Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 73252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
I didn’t listen.
Now something ancient is loose, alliances are collapsing, and every enemy we’ve ever made is coming for us.
Xavier promised to save me. I didn’t realize what it would cost.
Because he’ll stop at nothing to keep me alive—even if it destroys everything we built.
Even if it destroys him
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Chapter
One
Ihold the bloody pendant limply in my hand. My lips part and my blood runs cold, as if ice water is being pumped through my body. It worked. The ritual is complete. Vaelric is free.
And standing right before me.
Crippling anxiety slowly makes its way over my body, creeping down like a thousand invisible hands holding me in place, paralyzing me and making it hard to breathe. Dark, negative energy surrounds me like a black fallout cloud, choking me.
My heartbeat echoes in my ears, sloshing my frigid blood through my body, begging me to breathe. React. Move. Do something other than stand here, rooted in horror to the spot as I look into the eyes of the woman who once claimed to be my mother.
“I’m a demon of my word,” Vaelric says, voice blending with Vivian’s as he talks, and suddenly my right hand feels warm and tingly. I glance down, watching the red lines on my arm disappear. The little pinprick in the middle of my palm heals instantly, leaving behind just a shadow of a scar, hidden beneath the fresh blood on the pendant.
Vivian’s head moves around as Vaelric looks through her eyes, taking it all in. Slowly, her eyes glow yellow and then she looks right back at me, smiling. Rolling her neck side to side, the smile grows and then Vivian—possessed by Vaelric—turns and runs away, moving so quickly I can’t tell if she’s moving as fast as a vampire or if she disappeared entirely, in a way only a demon can.
For a fleeting moment, no one moves.
Then Marco pushes up on his feet. I can feel Xavier tense behind me as he silently moves closer, his body brushing against mine.
“What the fuck did you do?” Marco demands, eyes narrowing so much they almost look demonic.
“Me?” I ask incredulously, rounding on Marco. The panic and fear I’d been feeling for days finally melts away, and is instantly replaced with rage. I push my shoulders back, nostrils flaring as I inhale. Energy swirls around me. “What did I do?” I repeat his words with venom in my voice, anger burning hotter inside me. Everything we went through, all the people who were hurt or killed in the process, was for their selfish gain.
From the moment I was born, this has been their plan. Did they know my mom was pregnant? Were they counting down the days until my due date, just like my parents were? Maybe they were excited too, but for very different reasons. They knew from the start they were going to murder two innocent, brand-new parents and then kidnap a baby.
“How else did you think this was going to play out?” Xavier asks, voice calm and level. Something rips through me, tearing me in two. It’s a familiar feeling, yet done for different reasons.
Betrayal.
I didn’t want to free the demon.
I didn’t want to undo what my family had done.
Now Vaelric is out there, full-powered and dangerous. And we have no idea what his plan is.
“You let the demon out of the cage,” Antonio says, voice hollow. Out of the corner of my eye, I see him standing there, nearly swaying on his feet as he shuffles closer to me. “You used Wren to release a demon. That…that goes against everything we stand for.”
Blinking, I turn my gaze toward my brother and see the abhorrence on his face. We always teased him for being such a rule follower, but this is who he is through and through: a good fucking hunter and, more importantly, a good person. One could argue growing up in the Order brainwashed you to a certain extent, but there was never any doubt in my mind that Antonio would always choose to do the right thing, even if it wasn’t easy.
And right now, I know he’s feeling the sting and heartbreak that comes with betrayal too.
“We have to go after her!” Marco exclaims, looking at me almost as if he’s expecting me to help him. “We have to save her!”
“Save her?” I question, eyes narrowing as my fingers curl into tight fists against my palms. “We have to stop her.”
“If there is any her left,” Xavier says under his breath, but loud enough for everyone to hear. We all know how quickly demons burn through human bodies. I don’t know how quickly a demon as powerful as Vaelric would burn through one, but I imagine Vivian won’t last long.
“You made this mess,” I say as I shake my head, not quite able to make sense of the words coming out of my mouth. I’m a demon hunter, and beyond that, Blackwood blood flows through my veins. Stopping evil has been part of my family history for centuries, even if I didn’t know it. The guilt of what I did weighs heavily on me, but for the life of me, I can’t bring myself to go after Vaelric. It’s probably some sort of desperate compartmentalization, wanting to shake this off, wanting to wash my hands of this situation completely.