Total pages in book: 362
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
“I know.” His voice was a sensual growl as he turned, throwing a shadowstone sword. It caught a god in the head. “I can taste your arousal, liessa.”
I started to respond when I spotted Kolis at the end of the hall, ducking under another archway. Another dozen crimson-garbed gods poured out.
“This is getting really annoying,” I muttered. I had no idea what game he was playing, but I was also so very done with him.
As I slid under a wild swing, I pictured Thierran in my mind and summoned him. I trusted that he would keep a low profile until we had Kolis cornered.
Ash and I carved a path through the Temple hall, leaving a grotesque carpet of bodies behind. More soldiers loomed ahead, just another wave crashing toward us. But we were the rock that would break them apart.
As we neared the archway, the air crackled around us. I spun, letting out a shout of warning.
Kolis materialized directly behind Ash, descending on him in a heartbeat.
Ash spun, pulling his sword back and plunging it deep into Kolis’s chest. The impact knocked the Primal of Death back several feet before he caught himself.
Looking down at the sword’s hilt, he laughed and grasped it.
I pushed forward, and Ash flew toward him, slamming his fist into Kolis’s jaw. I didn’t make it very far. An arm snagged me around the waist as Kolis staggered and then steadied himself. He pulled the sword free. The blade shattered, and he vanished again. Suddenly, I was moving through the air—
I smacked into a wall with enough force that my spine would’ve broken if I’d been mortal. Still, my immediate concern was the lives I carried within me as I fell forward. Primal or not, the impact had rattled every part of me and stunned me for several seconds.
Ash’s head cut toward me when I landed on one hand and my knees. I looked up through several loose curls to see Ash coming for me.
The air behind him warped, and Kolis appeared again.
“Behind you!” I screamed.
Kolis’s lips curved up, and Ash turned. The true Primal of Death was on him in a heartbeat, gripping the front of Ash’s tunic and baring his fangs. I shoved up off my hand, desperate to intervene.
“Oh, look,” Kolis spat. “The bitch is already on her knees.”
A roar left Ash, shaking the ruins as he jerked forward, bashing his head into Kolis’s. I started to rise, but a boot connected with my jaw, knocking my head back sharply. Pain shot down my spine, and the muscles along my neck protested. The sound of fists connecting with flesh echoed through the Temple.
A hand clamped down on my throat, lifting me roughly to my feet and then off them.
Varus stared up at me, his once smooth complexion torn open across his cheeks. “Payback’s a bitch,” he snarled.
There were only a few seconds to consider how strong the once-entombed god was before I was suddenly flying into the darkness.
In those brief seconds of weightlessness, I wasn’t thinking about myself or Ash. I was thinking about our children. I managed to twist my body so my upper back and shoulders took the brunt of the impact, a heartbeat before I crashed into the floor with enough force to knock the air from my lungs and crack the stone beneath me.
Fuck.
That hurt.
A lot.
A wall suddenly exploded, and Ash and Kolis came through it, sending chunks of stone flying in every direction. By the grace of the Fates, only the smallest pelted me as Ash and Kolis rose toward the pitched ceiling.
They were both in their Primal forms, a blur of shadows and crimson, clashing with the force of colliding stars and exchanging blows with their fists and eather.
An uncomfortable sense of déjà vu swept through me as they fought, and pain swept up and down the length of my body in waves.
“You still think you can defeat me, nephew?” Kolis’s laugh carried the scent of stale lilacs when he threw Ash to the floor. “I am true Death.”
Ash landed in a crouch, his pure silver gaze briefly meeting mine. I willed my stupid legs and arms to move. The pain was quickly fading, but all I managed to do was the lamest thing ever. I gave Ash a thumbs-up.
“There is no Primal more infinite than true Death,” Kolis boasted, crimson-streaked darkness spinning around him. “Nothing more certain and inevitable than I. There is no bond I cannot break, no magic I cannot undo, or life I cannot take.”
A low growl came from Ash. He rose, nearly solid wings appearing from the mist gathering around him. “You are and have always been nothing.”
Kolis looked down. “I was going to keep you alive, chained at the foot of my throne until I released her from her misery. Oh, how I looked so forward to it. Seeing every pain I inflicted on her mirrored in your features.” Crimson throbbed in the air, and the scent of death filled the chamber. “But I see now that I will just have to settle for your death and her endless suffering.”