Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 109329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
“Oh, thank God,” I tried to say, and released my claws from the Elder’s flesh.
A stray punch hit my midsection before the Elder’s body was ripped away. Austin moved in with a growl, standing over me. A team of basajaunak wrestled the Elder, lifting her and dragging her away. Still, she struggled to get free.
She hadn’t decided I’d won at all. She certainly hadn’t tapped out. She’d probably lost herself and was trying to kill me.
“We’ve got Indigo here.” Dave’s voice was right next to my ear. “Does it hurt?”
Of course it freaking hurt. I had wings bent at unnatural angles underneath me, throbbing joints with probably many breaks, blood trickling—the wounds were many. She’d hammered me!
I was in gargoyle form and couldn’t properly answer him. I needed to get my wings sorted out before I could shift. It was probably for the best. I would’ve peppered him with insults.
“Great work, Jessie.” That was Phil. “Really great work! What a win, huh?”
It didn’t feel like great work, and I definitely didn’t feel like the winner. The Elder had been dragged off me, not the other way around.
“Hey, Jessie.” Indigo leaned over me. “We’re going to roll you onto your belly and spread out your wings, okay? That’s the best way to correct them, I’ve found. Though you aren’t as heavy and muscular as the other gargoyles. Still, it’s probably best.”
Dave and Phil helped roll me over. Flares of agony blasted through me, but again, it wasn’t as bad as that time at Kingsley’s. That hurt to live—to exist. This just hurt.
Well. At least I’d “won.” There was that. I hoped it was worth it, because at the moment, it certainly didn’t seem like it.
22
Nessa
It took six older basajaunak to wrestle the Elder into a docile position in the field. It took a dozen more to snarl and rage and run out all the gnomes still trying to cut her down. Cyra alone managed to scare the rest away from Jessie, and only because she blasted them with fire and threatened to bring in the garhettes.
Dave and Phil sat on either side of Jessie as Indigo finished up her wings.
“Indigo.” Tristan stalked from the Elder to the others. He was bare-bodied and beautiful, full of fire and command and a protective instinct his position and Jessie had brought out of him. He didn’t glance Nessa’s way as he passed by—not even a flick of acknowledgment that she stood there—even though her energy reached for him.
Because she wanted to reach for him.
He must’ve noticed. He always noticed. But since their first real night together, and especially since the night he’d pulled her away from the gathering of alphas, he’d ignored her. Their connection. Her desire. Everything.
Had he moved on?
Would she blame him if he had?
No.
The answer was immediate. Maybe she’d even be grateful.
No.
She took a deep breath. Time to be honest with herself. She wouldn’t be grateful at all. She’d be crestfallen. Miserable. She’d know she had missed out on someone that captivated her, that valued her, and that had helped her more than anyone in the world ever had. Someone who lit a fire in her—to be better, to have a future…to just be herself. With him, more than anyone else, she could just be herself.
Her fear was getting in the way. But what was she afraid of, really? Loving and losing? One of those things was already happening. She had to admit that, along with everything else. And if she kept him at a distance—like this, without any games or banter or fun or touching—she’d lose him too.
He could hurt her, but not being with him was hurting her. Losing their friendship and their love/hate relationship already hurt. These past days and months felt like a hole inside of her, and she was at the point that she couldn’t stand it anymore. She couldn’t stand what all this had turned into.
And she was the one to blame. He was just doing what she’d asked.
“Finish with Jessie’s wings and then go over to the Elder,” Tristan told Indigo, standing over Jessie while her wings mended. “She’s losing a lot of blood.”
“Well, she was the one who lost her head and went against her word.” Indigo didn’t bother looking over at him. “She deserves what she gets.”
“Jessie was also supposed to keep from killing the Elder.”
“The Elder will live.”
“Are we sure?”
“Do we care?” Indigo was so sweet…until her personal moral compass got in the way.
Jessie grunted something out in a messy collection of syllables. She wouldn’t want the Elder to go without care.
“I got it.” Nessa put up her hand and stepped forward. “She just needs to connect with the woods again.” The Elder drew energy that she turned into power somehow. Hopefully, she’d calm down and want to share her secrets. “I can help.”