Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 111353 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 557(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111353 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 557(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
I sobbed, heart-shredding for my body was already turning in the direction he told me to go. “I’m sorry. I’m s-so sorry. I love you, Ronin. Always.” I ran for Dora—
—and didn’t move.
“What—?” Icy cold spread from my tattoo, hardening my lower limbs to lead. I wasn’t going anywhere. “What is this!”
Dora’s lips turned a dangerous blackish-blue. Her flailing feet started to slow.
“Fuck!” Ronin thrashed in the python’s grip. “It’s the... sub bond! It’s forcing you to choose me,” he burst out. “I order you to save your sister! I ORDER YOU TO SAVE YOUR SISTER!”
The cold gripped me, its invisible chains holding me back—demanding I accept the choice it made for me. “No!”
Dora stopped kicking. Her hands fell to her sides as her eyes drifted shut.
“NO!”
“Charlotte Hunter, I release you from the sub bond!”
BOOM!
Ronin’s python exploded—torn apart by the force of the fiery explosion. The flames greedily consumed it and then rushed through the room—
—and time stopped.
The rushing flames. The hissing snake in the rafters. My heartbeat. It all winked out.
I spun away and raced toward Samael. Reason wasn’t controlling me. Neither was instinct. The only thing fueling my sprint as I crossed the room, ripped the flaming sword from Samael’s chest and jumped on Dora’s bed... was the look on Lucifer’s face when I hunted him down, taught him my true name, and shoved it down his throat.
“Arggh!” Launching off the footboard, I hefted the sword high—and swung.
The blade sliced through the snake, severing it clean in two, and releasing its charge.
I seized Dora as she fell, then ran for the door—bursting into the hall as the explosion ripped through the bedroom, blowing the double doors right off the hinges.
We tumbled head over heels over limbs, collapsing into a groaning heap thirty feet away.
“Agh,” Dora wheezed—coughing and hacking as she sucked desperate air into her lungs. “What happened?” She eyed me, concern and relief warring on her face. “How did... you do that?”
“I don’t know,” I whispered—my mind trying, and failing, to understand how I outran a deadly explosion. “I just... don’t know.”
Chapter Sixteen
“Istill don’t understand what happened.”
Tristan and I stood outside the door to Ronin’s bedroom. It had been a strange and hectic few days since Lucifer killed Samael and ran off with his feathers, but somehow, we found ourselves back at the academy. Honestly, where else were we going to go?
Dora was here too, but in our room next door. The adjoining door was gone to give her privacy while she dealt with the aftermath of everything that happened over the last few months.
“Turns out the price of the sub bond is that if it’s ever broken, the person who cast the bond loses their life,” Tristan said. “That is one of the many reasons why demons stopped doing it. There are many ways to control someone, so why trade your life?” He jabbed a hand over his shoulder. “But that stupid dead lunatic doesn’t know how to turn it down when it comes to you.”
I shouldn’t be smiling. I really, really shouldn’t. But a tiny smile slipped out all the same. “He really does love me, doesn’t he.”
“He does.” Tristan tickled my side, squealing a giggle out of me as he smiled back. “He’s also lucky that trading your life can have multiple meanings. Instead of dying, the magic stole his beauty. He’s no longer got that mythical, legendary, can-command-armies-with-just-a-look face anymore, Charlie.
“Which means he can no longer sit on the throne of sloth. His future as lord is over.”
My smile vanished in an instant. “Wait, what? You can’t be serious. He can’t be Lord Sloth anymore just because his face lost its freaky juju? But that’s ridiculous! What does his father say?”
He jerked his chin toward the door. “Ask him. He’s ready to see you now, but he wants you to brace yourself. He doesn’t need a glamour anymore, so he’s not wearing one. You’re going to see the real him now, Charlie.
“And I hope you point and laugh.”
I rolled my eyes. I did not understand the relationship between these two. They absolutely hated each other, but they were also the best of friends.
But I won’t be the one to tell them that, I thought as I reached for the doorknob. They’ll have to figure it out on their own.
“Sniff, sniff.”
I jerked, twisting around as Tristan snapped back.
“Oh, shit, sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to smell you like that out of nowhere, it’s just...” Despite his apology, he inhaled deeply—scrunching his nose as he did. “Are you wearing a new perfume or something?”
“Perfume? No.” I sniffed my collar and smelled nothing. “I don’t even have perfume down here. Why?”
“It’s nothing, it’s just... you smell different.”
“Different? Different how?”
“You smell...” Tristan’s frown only deepened. “New.”
“Wha—?”
Tristan tossed his head, losing the scowl. “I gotta go, but hit me up after you’re done with that shithead.”