Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 48827 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 244(@200wpm)___ 195(@250wpm)___ 163(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48827 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 244(@200wpm)___ 195(@250wpm)___ 163(@300wpm)
And the weaker I feel, the more I realize I'm losing my shot.
Zachariah and the other hunters have been searching for Samuel for a very long time.
And I'm done taking on this fight alone.
I dig deep inside myself, snatching up that mating bond that I wanted to deny for so long, jerking it to attention and mentally whispering Zachariah as I watch no less than thirty bloodmad vampires stumble in behind where Samuel and Conrad are still bickering.
Fuck me, we’re all going to die.
CHAPTER 19
Zachariah
Something yanks inside the center of me, jerking my body and soul to attention in such a demanding way that I flinch as Alek speaks to Conclave.
Zachariah, I hear Talia’s voice inside my mind, whispering down the bond that connects us.
It's followed by a rush of pain and fear and regret, her location easy enough to lock on as I hurry out of the Conclave walls, Alek calling after me, but I barely hear his questioning yells. I pull my phone out, texting my brothers before I wend without a second thought, the three actions taking me mere seconds.
I immediately spot Talia, collapsed in the middle of the street, next to one of Benedict's motorcycles.
And then I see the horde of bloodmad vampires.
Every single one of them is racing toward me.
I don’t have a second to think, to hesitate.
My arsenal of powers springs to the surface in one harsh snap as the very real possibility of death bears down on me…on Talia, lying there, so limp…
A roar escapes my lips as my powers snap out of me, each one aimed at a bloodmad in the horde, each one different. Electricity and metal and energy spear from me, one by one my powers rising and shooting out at the threat, lashing and slashing, sending half their deaths.
Talon and Dagon and Saint wend in, and I finally breathe, dropping to my knees from the force of the loss of power. My entire body feels drained from the intensity of using so much at once. Too fast…too much…I can barely feel the wisps of any power now, despite knowing they’re trying to regenerate.
My brothers take over, and I spare half a thought to wish Ajax wasn’t across the globe right now, knowing he could stop time and end this for us.
“Zachariah,” Talia says as I crawl to her, but she's not looking at me. She’s focused on something behind me. “Take my powers,” she whispers. “You need them. You can end this right now. He's there, take my power and end this—”
“Never,” I cut her off. I don’t care if my powers never return, I’d never take hers. I look over the wound on her left side, my stomach twisting at the sight. My eyes switch to thermal, rage spearing through me. “Who did this to you?”
Her lip trembles as she struggles to get the words out, but she looks behind me again.
I follow her gaze.
Conrad is there, holding a vial in one hand and a blood-soaked blade in the other.
And just behind him is Samuel.
“The vial,” she whispers. “You have to get it. Take my powers. Do it.”
Even if I would consider it, in the states she’s in, she’d die.
I shift away from her, reaching for the blade concealed in my jacket sleeve, eying the dagger in Conrad’s hand one last time, the one drenched in her blood.
I throw the knife.
It sinks into Conrad’s chest. He collapses to the ground, the vial slipping from his fingers, rolling behind him and hitting Samuel’s boot.
Samuel picks up the vial as Conrad’s powers slam into me, the shapeshifting capability so much more intricate than that of Talon’s animalistic one, something sinister about it as it slides into my blood.
I battle every instinct inside my body to capture my once brother, and instead fall to Talia’s side, slicing open my wrist and bringing it her to her mouth to heal her.
“Drink, my love,” I beg her, but her eyes have lilted closed. She’s limp as I gather her into my arms. “Please drink.” I put my wrist to her lips, but she's barely breathing, let alone capable of swallowing.
Saint steps in front of us, his eyes on Samuel.
“Good to see you free, brother,” Samuel says, smirking at Saint before glancing down at me. “Sorry about your mate, Zach,” he says. “She certainly was a striking thing, but my poisons have a way of bringing even the most beautiful creatures down.”
“You’re done.” Saint draws his gun and fires, the bullet aimed straight for Samuel’s heart—
But it slices through a wisp of shadow as Samuel wends out of sight.
I gather Talia in my arms, wrapping my power around the two of us and wending us straight into Gabriel’s offices, knowing my brothers can easily handle the rest of the bloodmads.
“Help!” I cry out, placing Talia on one of Gabriel’s examination tables, the doctor immediately racing to my side. “She was stabbed with a blade,” I say, looking at the gaping wound in her left side.