Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 107720 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107720 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
The scientists behind them bolted.
I smirked, sinking into the delicious power and giving myself over to it. Hurling a bolt of heat toward them, fire collided with their backs. Their hearts stopped as heat arrowed right through them, severing their spines.
Rook made a small sound behind me, but she didn’t complain.
More footsteps thundered toward us, followed by a dozen heartbeats—no doubt witnessing my carnage on the many cameras dotted on the ceiling. Alarms suddenly screeched, blaring with red lights, flashing in time with the ear-piercing sirens.
Good.
Let them come.
Let them pay.
Breaking into a run, we sprinted down the main corridor, passing more labs full of horror. I didn’t bother being stealthy anymore. I threw fire into every lab we passed.
Vials and bottles went up with mini-explosions as flames found dangerous liquids. Thick acrid smoke filled the air, suffocating the cameras.
“Come on.” Fumbling for Rook in the haze, I pulled her into a faster run.
She coughed, choking on smoke.
Her ice flared up my arm, feeding the fire that refused to soak back into my skin. Her presence was so strong. Deliciously strong. Her coldness permeated into my bones and prevented me from reaching that awful burnout.
The fire burned hotter and wilder—caged by her frost and making me unbelievably powerful.
We kept running—
I tripped as dizziness suddenly slammed into my head.
“Lucien?” Rook jerked to a stop as I almost dropped to my knees. “What’s happening? What’s wrong?” Her fear shot into me as I focused on finding my feet again.
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine.”
Pulling her close, I broke into another jog. “Come on.”
A shuddering boom erupted somewhere behind us as something exploded in one of the labs. Ripping the long sleeve of her nightgown, she wrapped the scrap of white material around her mouth and nose, eyes watering from the black smoke.
I wanted to scoop her into my arms and carry her, but...I needed my arms free to kill.
At least the smoke didn’t affect me. I could see perfectly clear—the fire in my blood keeping me immune.
Another explosion sent dust raining over us from the ceiling. One of the pipes groaned and fell off its brackets, releasing hot air from the heating ducts.
“Just a little further and we’ll take the lift to the reactor levels.”
She just nodded, following my lead.
I guided us through the black smog, heading toward the lift at the end. I’d thought Marcus was a lunatic when I’d pored over the schematics of the London headquarters. No stair access was allowed into the basement levels...only a lift.
All I could see was a death trap, but now...now I understood.
If there was only one way in and one way out—a way that required a code or key—then he could ensure his unfortunate prisoners could never escape.
The elevator pinged—the doors slowly opened.
A river of armed guards poured out.
The red flashing lights and sirens lit up the smoke with noise and chaos as more men appeared behind, trapping us. Rook pressed against me. It didn’t matter if there was ten or a hundred men.
They were all dead.
The agonising bite of the frequency emitter tore into my brain as they raised weapons and fired.
Rook cried out.
My skull threatened to split apart but the fire got loose and took control. A wave of flame exploded outward, incinerating the men, melting their gear into their skin. The smell of burning plastic, hair, and flesh filled the corridor.
The ground was suddenly littered with smoking corpses.
The frequency stopped without anyone’s finger still around to push the button.
Shaking away the lingering pain, I grunted, “This way.” Pulling her toward the open lift, my left knee gave out. I landed heavily. My head swam.
What’s going on—?
“Lucien?” Rook rested her hand on my shoulder, shaking me with panic. “What’s wrong? What’s happened?”
I...didn’t really know.
“I tripped, that’s all.” Shaking my head, I shoved back the sudden wave of exhaustion and stood.
Her eyes narrowed on mine. “If you’re burning up, we need to—”
“I’m not. Your ice is keeping me nice and cool.” Cupping her soot-covered cheek, I kissed her quickly. “Don’t worry. Now get in the lift before the doors close—who knows what keycard we need to make it work.”
Stepping over the freshly dead, we darted into the metal elevator just as the doors closed. Rook staggered into my arms as another explosion sent the entire thing rocking.
We ascended even as another boom hinted the fire had devoured everything below, destroying labs and prison cells, erasing all the horrors that’d gone on for far too long.
My heart kicked with hate for this place.
Their day of reckoning was finally here and my mouth watered to avenge myself, my family, and all those unfortunate enough to be injected with my blood.
The floor of the lift grew hot as the fire chased us up the elevator shaft.
It wouldn’t burn out. Not until every inch of this building was char—leaving it to collapse, one floor on top of the other.