Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 118042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 590(@200wpm)___ 472(@250wpm)___ 393(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 590(@200wpm)___ 472(@250wpm)___ 393(@300wpm)
“Well, you’re not fucking fighting, that’s for damn sure.”
“Stop being so overprotective!”
“Stop being such a stubborn ass!”
My ears rang.
Blackness curtained my mind.
My heart flurried far too fast, my breathing short and thin. “Peter, please…I have to help.”
“You’re helping by staying out of the way.”
Swallowing hard, I shoved away the dizziness, the fatigue, and dug my heels in. “I’m not going to sit this out. I need to help!”
Whirling on me, he growled. “I’m not debating this with you, jaanu. You’ve lost too much blood—”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re a liability!”
Hurt cut through me. I blinked.
H-He’s right.
“Shit, I didn’t mean…” Letting me go, he scrubbed his face with one hand and leaned heavily on his sword’s handle, the stabby end piercing the grass. “I can’t do what I need to do if I’m worrying about you.”
I wanted to agree with him, but stubbornness made me whisper, “You’re hardly in a state to fight yourself.” I reached for his arm. “You’re barely standing.”
“That’s why I need you far away so I can do what I can even though it’s not much.”
I smiled sadly, suddenly understanding my wonderful friend. “Killing yourself for them is stupid, Paavak…not noble.”
He flinched. But didn’t say I was wrong.
My heart skipped strangely, warningly. “Look, I agree that I’m a liability. I know I should hide so I don’t distract you, but…you’re just as exhausted. Yes, I’m slightly worse off, but you’re fooling yourself to think you can do this on your own. You’ll die. And…you can’t ask me to watch while you sacrifice yourself. That’s just not happening.”
He looked at the ground. “I can’t risk you, Ily.”
“You don’t get to make that choice.” I squeezed his hand. “I don’t know if we’ll win tonight, but together, we can do this. Together. We do this together. With him.”
I glanced over at Henri in the distance. He’d turned into the same ruthless hurricane when he’d protected me in the treasure hunt. He ploughed through men, leaving corpses. Grabbing jewels from the ground, he shoved them behind him as he mowed his way through every man who’d used another for his pleasure.
Stewart suddenly appeared from the burning fortress. Penelope and Abigail trailed him, streaked in soot and blood.
Another star-shuddering boom erupted. A plume of fire exploded from the main foyer, gobbling up the huge crystal chandelier and all that awful erotic artwork with greedy flames.
Scanning the battle, Stewart noticed Ben flanking Henri and charged toward them with the girls.
Shouting something over the chaos, Stewart pointed toward the battlement walls.
With smoke stinging my eyes, I peered toward the high barricade, blinded by hunting spotlights—spotlights that kept a perimeter fence between us and the walls thanks to snipers ready to slaughter us.
In the distance, the drawbridge cracked open and began to fall, opening Joyero to the night, allowing someone to escape.
I gasped.
Victor.
No.
He can’t.
Tripping toward Henri, I cupped my hands around my mouth and shouted, “Victor is in the battlements. He’s going to escape!”
Giving me a feral smile, Henri charged toward us. He staggered a little and pressed his elbow against the blood trickling from his side, but he seemed to glow with the firelight and hum with pure power.
“No, he won’t.” Slamming to a stop before me and Peter, he grabbed my nape with his bloody hand and smashed his mouth to mine. He kissed me roughly, violently. “I love you. Stay alive.”
Grabbing Peter in a one-armed hug, he growled, “Keep her safe. I won’t let him get away. I’ll bring him back for you to kill as agreed.”
And then he was gone, leaping over stonework and mangled guttering, running around broken tables and chairs.
Peter slinked his fingers back through mine as Henri vanished into the gardens, racing toward the open drawbridge. He held me up just as much as he leaned on me for support.
Ben and Stewart looked at each other. Stewart grabbed Pen in a quick hug. “Don’t put yourself in danger. It’s almost over.” Nodding at his business partner, they took off as one, chasing after Henri into the darkness.
Penelope and Abigail came toward us.
They smiled even though their hands and arms were covered in burns.
“What happened?” I asked. “Are you okay?”
Abby nodded. “We were on the team to light the explosives. Some were a little tricky to get right.”
“But it was worth it.” Pen beamed. “Did you see the tower come down? That was us.”
“Now’s not the time,” Peter cut in. “It’s not over yet—”
A jewel screamed in the distance, adding weight to his reprimand.
Kirk came barrelling out of the fortress, holding something heavy in his fist.
I blinked. Is that…
…Oh my God.
Pen blanched. “Fuck, Kirk is holding a head.”
Abby gagged.
Peter sucked in a breath as Kirk tossed the decapitated head into one of the many fires before throwing his arms up in glee.
“Now who’s in pain, huh?” Kirk cackled. “Burn motherfucker. Burn!”
Masters had broken the bones and spirits of so many jewels in here, but grief had been the final straw for Kirk.