Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 129912 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129912 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
An oversized creature steps inside, its face sunken in and its eyes familiar. It still has hair, and the stature of it reminds me of someone I know.
And then it hits me.
It looks like Garrett.
But Korah and Hassha said Garrett was killed. They had to get rid of him in Kessel when he attacked Lilith.
But this is Selah. She likes to create things that terrorize us most. And clearly, she’s trying to terrorize me. Garrett may be gone, but she knows his face is enough to make me panic. To hesitate.
The creature scans the room until it finds me, and when it locks, I level my sword. Juniper shoots at it, but it doesn’t flinch from her bullets. She draws a dagger with Regal energy and yells as she stabs its chest.
The creature hisses, but it smacks her away, sending her flying toward the shelves where jars and crates of food are. She slams into them, causing everything to hit the floor.
“Juniper!” I yell.
The creature croaks as it eyes me again, and I lift my sword, thrusting at it. It dodges my strikes, but I keep battling, remembering the strikes Korah taught me.
I manage to stab through its shoulder, and it screeches. I stab again, plunging into its chest, and it buckles.
In this moment, all I care about is keeping Juniper and Maeve alive. Hassha’s twins. Her tribe. I will not let this thing kill them because it wants me.
A small but mighty scream pierces the air, and Minka comes bounding across the bunker. Carra calls after her, but Minka doesn’t stop. She kicks the creature in the face with a solid blow and sends him stumbling, then she lands on her knees and slices its Achilles heel.
It screams in pain as it staggers and tries swinging a fist at her, but she dodges him with ease. An arrow pins into the creature’s chest and then another. Maia stands on a tower of crates, shooting him with Regal-blessed arrows. Each one makes its skin sizzle.
Silvera and Cerberus growl as they pounce, biting into its thigh and arm and producing enough blood to spill on the floor. It yells louder, causing the bunker to quake.
I raise my sword, ready to end this thing once and for all. I’ll remove its head and send it back out where it belongs.
I let out a gut deep yell and swing, angling the sword for its throat. But just as I connect it and have a clear cut through, something pierces my chest and grips tight.
“Willow!” Juniper screams, so sharply it could break glass. “No! Willow!”
My breath stops as a sharp pain takes hold of me. I stare at the now headless creature, thinking I’ve won—thinking I’ve beat him—but I didn’t.
When I lower my gaze, I see its claws jammed into my chest. It’s ripped right through to grip my heart. And when the dead creature falls, it takes my heart with it, and I’m wrapped in paralyzing cold.
Wrapped in darkness.
No more breath in my lungs.
No more life.
I’m gone.
EIGHTY-EIGHT
CAZ
“Caspian, come on. You have to get up.” Korah’s voice is muffled. I see her, but she’s nothing more than a blur amidst the red sky.
I don’t feel Willow anymore. I don’t sense her. I can’t read her. My chest feels like it’s on fire one minute then cold the next.
“She’s dead, Korah.”
“No. She can’t be.” Korah clings to me, desperate. “I need you to get up, Caspian. I need you to fight! You promised us you’d fight.”
I close my eyes, my chest throbbing and my stomach coiling into thick knots. That energy inside me seems to be seeping away. I can barely hear Yuri’s voice anymore. It’s distant.
“You are letting her win,” Korah snaps. “You are letting her defeat you.”
I grip her as tight as I can with shaking hands. “She was meant to be protected! You promised me she would be!”
“She must’ve struck when she weakened us.”
Korah stares into my eyes, hers cloudy and damp. Then she tilts her head to look where Hassha and Selah are still clashing. Her head falls again. She looks toward the battle between our army and Selah’s creatures.
I roll onto my side, wincing as I do the same.
Danica still fights, fierce and determined, but a creature mounts her, slicing through her from her abdomen to her chest. She collapses.
Devlin has guns, but he’s not quick enough. A creature sends him rolling away with its wings.
Killian continues fighting, covered in black blood, swinging his swords, aiming his bullets, roaring and ripping, but it’ll never be enough.
Alora and Valden have only a few Gilded left, but they’re back-to-back, surrounded by monsters. Callista hovers, swinging with her hatchet and aiming ice at flying creatures until she’s tackled.
The Mythics are trying to heal as quickly as they can, but they won’t save everyone. We’re outnumbered. The more we kill, the more Selah will create.