Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 47052 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 235(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47052 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 235(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
Three more dolls stood not ten feet before him. He recognized the maniacal, red-haired one with the long, serrated blade, but not the pair of miniature mannequin-looking things.
He rolled his eyes. He didn’t have time for this bullshit, was gaining ground in his mission to win Poppy. Seduction was only the first step.
He brandished his sword and struck with supernatural speed. Slash. His aim was true, yet they’d disappeared.
Laughter and tip-tapping sounded behind him. With Poppy close, he twisted around and found the four dolls lined up, eight creepy eyes staring at him. He lunged and lopped off the head of one of the mannequin dolls. Its weird body collapsed. “One down.”
Yet then it rose. Skipped to its severed head. And reattached it.
“Huh.”
Just as Rök struck again, the Annelise doll raised her arm. The air rippled. He gaped when his feet left the ground; then he and Poppy were launched down the hall.
Annelise slammed them against a far wall, knocking the breath from Poppy’s lungs. The doll pinned her and Rök there like insects.
Can’t get free! Poppy’s vision wavered as she struggled.
Annelise could twist their heads off at any time—true immortal deaths. With that awareness, Poppy’s life did indeed flash before her eyes.
Her parents’ proud smiles. Her sisters laughing. The pungent smell of herbs and the bite of a brewing concoction.
Rök’s sinful grin and bad jokes. His scorching kisses.
She fought to crane her head toward him. They met gazes.
“Poppy!” He looked frantic for her, his blue eyes turning gray, reflex smoke emerging from his skin.
Annelise used her power to pry his sword from his clenched fingers and cast it away. Then she threw him to the floor as if he were a rag doll.
“Rök, no!”
Annelise telekinetically pinned him while the others leapt atop his sprawled body. One’s serrated blade plunged toward his chest.
Rök managed to block it. “Fucker!” But he couldn’t get loose.
“Leave him alone!” Poppy strained against Annelise’s force to reach her bag.
“Get free and run,” Rök grated. He missed a block; the blade stabbed, coming up bloody. The maniacal doll leered with delight.
“I’m not leaving you!”
With another wave of her arm, Annelise began to strangle Rök. His disbelieving face turned purple. Veins bulged in his temples.
The whites of his eyes burst red as the blade plunged again. Rök’s blood spurted. The mannequins were covered in it, battering his head and horns with glee.
Poppy screamed, “Stop!” She couldn’t reach a pouch, and he was running out of oxygen. If he couldn’t defend, they would take his head.
Rök. Gone forever.
When all is lost, clarity is found. Three realizations hit Poppy.
What was at stake. What she coveted. What she feared—
Rök somehow thrashed his mighty body to the side. He’d loosened Annelise’s hold!
His move must’ve startled the doll, interrupting her telekinesis; Poppy was able to snag a pouch, receiving the magic. She freed her arm enough to fire on Annelise. “Get away from him, you bitch!” Magic shot from her.
The doll fired back with one hand, resuming her hold on Rök with her other.
Poppy’s continuous beam battled Annelise’s telekinesis—one force blazing, one invisible. The stalemate drained Poppy’s strength like water through a colander. I’m fighting her. I’m fueling her. Fighting myself. Her beam sputtered to nothing, yet Annelise too seemed weakened.
Rök managed to beat away the others, tossing them down the hall!
With the tide turning, Poppy yelled and freed herself from the wall. She ran to Rök just as he staggered to his feet.
When the dolls gathered for another attack, Rök yanked Poppy behind him, roaring, “Let off, you little pricks!”
Suddenly they . . . did, backing away. Had Annelise cocked her head to listen for something approaching?
How could dolls even hear? Because they fucking can.
Rök glanced back at her. “You okay?”
Shaky nod. “We have to get out of here.”
HISSSSSS. StStSt. HISSSSSS.
“What’s that hissing, witch?”
Poppy knew that sound.
The aliens had come.
NINE
Five new nightmares loped down the hall. The sparse light reflected off their black exoskeletons and dripping fangs. With each hiss, viscous liquid drizzled from their two mouths.
Annelise gave a curtsy to the newcomers; then she and the other dolls disappeared.
Rök rushed to secure his sword, placing himself between Poppy and the new threat. He sucked in a breath as he raised his weapon. That redheaded doll had stabbed him through twice, barely missing his heart.
The five monsters readied, their massive heads bobbing left to right, their tails flicking. They were bigger than he’d thought they might be. Serves me right for rewatching on my phone. He glanced over his shoulder. “So when you said aliens, you meant aliens.”
Wide-eyed, Poppy said, “Uh-huh. I’ve seen them before but never quite like this.”
“For blood, they have—”
“Oh, yeah.”
Would spatter ignite the carpet? At the very least, slashing them would dissolve his sword. With reluctance, he sheathed the weapon that had seen him through two Accessions, his confidence that he could keep Poppy safe taking a hit.