Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 119942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 600(@200wpm)___ 480(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 600(@200wpm)___ 480(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
Moments later, she was successful. The dagger stung, slicing cleanly through Harper’s skin like a knife through butter. For some reason, the first cut was always a shock. What stunned her more was the agonizing male cry that rang through her head. Fucking enchanted piece of shit.
Harper heard the practitioners gathering close like vultures. The only thing keeping them back was Jeanna’s shield…which meant this situation was fucking hopeless, really. Killing Jeanna would feel great and would save her from being impaled on a dagger, but then she’d no longer be protected from the practitioners by the shield.
Determination flooding every vein, Harper went at Jeanna again. She didn’t let up, ensuring she was in constant motion, refusing to allow the dead male’s cries to distract her. The smell of burning flesh filled the air as the hellfire coating Harper’s blade ate at Jeanna’s wounds, pleasing her inner demon. “Looking a little like a leper there, Jeanna.”
“You will die for this.” She slammed her open palm into Harper’s face.
Shit! Her eyes watered, making it hard to see. Jeanna took instant advantage and sliced Harper’s chest. She winced – both at the pain and the male scream that reverberated through her head. Fuck, that cut was deep; she could feel blood pooling to the surface but she ignored the urge to examine the wound. If she looked away from a smug-looking Jeanna, she was dead.
A tendril of fear curled around her. She was going to lose. Jeanna was too strong, too fast. There was no way Harper could defeat her, there was no—
Pushing aside that artificial fear, Harper swung her hips and kick her opponent hard in the stomach. Jeanna retaliated with a swipe of her blade. Harper ducked and came up on Jeanna’s side, stabbing deep. Blood bloomed, soaking her t-shirt. “Now we’re even.”
Hissing with anger as her flesh sizzled, Jeanna tossed a succession of hellfire orbs. One hit Harper’s leg and another skimmed her temple.
“You like to throw shit, huh?” Adrenalin pounding through her, Harper yanked one of the metal hair sticks from her bun, infused it with hellfire, and hurled it at Jeanna. It buried itself in the bitch’s shoulder.
With a shocked, angry cry, Jeanna yanked it out. She snarled as her flesh burned. “That really, really hurt.” Um, it was supposed to.
The taste of trepidation and anxiety suddenly filled Harper’s mouth. Jeanna was clearly redoubling her efforts to swamp her in fear. Grinding her teeth, Harper fought it. But it was hard; she could feel her psychic energy waning – she still wasn’t fully recovered psychically from Isla’s bite. Still…“It won’t work, Jeanna. You won’t reduce me to the blubbering wreck you were in the restrooms.” She blinked at the bitch’s curse. “Something I said?”
Jeanna struck again. As Harper parried each blow, she could sense the practitioners watching, waiting for her to fail and die at Jeanna’s hands…or to win and then be vulnerable to them. Either way, Harper was a loser to some extent.
Twisting slightly, Jeanna evaded one of Harper’s blows and kicked her hard in the thigh. Shit, that was gonna bruise, and Knox was gonna be pissed.
Ignoring the pain and the sweat trickling down her temples, Harper made an effort to regulate her rapid, shallow breathing. She was running out of steam, physically and psychically. It didn’t help that she was bleeding from cuts and stab wounds on her cheek, chest, and arms. Not that Jeanna looked much better. Her flesh was peeling and blistering in several places, thanks to the hellfire. The stench of it was awful. “God, Jeanna, at this point you’re just nauseating.”
Too deep in her anger, Jeanna began to strike out wildly. She should know better than that. But apparently Jacques was right – she treasured her ego. Harper slammed her foot into Jeanna’s knee, causing her leg to buckle. Then she lunged, thrusting the blade deep into the bitch’s gut. Seemingly stunned, the nightmare dropped her dagger as she inhaled sharply, eyes wide. Harper twisted her blade before withdrawing it. Then she thrust it into Jeanna’s neck just as she slammed her hand into Jeanna’s solar plexus, sending soul-deep pain rippling through her.
Her face a mask of agony, Jeanna gurgled, flapping her hands at the knife as blood fairly pumped out of the wound. She stumbled once before dropping to the ground, eyes blank. Harper retrieved her blade and, cold though it was, wiped it on the nightmare’s t-shirt. It took a few moments for her to die…and that was when the shield winked out.
The practitioners began to circle her, ready to pounce. By then, Harper had already pulled the second long, thin blade out of her hair and infused it with hellfire. Well, if she was going to die here, she’d take at least one of these bastards with her. The six males exchanged knowing looks, and she had the feeling a spell would be coming her way. Had a feeling that—