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)
I breathed hard as I blinked at the dust and carnage I’d caused.
I studied the floor for red puddles.
I narrowed my eyes at the swirly silver and blue carpet, desperate to see Victor’s corpse.
Only…nothing.
I’d shot up the room and for what?
Fuck!
A sinister chuckle sounded to my right, sending chills down my flayed back. Victor limped from around the corner. Just a small alcove. A tiny bolthole designed to protect the person in the room from anyone entering like I had.
Leaning heavily on a walking stick that looked as if someone had smashed a table apart and given him one of the legs, his face flushed whiter than usual, his burgundy suit a rusty crimson down the front.
It gave me vicious, violent pleasure to see him hurt.
He’ll be easier to kill.
But then again…so was I.
Out of the two of us, he might be walking toward his grave, but I already stood in mine.
Stopping in front of me, Victor breathed hard and leaned on his stick. “I’d hoped I would see you again before I had to leave.” Checking his diamond-encrusted Rolex, he pursed his lips. “You and your little war effort certainly picked an inconvenient night for an uprising. My plane was undergoing planned maintenance but no matter. It’s almost done. We were just heading out actually.” He grinned. “I might bring you with me. I’ll need someone to keep me entertained while I exterminate everyone on this island and start anew.”
Doing my best to hide just how weak I was, I sneered, “Going to bomb the entire place, huh?”
“Precisely.” He nodded. “I’ve had a contingency plan for utter annihilation ever since I built it. The moment I’m in the sky, all I have to do is press a little button and boom.”
“You know Rachel is still alive, right?” I sniffed, cursing the guns wedging into my temples. “She and your heir are still breathing. Are you really going to kill your own flesh and blood?”
“Yes.” He smirked. “Besides, that’s no heir of mine. I lost myself for a bit there. I blame you for that. You made me think I needed someone. That I’d grown soft in my old age. But now?” He laughed like a madman. “Now, I honestly don’t know what I was thinking. I don’t need anyone. I never have. Never will. And the mere thought of raising the spawn of that jewel?” He shuddered dramatically. “Fuck, what a disgusting idea. I deserve a son born from a woman of lineage, not a worthless slave.”
I had so many things to say about who was disgusting in that scenario, but I held my tongue. Breathing hard, I shrugged. “So that’s it? You’re just going to tuck tail and run away?”
“I don’t think of it as running away.” He winced and rubbed his bleeding shoulder. “It’s merely time for a spring clean. What’s that saying? Out with the old and in with the new?” He leaned over me and grinned. “Next time, I’ll stock a few princesses and women with good genes. They’ll be my breeding stock. I will have my heir. And you…? Well, you…I think I’ll keep you around.” Tapping my cheek, he chuckled. “Tell me, mon ami, how does it feel to know Ilyana is dead?”
My heart fissured and flatlined.
I choked.
That strange ache from before.
That unexplainable rush of grief.
Mind-numbing terror followed by rip-roaring rage. “You’re lying.”
“Am I?” He touched his nose. “I see all things, after all.”
She’s not…she can’t be.
The fight had been winding down. Most of the Masters had scattered or were dead.
I wouldn’t have left her if there was a chance she’d be hurt.
Besides…I’d left her with Peter. He would do everything in his power to protect her.
He’d probably give his life for her.
She’s fine.
He’s just trying to get into my head.
But what if—
No.
Ignore him.
I wouldn’t let his mind games break me.
Not now.
Not when I was so close.
Rising higher on my knees, I snarled, “I am going to kill you, Vic. You have my fucking word.”
His navy eyes flashed with the tiniest bit of fear before he covered it up with thick arrogance. “You’ve given it a good try, I will admit. But—”
“The castle has fallen,” I hissed over him. “The guards have all switched sides. Your guests are dead.”
Victor glanced at the four sniper guards currently keeping me on my knees. He swallowed hard.
And suddenly, I knew just how to play this.
Victor ruled with threats and pain.
He collared and shocked, abused and raped.
Yet his entire operation, his very safety relied on the men he armed with guns. Men who’d chafed at his law that they could never leave. Men he believed he could collar with jewels and fortune instead of realising that all of us—no matter how vile—all needed someone.
A friend. A lover. A goddamn pet.
Rape wasn’t enough.
Fear wasn’t enough.
Humans needed love, and this island only held hate.