Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 111252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 556(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 556(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
“Cut off the dragon’s horns!” Belladonna ordered, breaking through Kai’s melancholy thoughts.
His eyes snapped open, and he tried to lift his head, but the chain stopped him after less than a meter. Fresh stabs of pain answered any attempts to thrash. Even so, there was no way in hell he was going to lie still while the fae cut pieces off him. He was going to fight until his very last breath.
The soldiers darted in front of Belladonna and coerced her to move a safe distance away, while more elves and other creatures with bulbous noses and spindly limbs crawled closer. He fought as hard as he could, but fatigue and pain drained away what little strength he had. Too soon, he couldn’t even lift his head.
Overhead, lightning flashed across the sky, followed by a boom of thunder. The rain that had slowed now pummeled the ground in fat drops. He wished he could wash them all away, but he didn’t even have the strength to summon up a good storm.
Another boom tore through the sky and shook the ground, but this one wasn’t thunder. Panicked screams followed the explosion and Kai opened his eyes to see one of the castle’s walls on his right had been reduced to smoldering rubble. A fire devoured the remains of furniture and bits of blasted timber. The army that had surrounded him had scattered in every direction. Some of them were working to put out the fire, while others were trying to locate the perpetrators.
Chaos still gripped the square where he was being held when a second explosion took out another part of the wall, but this time, it was on his left. Whoever was attacking the fae stronghold had them surrounded.
Could this be Xiang?
But the sun was still up. The rest of his clan couldn’t accompany him. He would be here alone. No! Xiang couldn’t come for him. As much as he wanted to get back to his vampire, he couldn’t allow him to risk his life like this. He had to get away.
Something touched him!
No! Someone!
The sensation of someone climbing on his body tore him from his frantic worries about Xiang. Kai snarled and tried to thrash about. Those fucking elves were still trying to obey Belladonna and cut off his horns.
“Shhhh, baobei, it’s just me.” Xiang’s whispered words cut through his panic and his throat clogged for a new reason. “Don’t move. I’m hiding in all your pretty hair while I inspect this shackle. Rei is busy blowing shit up as a distraction.”
Kai froze, not wanting to do anything that might reveal that his precious vampire was crawling over him, his hands moving on the shackle while cursing the fae with some horrific things. Really, his sweet vampire had a twisted mind when it came to torture. Not that he disagreed with anything he was saying.
“All right. Looks like I’ll have to cut through the chain on your neck. We’ll get this fucking thing off when we get home. The second it’s broken, you need to take to the sky and get out of here. On the count of three—”
Wait! My tail!
As he sent the thought to Xiang, he tugged at the spike through his tail and nearly cried out from the pain. He could try ripping it out, but he was afraid he wouldn’t have enough strength left to make it into the air.
“What?”
Spike…through my tail. I can’t fly.
Xiang’s hands twisted in his mane and his face pressed against his scales. He could feel his lips moving more than he could hear his words. “I’m going to kill them all for what they’ve done to you. Between torturing Yichen and now you, they all deserve to die.”
His lover’s bloodthirsty words warmed his heart, making it easier to breathe and think.
Do you think you can remove the spike?
Another explosion punctuated the lengthy silence from Xiang. Rei was likely having fun, but there was no doubt he was on borrowed time. The fae would be scrambling for only so long before they organized and located him. He needed to get free now.
“I can, but it’s going to hurt,” Xiang warned.
The pain won’t matter if I can return home with you, Kai promised. Give the chain a single hard strike to weaken it and then turn all your strength to pulling out the spike. I can break the chain the rest of the way.
“Ready?” Xiang whispered.
Go! Hurry! Kai begged. Rei’s distractions wouldn’t keep them busy for much longer. There wasn’t much he’d be able to do to help Xiang if the fae spotted him.
Xiang pushed away from Kai and from the corner of his eye, he could see his lover raise his sword high over his head. Flicking firelight caught on the saber, caressing the heavy blade. He’d brought Chain Breaker—one of the weapons he’d added to the Zhang collection. Such a wonderful saber. Kai had never thought it would be used to save his own life.