Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 110080 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 367(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110080 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 367(@300wpm)
Roaring, he slammed the blade into her chest and carved out her heart, exactly as tasked. Sharp pain registered, and her knees collapsed. Roux caught her as she fell, cradling her against his chest as they sank into the sand together.
Tears streamed down his cheeks. “Heal, she-beast. Heal!” He cut his wrist and placed the wound over her lips.
Blood dripped into her mouth. From the dais, Erebus issued a roar of his own.
Didn’t see that coming, did you, Dark One? Weakness invaded, despite his medicinal efforts. Her hands and feet chilled.
As darkness and death came for her, Blythe smiled up at the male she loved and whispered, “You forgot to shout one, babe. Now let Taliyah...”
* * *
His gravita went quiet. Even the phantoms in the stands went quiet. The watching harpies gasped with shock. Whispers arose. “No, he didn’t!”
“Did an Astra just murder his freaking gravita?”
“So he’s single now?”
Dead. Blythe was dead. Her shredded heart rested in the sand only a few feet away. Roux had done that. He’d killed her. As denials exploded inside his head, he thundered another roar at the sky. Why had he done this terrible thing? Why, why, why?
Suddenly Taliyah materialized before him and tried to wrench Blythe from his arms. He resisted.
“Do you want her to come back or not?” the General shrieked. “Then let me work!”
Blythe’s final words drifted through his mind.
Now let Taliyah...
Though it went against his every instinct, he released the love of his life. It was only then that he saw the blade in Taliyah’s hand.
She spoke as she worked, ripping off Blythe’s top, revealing her mutilated chest. “Erebus exchanged Laban’s heart with a clone’s, right? Well, Blythe decided to use his trick against him.” The General opened a cooler to reveal a severed heart. “She borrowed her own ticker this morning. Had me cut it with a regular blade. Then she grew a new one. I saved the old one.” She placed the precious organ in the hole Roux’s fist had left behind. “This should work. A heart powers everything and this one is unaffected by trinite.”
He...she... “Should?” Roux snarled, slashing his wrist again, then pressed the wound to her mouth, ensuring his blood continually poured down Blythe’s throat.
Seconds passed. Nothing happened. He waited, unable to breathe.
Still nothing happened.
More seconds passed.
“Nothing is happening,” he roared. “Why is nothing happening? Make her live—”
“Dude. Chill,” Taliyah injected. “Look.”
He looked and shouted with relief. The organ sprouted arteries, and those arteries grew, attaching to the dead ones. Light burst through her cells and spread. It was working!
Color returned to her cheeks. The wound in her chest was closing.
Taliyah wiped her hands for a job well done. “By the way, Rue the Day. It goes without saying that I’ll make a new coin purse from your testicles if you harm my sister again.”
“There will be no need. If I harm her again, I’ll give you my testicles as a gift.”
Blythe sucked in a breath and opened her eyes. “Ow!” She blinked, attempting to focus. “Wait. My plan worked?”
He yanked her upright and clutched her against him, hugging her with every ounce of his considerable strength. “I love you. I love you so much, and if you ever ask me to kill you again, I will put you over my knees and spank you!”
She hugged him back with all her might. “Sorry I couldn’t tell you what I’d done. I was afraid the task might skew in Erebus’s favor if you knew the truth.”
“Tell me you are all right,” he demanded, cupping her cheeks and searching her gaze.
“Are you kidding? I’m better than all right. We’re legends now.” She shifted her attention to Taliyah, who lingered, unabashed. “Admit it. You’re jealous, sis.”
The General sniffed. “Only the tiniest bit. Hardly at all, really. Oh, and Papaw Chaos says the task is complete, with Roux the winner.”
The remaining Astra flashed to the field, gaping as they formed a circle around Roux and Blythe.
“I honestly didn’t think he would do it,” Silver said.
“Is Roux my new hero?” Ian asked, scratching his temple. “Did that just happen?”
Throwing back her head, Blythe laughed, and Roux had never felt so alive. But now he needed to be alone with his gravita. To inspect every square inch of her to make sure she was truly well and whole.
He flashed her to their bedroom, tossed her to the mattress, stripped her, and looked her over. She didn’t stay still for long. No, she jolted upright to wrap her arms around him. Then she fell back to the mattress, bringing him with her.
“Your turn to make a grand gesture to me,” she purred at him.
“I will, oh, I will,” he vowed.
And he did.
EPILOGUE
“All right,” Blythe said, taking Isla’s hand. “You ready, sweetheart?”
The little girl nodded. “Ready.”
Mother and child stood before Roux, who appeared a bit nervous.