Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 127026 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 635(@200wpm)___ 508(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127026 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 635(@200wpm)___ 508(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
“Stop fighting, or we kill her.”
“Kerrigan, don’t!” Audria screamed.
She had no strategy for this. They were mere feet from Bastian. They needed to cut the head off the snake to have any hope of winning. She couldn’t leave Audria behind.
But she didn’t know what was the right play here. She couldn’t surrender. They would kill her. That, she was certain of.
Before she had to make the call, a roar sounded behind the male holding Audria. A fireball rocketed across the male’s cheek. He screamed in pain. One of his own had turned against him.
“Stay away from her!” Roake shouted, appearing over the Society member.
Audria fell to her knees, gasping for breath. The fireball had singed one side of her face, and her hair was still burning. She used water to swat at it, but pain flashed in her eyes. “Roake?”
“I would never let anything happen to you,” he said, offering her his hand.
“But … you had a red mask.”
Kerrigan lost the rest of the conversation as the attack continued. At least she had Fordham, but they were now cut off from Audria and Roake. And she wasn’t even sure if he was really on their side or if he didn’t want to see his precious Audria get hurt.
“Kerrigan, we need to leave,” Fordham said, a note of fear edging into his otherwise calm voice.
“We can’t.”
But then she saw what had made him sound that way. Red Masks had won in the stands. It didn’t matter how many guards they had cut down. A line of Society members, all in black robes and red masks, stood between them and Bastian. And more were coming in.
She could fight dozens of guards. She had gone to battle against other Fae. But … this many Society members … was that even possible? She and Fordham were powerful, but against a hundred Society members?
Her eyes narrowed. “Can you jump to him?”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“Fordham, we have to stop him.”
“I’m not leaving you!” he repeated.
“Then, we have to go through!”
Together, they engaged the first line of Society members. Magic mingled with sword play. It was two on ten. Then, two on twenty. Somehow, more were still coming. Kerrigan felt sluggish against the attacks. Her magic hardly struck one person before another moved in to counter her. She felt like a boulder being pushed uphill.
Then, there was nowhere to go.
First, an air blast landed on her hip, shredding through her robes and pushing her backward. Earth knocked across her face. She whirled in a circle, still holding her sword out in front of her. She deflected a fire blast, but it shattered her remaining shield.
She gasped as it broke into a million pieces. That was the sound that distracted Fordham. His gaze shot to her. He’d been winning against his opponents despite the incredible odds. But her distraction had ended it.
Air blasted him in the chest, and he lost his footing, coming down to one knee. “Kerrigan,” he said, so full of longing that her heart broke.
She lunged for him, throwing out the last of her fire magic to block the next attack. It worked halfway, but he was pushed harder to the ground.
“Fordham,” she shouted.
Just as Ashby March appeared in the middle of the chaos and drove a knife into Fordham’s back.
Kerrigan screamed as she watched Fordham fall forward. She blasted people out of her way to get closer to him. Her fury making up for any skill she was lacking. She wouldn’t let this happen. She would get her ring off. She would put it on his finger. She would save him. There was no other option. She couldn’t live without him.
March stood over his body—Fordham’s beautiful body—and smirked at her. This was his vengeance. His moment to make up for the humiliation of her choosing someone else. She could see it in the lines of his body and the certainty of his expression. He thought he’d won.
She smiled as she drove her sword through his chest.
She felt not an ounce of remorse as his eyes widened in shock and he fell to the ground, dead.
“Fuck you,” she spat and then shoved him away from her.
Kerrigan dropped to her feet. “Fordham,” she gasped. “Ford.”
Tears came to her eyes as hands scrambled to haul her away from him. She launched hopeless attacks. She didn’t care who they hurt or what happened. She just needed to get this ring off of her finger and save her love.
“I’m … here,” Fordham hissed through his teeth. “Always here for you.”
Then, he stopped speaking.
Hands grabbed her from all sides. She kicked and clawed and screamed and bit to get back to Fordham. But there were too many people all at once. Too many people pulling her away from him.
Even when a pair of shackles was slapped onto her wrists, she still spewed magic to everyone around her. Frightened looks only amplified her powers. Nothing could stop her. She would stop at nothing to kill Bastian. Nothing.