Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 118042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 590(@200wpm)___ 472(@250wpm)___ 393(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 590(@200wpm)___ 472(@250wpm)___ 393(@300wpm)
And that was the last time I saw the weedy, pot-belly Master alive as a flurry of gunfire let loose, slamming into him like darts.
He shuddered and jerked, falling backward as an entire clip of bullets ploughed into his chest, stomach, and legs. He twitched on the grass, animated only by gunshots, dead with his eyes wide open.
“Oh. Oh, wow.” Ben blinked and nudged me to look toward the blazing inferno of a castle. There, in the orange light of so many glowing fires, Rachel stood with blood on her cheek and a pregnant belly poking through her dressing gown.
The ricochet of firing the automatic weapon flung her backward. She landed with a thud but scrambled to her feet a second later.
Our eyes met.
I stepped toward her—
Another explosion detonated.
We all looked toward the Western corner just in time to see the tower that led to the dungeons topple and timber. It fell in an avalanche of stone. The ground shuddered beneath our feet as it vanished into the courtyard and kicked up a plume of dust and rubble.
“Fucking hell.” Ben grinned. “This is going better than we hoped!”
Rachel stumbled and clutched her belly.
I shifted to go to her, but a silver-red blur caught my gaze as smoke billowed and turned the entire island grey and hazy.
Black hair streaming behind her, long legs tripping and staggering, Ily bolted out of the gardens.
“Ily!”
She didn’t hear me.
The fire roared.
People screamed.
Too much distance and chaos.
She kept running. Swaying weakly, gasping strangely.
She shouldn’t be running.
Not with so much blood pouring from her neck.
Not after Victor cut her.
Victor.
My eyes narrowed as I scanned where she’d bolted from the hedgerows. My fingers fumbled for the gun’s trigger, ready to fire if he gave chase.
But nothing.
No one followed her.
She was on her own.
She was alive and breathing, and…a fresh surge of adrenaline bowled through me.
She’s alive.
I’m alive.
For the first time since I’d come to this fucking place, my single-minded focus of keeping her for myself merged into finally having a way to save her.
To deliver on all my broken promises.
To get her free.
My senses amplified, feeding me every piece of mayhem surrounding us.
Everything grew noisier, smokier, crazier.
Masters slaughtered jewels.
Jewels attacked Masters.
Guards fought guards.
Bullets fired, knives slashed, and the entire burning castle crawled with people fighting for their lives.
Some deserved to survive.
Some deserved to die.
I was ready to join this war to ensure Ily was safe, not just for tonight, but for the rest of her life.
I forgot about the pesky hole in my side.
I embraced the cold-heartedness of extermination.
And with a roar, I charged into battle.
Chapter Seventeen
………………………….
Ily
PETER AND I STUMBLED OUT of the burning castle just in time to see Henri slaughter a Master, all while a guard tried to hack him with a kitchen knife. Ben fired his machine gun, clipping the guard, who ran away into the smoky air.
Not pausing to thank Ben for saving his life, Henri launched himself at another Master who shocked one jewel with his remote and suffocated another on the ground with his foot on their throat.
Henri fired point blank into the Master’s skull—transforming him from man to meat.
I couldn’t take my eyes off him.
The way he moved.
The carnage he left in his wake.
Blood trickled from his side, soaking into a pair of jeans gaping around his too-lean waist. The way he fought seemed utterly impossible for a man who’d been starved and beaten for so long. His back a massacre of whip marks, his fury carving him with vengeance.
Peter sucked in a breath as Henri dispatched Ferdinand, snatching the machete out of the Master’s hands and hacking through his neck. His swing was so vicious, so powerful, Ferdinand’s head tipped back, held on by a few strands of gristle.
All around me, Masters fought with weapons stolen from the armoury walls. Jewels had their fair share of daggers and spears, ensuring a battle not a slaughter. Even the meekest of jewels who’d barely looked at me when I first arrived now screamed and stabbed like animals.
Pride swelled my heart to bursting.
Love warmed like a million suns.
Gratefulness and hope, joy and—
“Come on. I have to get you out of here so I can fight with them.” Peter grabbed my hand and yanked me away from the mayhem.
“No, wait.” I tripped as a wave of faintness shrouded my eyesight.
I staggered and shook my head.
No. Not now.
I didn’t have time for this.
I needed to fight.
I have to.
Peter dragged me farther away from the castle. The arctic blizzard that now lived in my veins made me shiver so badly my teeth chattered.
But I didn’t care.
I was fine.
I’m alive.
And if I didn’t help keep the other jewels alive, I’d never forgive myself. “Paavak…”
“This way.” Peter caught me as I tripped into him again. “Just a little further. You can hide behind the fountain and—”
“No. I’m not hiding. No way.”