heads. This isn’t a slap on the wrist. This is high treason. Traitorhood. The worst betrayal possible.
If anything, I’m only surprised they didn’t find us sooner.
“Shit, Kane. Guard the back door. Now,” I command, desperate to put up some line of defense as we’re outnumbered at least three to one. But it’s too late. Men are in the house, in the back hall, and barging through the front door as we speak.
Kylie screams.
Blair cries out for Kane.
And as the only one of us with less to lose, I step in front of my brothers and their mates and ready myself for a fight. I’ll die if I have to—but they won’t. Their mates won’t.
I refuse to let that happen.
I’m on the first man quickly, taking him by surprise as I force him to the floor and put my knee to his neck, ready to break it. Blair screams, but before I can execute, I’m stopped by a blinding light in my eyes and a pulsing pain in my chest.
Fuuuuuck!
I’m not just weak—I’m practically paralyzed.
“Cal!” Kane shouts, charging toward me until he’s forced to hit his knees as well.
“Don’t!” I croak, trying to warn Rook as he tenses with offense.
The pain is all-consuming, and I look down at my limbs to make sure they aren’t being ripped from my body. Kane isn’t any better—he’s on the floor beside me, his jaw clenched and a vein popping from the center of his forehead.
“Kane! Oh my God, Kane!” Blair screams for him again.
“No, baby!” Kane says through gritted teeth. “Stay there, Blair!”
The pain rips through every cell in my body as Lucian casually moves toward me, nonchalantly stepping over the vamp I just took to the floor.
I scuttle back, trying to put distance between us, but he just stands there looking down at Kane, adjusting the sleeves of his black suit jacket with a smile.