Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 53656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 268(@200wpm)___ 215(@250wpm)___ 179(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 268(@200wpm)___ 215(@250wpm)___ 179(@300wpm)
She took only seconds before she was near me, screaming as the chains of iron stung her fingers as she ripped them off of me, throwing them toward her dead brother.
Her brother. She’d killed her brother…for me.
“I didn't betray you,” she said, her voice almost broken. “I promise, Talon. I would never betray you.”
She sank her fangs into her wrist, shoving it against my mouth and commanding I drink.
I did, swallowing mouthfuls of her life-giving blood, feeling it work itself through me, combining with my own power as my body healed itself.
I leaned my forehead against hers when I was done, but we didn’t have time to talk, not when Ajax was growling and throwing a pair of sweats my direction.
“I stopped time so you could cover up,” he said. “Wouldn't want you to lose that thing in the battle,” he nodded toward my cock before racing up the stairs, no doubt to finish the fight I could hear raging up there.
Dagon spared a glance between Cassandra and I, then nodded at me before following Ajax.
I took one moment to look into her rich brown eyes before throwing on the sweats and taking her hand to race up the stairs.
I was ready for war, but thanks to my hunter brothers, Benedict, Jocelyn, and Hawk, there were no guards left to fight. The Zorin estate reeked of blood and death.
“She dies,” I said the second I laid eyes on Hawk escorting Cassandra’s mother out in iron chains.
“She has to remain alive,” Ajax said, and I growled at my brother for the first time in a century.
“You have no idea what she’s done to Cassandra,” I snapped. “Her throat belongs to me.”
“Tough shit,” Hawk said. “She knows everything Edward knows, and thanks to your little girlfriend, he's dead. She's the last one with the information we need. She lives.”
They don't give me time to argue my case, and before I knew what was happening, we'd wended back to the king's residence. We reported on the mission, the battle, and the absolute shit show the last few hours had been.
“Talon,” Zachariah said after we'd reported to the king. “We need to talk.” Zachariah motioned to my other brothers, who were waiting for me at the end of the hallway ready to go into the war room.
I looked back at Cassandra, whose eyes were pleading. “I know we need to talk about what happened,” I said.
“I didn't betray you,” she said, almost as if she was trying to convince everybody within earshot. “I would never—"
“We'll have to talk about this later,” I said, and turned away from her even though it felt like it might kill me. I knew it wasn't the time. The last thing I wanted to do was hash out what happened with my brothers within earshot. What Cassandra and I needed to speak about was between me and her and nobody else.
And for now, she’d have to be okay with that.
CHAPTER 18
Cassandra
“So, they're interrogating her right now?” Jocelyn asked from where she sat on the loveseat next to Lyric, across from me in one of many lounge rooms in the king's residence.
“They are,” I said, wondering what type of restraint Talon was able to show while interrogating my mother.
Thankfully all of his brothers were with him and would stop him for ruining their chance at getting information. They'd get it out of her. My mother's survival instincts ran deep, and she would give up any information it took to keep herself alive.
“Damn,” Lyric said, shaking her head. “That must be hard knowing it's your mother—"
“It's not,” I cut off the queen. “I hate her. If I could kill her myself, I would. But I know that she has valuable information.”
“Probably loads of it that will keep our mates on missions for the foreseeable future.”
I swallowed hard, guilt and worry eating me from the inside out. Annika, Olivia's niece, sat in a high wingback chair just across from me and the other females, looking at me with a sort of compassion that I hadn’t seen in a long time.
I absentmindedly stroked the mating mark that I knew resided beneath the fabric of my loose-fitting cotton pants. “Do you think he'll forgive me?” I asked the question that had been haunting me since Talon left my side. Since he went with his brothers and left things so unsettled between us.
I had no idea if he believed me. If he understood why I'd said and did what I had. And I hated feeling so unsure.
“He's your mate,” Annika said, her voice almost whimsical as she said the word mate. “He has to forgive you. Every mate forgives every mistake, right?” she asked, looking at Jocelyn and Lyric. “That's how it is in all the wonderful stories about mating.”
Jocelyn and Lyric chuckled darkly.
“Oh, honey,” Jocelyn said. “Having a mate isn't exactly like all the stories.”