Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 141492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
The truth came to him. The child. She connected with me. She held the connection all along between us. Just like she does now with the animals. She touched my mind and I felt what she did. We shared information. That was how I knew she was my lifemate even though she was so young. She held the connection, he told his brethren.
The revelation shouldn’t have surprised him, but it did. The child had been no more than five, yet she’d been so powerful even then.
As the vampire ripped out her heart, I wanted to stay with her, shoulder the pain, comfort her, but she broke the connection, refused to let me share it. I couldn’t even give her that. I fought my way to her, but I was too late. I hunted Eduardo and slaughtered his army, but that didn’t bring her back or comfort her in any way. She was already gone and couldn’t know what I did for her.
Lilith will try for her again and again, Benedek warned. She will never forget that you bested her. It matters little how many years have passed. And the fact that Safia has wrested her demons from her will make her furious. She will do everything she can to make her suffer and then kill her.
From his past encounters with Lilith, Petru knew Benedek was right. The woman was mad. She was determined to rule the underworld as well as those above it. She wanted to best her mate. Mostly he looked on her and her antics with amusement and did little to rein her in, so she became more and more bold. Petru was grateful he had forgotten about her until those memories had been triggered by an unknown event.
Now he watched as Safia put herself in harm’s way a second time, bringing the sea centipede to her and repeating the same ritual of destroying the creature. This adversary was slightly larger, and Petru could see Safia was tiring. That didn’t make her movements any less graceful or self-assured. It did take her longer to dispatch the demon, but the sea had grown rougher as the wind picked up.
Petru eased the rough waters around her, doing what he could to help her without interfering. The moment the sea centipede was dispatched, Safia swam to her brother and the pair surfaced slowly. She scanned quickly.
“The sun is already gone, Izem. You must get out of the water. There’s still the giant one left. I was able to read the others, and it was just the three of them. I closed off the portal and she can’t send any others. But you’re exhausted, and the tanks are almost out of air. I’m tired. The water is getting rough, and with the sun already down, we don’t know if the vampires will come out. I can’t watch over you. You can’t argue, it’s just wasting time.”
Izem glanced back toward the harbor. It was a distance away. “You can’t face that thing alone, Safia. You’re too tired. Wait for tomorrow.”
“It will continue to grow. If it comes on land, we don’t know how much damage it will do. Just go, Izem. Let me get this done.”
Petru was in her mind, and for the first time, he saw that she was uncertain of how she was going to defeat the gigantic demon. She was resolved, just not sure how. Very slowly, so as not to frighten her, he allowed himself to shimmer into her sight.
“Ku Tappa Kulyak, perhaps my brethren and I can be of some assistance to you. Mataias will help Izem to shore and wait with him while Benedek, Nicu and I will do as you order. We can build the illusion of a ship, and you can lead the demon farther out to sea, away from people. That way, no one will have the chance to be harmed.”
Petru drank in the sight of her. Her hair was sleek, shiny and dark from the water. It hung thick and long down her back. The moon seemed to spotlight her beauty, the oval of her face with her dark lashes framing her large, jeweled eyes. It was impossible to keep from looking at her full lips and not imagine kissing her, which was a little shocking to him. He didn’t have thoughts like that, not in the middle of a crisis.
Safia wore a royal blue one-piece bathing suit that hugged her figure like a second skin. Petru had dulled the brightness of colors to keep from hurting his eyes, but even with keeping them blurred, it was impossible to stop the vivid beauty of her from nearly blinding him. She shone like the brightest star. More, she had a natural sensuality in every line of her body that appealed to him.
There was no way to stop himself from putting his hands on her hips to hold her steady in the rough water. The moment his palms settled around her and his fingers pressed into the contours of her feminine shape, his body reacted. Discipline was gone. Unexpected fire swept through his veins every bit as hot as the blue flames in her crystal sword. Her green gaze jumped to his, confusion mixed with reluctant desire.