Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 90897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 454(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 454(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
A shudder rippled over Elijah at the voice and at the way Echo suddenly paled.
It was one thing to think about killing the male who raised her as a father and quite another to actually do it.
“Fionn Mór,” William said calmly. “Rose Kelly. Niamh Farren. Kiyo Fujiwara. Conall and Thea MacLennan. Elijah Webb. And my darling daughter. Echo Payne, come out now and face your father. If you do, no harm will come to your friends.”
Rose nodded, lips pinched together.
Elijah watched as Echo straightened her shoulders, her expression easing into bland neutrality as she opened the bedroom door. Elijah wanted to throw himself in front of her. Instead, he followed her out.
He wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but a handsome man who looked no older than forty with dark hair and ice-blue eyes was not it. Echo’s adoptive father, like most real monsters, didn’t look like one. William “the Bloody” Payne stood in the middle of the flat as Fionn stepped out of the shadows behind him and Niamh, Kiyo, Rose, Conall, and Thea made a circle around the vampire, closed by Echo and Elijah.
He seemed completely unfazed that he was outnumbered by beings more powerful than him.
William only had eyes for Echo. “What did you hope to accomplish here?”
Echo didn’t betray her feelings, though Elijah sensed the roiling mass of loathing, pain, fear, and shame she felt looking upon the ancient vampire. “What did you hope to accomplish coming here alone? It seems you knew what you were walking into.”
“I didn’t. I didn’t sense you until I stepped inside, and by then, I was curious enough to face you.”
“How did you sense us?” Fionn asked calmly.
William glanced over his shoulder at the huge fae. “Fionn Mór. You’re somewhat of a legend among The Garm. And I sensed you because I’m packing a little heat of my own.” He bared his teeth in a snarling grin.
“The Catalan Abella Coven.”
His eyes flashed to Echo. “You pay attention. You’ve always paid attention. The perfect soldier—strong and intelligent and always following orders. Until now, of course. Not so perfect now. Despite your treachery, I am proud of you. The female you’ve become.”
“Flattery won’t change what’s going to happen today.”
“You really think you can kill your own father, Echo?”
Rage blasted into Elijah through their mating bond, but not an ounce of it flickered on Echo’s face. Pride thrummed through him at her self-control. “You’re not my father. You killed my father.”
“I am your father in every way that counts.”
“Why did you come alone? Is it because you suspect disloyalty among The Garm now that Roark and Orla are dead? I hate to break it to you, but Roark was planning on stabbing you in the back before Elijah killed him.”
That information didn’t even faze William. He shrugged. “I came alone because I don’t need backup. You think you know the limits of my power, but I have never truly let you see my power.”
“Is that why you’re juiced up on witch magic?” Conall scoffed.
William ignored the alpha male. He kept his gaze on Echo. “We’ll walk out of here together, and your friends will live to fight another day. I promise to leave Margaret untouched too.”
Echo stepped forward. “You are going to leave my friends, my birth mother, and Odette alone.”
His lip curled ever so slightly. “Odette is my daughter, and I will find her.”
Elijah hadn’t sensed it.
She’d masked it from him.
But beneath the flare of rage at William’s words, he felt her intentions too late. Before any of them had a chance to move, Echo vamp-sped toward William with all her power and force, and they were a blur across the flat. The sound of exploding glass filled his ears, and his heart leapt into his throat as he watched Echo plummet out the window she’d just thrown herself and William through.
30
The air whipped through Echo’s hair and into her skin like needles as she propelled them toward the ground.
Suddenly, William’s deep, mocking chuckle filled her ears, and they were slowing despite her shoving every ounce of energy into splattering them onto the concrete below.
She knew it wouldn’t kill them, but it would injure them both long enough for the others to take out William. The flat had been too small. Too many of her friends might get hurt or die in the tight scuffle. This gave them time.
Or it would have, if she’d known William had the ability to defy gravity!
His power pushed against the air as he flipped upright and braced his legs, his nails digging into Echo as she tried to pull away.
They slowed, slowed until William did a gentle hop onto the sidewalk that would have been comical if Echo weren’t so furious. She stumbled to a halt and tried to pull out of his tight grip.
People gasped around them, darting out of their way, confused by what they’d seen.