Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 66383 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66383 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
“I’m going to enjoy this,” I seethe.
My head lolls back as I feel his power crawling all over me like snakes finding their home.
Oh, to see what he has seen.
He is the most powerful seer of this generation. It explains how he survived when no one else has.
I see myself in the future, sitting on a throne, dressed in all black.
And as I get to the person sitting next to me, I snap his neck.
And I enjoy every second of it, to how his body falls to the floor, lifeless now. No evidence of life left thanks to me.
Chapter Nineteen
Not caring, I let him fall to the floor in a heap and step over him. I rush to Max, who is lying lifeless in a pool of his own blood.
My heart cracks. Even through the high, it hurts with a force I’m not used to bearing. I drop to my knees, not caring that they are now covered in blood. Max’s blood.
My hands touch him and I try, I try as hard as I can to heal him, but I’m coming up blank. Why is it blank? I push harder, my head hurts, my body hurts, but most of all, my heart hurts. Tears start clogging my eyes, why are they doing that, I can bring him back, the same way I brought my niece back. But why isn’t it working.
The needle.
My eyes close again, heavier, from the drug or from the pain, which I am not sure. I run my hands through his hair and smile at the thought that he kissed me the last time I did this. Then, my vision becomes blurry, and I realize it’s because of the tears continuously falling from my eyes.
This isn’t fair.
How could this happen?
How did I let this happen?
And why wasn’t I smart enough to stop it?
Bodies surround me, but there’s only one that I care about. I want to breathe life into him, to tell him to wake up. Even though I know it’s not possible, I try anyway.
I grab at his clothes—the very same ones that we’ve torn off together.
I hate that I love him.
I hate that he put me in this position that now, not only did I manage to fall in love with someone I thought I could spend the rest of my life with, he should’ve known. He should’ve known that he would leave me like this and that this would destroy me. That even though I hear another breath come close to me—one that very well could belong to someone who could snap my neck—I pay no attention because the breath and the heartbeat I want to hear no longer exists.
That heart no longer beats.
And it will no longer love me.
That realization hurts more than words can describe.
“Talia.”
I know someone is saying my name, but my head just doesn’t want to lift from its spot on Max’s back to see who it is.
“Talia.”
I reach for something, but I’m not even sure what it is until it surrounds me. I put us in a cocoon that protects us both.
I can no longer hear my name being called, and I don’t want to look around to see the destruction that surrounds us. That will only remind me of his death.
Why couldn’t I stop it?
Why?
I curl myself up into a ball and slide my hands up his torso.
If I could breathe life into him, I would.
If I could give him my life, I would.
I hear knocking.
But I pay no attention.
I start to drift off.
And as I do, I hear his voice calling me.
“She doesn’t want to be disturbed.”
I hear someone say.
“And who are you, her slave?”
I know that voice.
“Leave her be.”
“I will do no such thing. You leave.”
“No, she needs protection. And since no one else seems to want to do that, I will.”
“You think you should be the one protecting her?” I hear a laugh. “Like you protected and served Viper?”
“Viper is no longer living and no longer holds anything over me.”
“So why do you want to serve her?”
“Because she is a queen. We all know it.”
I open my eyes to see Cinitta and Tanya arguing.
“Shut up!” I scream.
My hands are still under Max’s shirt, but his body is no longer warm. “Max. Max, wake up.” I push him, but he doesn’t move. “Max, please wake up,” I try again. He still doesn’t move.
I thought it was a dream, a nightmare. I had hoped and prayed it was. But as my hands hold his body and feel the coldness when he usually feels so warm, I know we’re not that fortunate.
It’s my reality.
My nightmare.
And I hate it.
I hate this whole fucking world right now. I want to burn it to the ground along with every fucker living in it.
I feel myself becoming so angry that I just can’t stop myself. Before I know it, the castle is on fire, and my sister starts screaming at me to move. But I don’t have the will to move. I can’t seem to leave Max, even if I wanted to.