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)
“Willow! I thought I lost you,” he cries. “I thought you were dead. I felt you die.”
“I’m here,” I tell him. He leans back to clasp my face in his hands.
“Look at you,” he whispers. “You’re a Regal too.”
I smile, gazing down at my black armor and the white locs resting on my collarbone. “I suppose I am.”
His glowing red eyes transition to their familiar icy blue and tears accumulate, but he kisses me before I can see them fall. Still, I taste the saltiness of his tears as they drift past my lips.
With my restoration, I feel more than his heartbeat. I can feel his blood pumping, his thoughts racing. This kiss does more than consume me. It becomes me.
I hold on to him and sigh.
“The baby?” he asks when our lips part.
I glance at my belly. “Still there. In fact, I can feel their heartbeat now.”
“No.” Caz grins, pressing his hands to my armored stomach. When he senses the heartbeat, his eyes light up, and I swear he’s like a child with a prize. He appears so innocent, so sweet.
“Caspian, Willow.” Hassha’s voice surprises both of us.
We release each other to find her.
She floats not too far away with a soft smile. Something is off with the way she looks though. Her eyes are dim, her skin transitioning to gray, but the glow around her burns bright.
When she winces, my worry increases.
“Hassha?” I call.
I start to move toward her, but Caz catches my hand. I glance at him, confused, until I return my attention to Hassha. Slowly, her blue light builds. She glows the brightest I’ve ever seen before, and even through the light, I notice her smile.
“Thank you for saving our world,” she says.
“Hassha, no.” My eyes line with tears as an ache settles in my chest.
“It’s my time,” she informs us. “Caspian, you have it all in you now. You can do anything for Vakeeli. You are its leader. Remember that.”
He sighs, defeated as he pulls me closer to him.
When her light swells and bursts, I raise an arm to cover my eyes. The brightness settles, and I spot something floating where she once did.
Caz drifts away to collect it in his hand. “Seed of Hassha,” he murmurs. “She wants her daughters to split it.”
“Couldn’t she have held on a little longer?” I ask in a whisper.
“No, Willow.” He shakes his head. “Korah sacrificed her power so you could live. She was connected to them, and though her energy remains in you, her body is gone. Even if it weren’t at this very moment, Hassha would’ve died too. The only way her energy can survive at all is if she passes it on, just as Yuri and Korah have done. We contain them, but we are not them. None of the sisters’ physical Regal bodies can exist without the others. That’s why Selah wanted my power so badly. So she could live through their deaths.”
“Oh.” I drop my head, but he lifts my chin back up.
“This is what they wanted,” he reminds me. “They made a sacrifice, and now they’ll live in us. Forever.”
NINETY-TWO
CAZ
I wish I had the words to describe how I feel right now.
On one hand, I should feel victorious. We’ve defeated Selah, and the creatures she’s created are gone.
No one can infiltrate our minds anymore.
No one is coming after us and trying to ruin all we stand for.
For now, we’re okay.
Now, it’s just me and Willow…though we’re nothing like we used to be. It’s shocking, really, the power I feel charging through my blood.
I thought I was strong before, but what I feel now is beyond anything I can comprehend. Not only do I have Yuri’s power, but I now have Selah’s coursing through me. Yuri tells me he’s transforming her energy and rinsing away the bad.
Regardless, it almost feels too much. One man shouldn’t possess so much power.
All the survivors have made it to the shores of Blackwater. Most have stripped out of their armor to stare absently at the rippling black ocean.
The wounded are being tended to by the Mythics, and some are guzzling water like their life depends on it.
The women and children from the bunker appeared not too long ago, wary as they stepped outside. When I see Minka and Maia, I feel a snag in my chest. Their mother is gone, and the pain they’ll consume will be like no other.
I make my way toward them, and their eyes light up when they spot me. But when they see the pulsing blue light in my palm, it’s like they know.
They know exactly what has happened.
“Where’s Mum?” Minka demands. Her voice is strong, but her bottom lip trembles.
Willow meets at my side and I glance at her, unsure how to answer.
“Is she dead?” Maia asks in a smaller voice. Her eyes shimmer in the gray midday light.