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)
“I’ve seen her around,” said Tanner. “But I’ve never seen her fight before. She’s a Wallis.”
“And a teensy little thing. I think Mona’s got this.” Larkin sounded disappointed, which was most likely because the harpy wasn’t a fan of Mona. Larkin wasn’t a fan of many people.
While it was true that Mona seemed to have the advantage in the duel, being that she was taller and quite powerful…“I wouldn’t be too sure of that,” said Knox. There was just something about the other she-demon; about the way she cocked her head as she ran her gaze over Mona. She was a predator searching for a weakness. No easy target. And he suddenly found himself…interested. Not much truly interested Knox anymore. It was a refreshing feeling.
“You think the little one has a chance of winning this?” asked Levi.
Yes, he did. The bell suddenly rang. “We’re about to find out.”
Seeming to revel in the noise of the crowd, Mona tossed Harper a dismissive glance. “Joining me in this circle was a big mistake, Harper.” She said her name with utter distaste. Yeah, a lot of people felt that way. Why? Because Harper was known amongst her social circle for being the sphinx without wings. An oddity. An abnormality. Some people made the mistake of believing that made her easy prey. Mona was clearly one of them.
Harper simply taunted, “Prove it.”
With a smirk, Mona conjured an orb of hellfire – a standard ability that most demons had – and hurled it at Harper. Sharply stepping to the side, Harper dodged the orb. But in spite of the anger threatening to steal her self-control, she didn’t retaliate, which clearly puzzled Mona. What the harbinger didn’t realize was that Harper didn’t want to duel with her, she didn’t deem the bitch worthy of one. All Harper wanted was to get a grip on the dumb heifer.
Of course, she had abilities which would allow her to hurt Mona from a distance. But if she wanted to cause the harbinger real pain, she’d need to get her hands on her. Unfortunately, Mona seemingly intended to attack from afar. Harper needed to lure her close. That meant pissing her off – something which Harper was totally okay with. By nature, Harper was a reasonably collected person. But she had a temper that ran quick and hot. “You know, I can’t work out why you thought you’d get away with having your little friends attack Khloë,” sneered Harper. “Do you feel empty inside? I mean, like, in your skull?”
“Bitch,” hissed Mona. She launched one orb of hellfire after another; aiming for Harper’s head, chest, legs, and abdomen.
Harper evaded most of them, purposely allowing one to clip her shoulder and another to graze her leg. She didn’t want Mona to know how fast she was. She wanted Mona to be confident enough to come closer. “All this because Gael chose Khloë over you three years ago? Really? How pathetic.”
“He didn’t choose her. She lured him away.”
Khloë could control most minds, but she had too much self-respect to ever use the ability to get a guy who didn’t want her. “We both know that isn’t true. But even if it was, two wrongs don’t make a right. Your parents have proved that.”
Snarling, Mona conjured two orbs of hellfire and threw them simultaneously. Harper ducked, evading both. Lightning fast, she whipped a stiletto blade out of her boot, curving her hand around the ruby-red marble handle.
Mona laughed. “You think a little knife will save you?”
Ordinarily, probably not.
“It’s almost cute.”
Harper sidestepped the orb of hellfire that flew her way. Conjuring orbs was something Harper had personally never been able to master. She could create hellfire, but she couldn’t shape it into anything. She could, however, do something else.
Generating hellfire in her left hand, Harper then infused it into the knife. Like that, the blade was aflame and totally lethal. Stilling, Mona gaped. For a brief moment, the crowd fell silent. They had all obviously assumed that the reason Harper wasn’t retaliating was that she didn’t have any offensive gifts to boast of – wrong.
Wearing a patronizing smile, Harper twirled her blade on her finger. “Personally, I think this beats orbs.” Because she could infuse hellfire into any object, making them instantly deadly. A blade. A pen. A hairclip. Anything. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think that was fear on your chimp-like face.”
Mona caught a dagger that one of her friends threw her and then launched herself at Harper – giving her exactly what she wanted. Harper evaded the sword, slashed Mona’s thigh, and then slammed her palm into Mona’s abdomen. Mona dropped to her knees, shuddering, with her mouth open in a silent scream of excruciating agony. It wasn’t because of the hellfire eating away at her flesh. No, it was because of something far worse.