Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 144404 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144404 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
I lay in the bloody grass, staring at the stars as I die. All around they cackle and play with my power. They get ready to do something terrible to Grayson Sloane, and they’ll likely kill my Casey.
Sometimes I wish I had died that night. I wish that had been the end of it and Casey hadn’t fed me his vamp blood and brought me back.
The vampire blood healed my injuries. It did not return what they had taken.
I turned in bed and remembered that now I have an actual physical prison to deal with. My bestie came back after twelve years on the road and she didn’t like my costume change, so she put me in prison.
Okay. I might have been in a place where people who might or might not work with and for me were trying hard to kill her son. But I wasn’t. And he’s like a full-ass grown wolf king now, so I don’t think he needs his mommy, but Kelsey disagrees.
“Rough night?” a familiar voice said.
I gritted my teeth because apparently I didn’t get any privacy in this well-warded room that has become my cage. I tried to shake off the aftereffects of the dream because this one person can’t see how weak I have become. He can’t see that my hands are starting to shake because it’s been days since I last took my medicine.
I don’t like to call it what it is. An addiction. Demon blood. It enhances my magical abilities.
I don’t want him to see I’m starting withdrawal.
Casey.
I can still feel that freak of nature Dean whispering around in my head, looking for anything he could use against me. Dean was a wizard baby Kelsey had brought back from one of the faery planes she’d been on. He had odd powers, though at the time they’d felt like familiar powers.
It all made sense once we figured out Dean is the son of Myrddin Emrys. Myrddin, who saved me. Myrddin, who carved out a piece of my soul in payment.
She still feels for Kelsey and Casey.
Dean had felt my emotions. I didn’t want to feel for anyone. I didn’t want to feel at all.
“Go away, Casey. Can’t I even get some peace in prison?” I turned away from him, not wanting even a glimpse of his face. “If you’re here to tell me you love me again, I get it. You love me. You’ve never gotten over me. You’re still writing songs about me.”
It hurts too much. I’d done everything I could to cut this vampire out of my heart, but he was a virus that still infected my blood. Still made me do stupid shit.
“I’ll stop that since it seems to bother you so much. Kelsey thought I might be able to get through to you, but the truth of the matter is the Liv I loved is gone, and you’re what took her place. I’m sure you would love to be alone. I’m sure at this point you’ve tried to poke through those wards in any way you can.” Casey sounded so different. He’d become an academic over the last twelve years. All vampires belong to a class, and they’re sorted by their powers. Casey’s real power is almost entirely intellectual. Oh, he’s still much stronger than a human, and he can hold his own in many a fight, but the things he can do with his brain…
He liked to call himself a technophage. He can fix anything, build anything. He can speak most languages and has become the group’s historian since Marcus Vorenus never came back.
When the war started, we were on opposite sides. I could not get him to see reason. I could not get him to choose me.
“The wards are great. I love Iceland. Why would I ever try to leave?” I wasn’t going to argue with the man. I sighed and sat up, my stomach starting to rumble.
“You should know I argued with Kelsey about bringing you here.” He stood near the door, which would happily open for him but remained stubbornly shut when I approached. Whoever did the wards was good. She was probably also the reason my team had never been able to find Frelsi, this rebel encampment I was currently housed in.
“What? Kelsey didn’t listen to the world’s smartest vampire? What a surprise. I know that somewhere in that brain of yours you’ve rewritten history and now Kelsey’s some kind of saint, but you forget how often we had to save her ass.”
“Now I have to save her ass from you. I know you’re going to try to play to her best nature. In her head, you changed overnight. She didn’t live these twelve years of watching you slowly turn into a monster.”
“Monster? That’s a bit of an overstatement. I’m a witch. We have a king. The same way you have a king, vampire. You’re going to tell me you don’t do Donovan’s will? He was gone for twelve years and you did everything you thought he would want you to do. You kept his crown polished while the demons bit and clawed at all of our heels. Do you know what would have happened if my king hadn’t taken control? Do you think the wolf council could have kept the demons in their place? How about that ridiculous Faery ambassador? Devinshea’s brother. Do you think he was going to save the Earth plane?”