Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 51358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 257(@200wpm)___ 205(@250wpm)___ 171(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 257(@200wpm)___ 205(@250wpm)___ 171(@300wpm)
“Same as ever,” he answers. “We don’t stop until Samuel is in the ground.”
“Saint,” I say, turning to look up at Dagon. “I haven’t seen him. Is he okay?”
Dagon sighs, threading his fingers through my hair. “Saint is…Saint.”
That’s as much explanation as I’m going to get, and I understand. I still have a lot of learning to do when it comes to my newest family. Trust to build.
“Whatever he needs,” I say. “Whatever you need. You know, I’m in.”
Dagon smiles down at me. “I’ve never had a partner like you.”
“What?” I tease. “One who can match your power and surpass you?”
He gapes at me. “Oh, can you set things on fire now?”
I purse my lips. “No,” I grumble. “But I can put them out.”
His grin deepens. “Yes, you can. You can do more than I could this early in my power. You’re only going to get better.”
“With a little help from my…teacher.”
Dagon laughs. “Mate,” he corrects me. “Mate.”
I slide my hands up his chest, needing the feel of him to keep me grounded. We’re joking to lighten the heavy mood, but we both know the truth. This war needs to end. And it’s only going to get more gruesome before it does.
But, we have each other, and that gives us something worth fighting for.
“Okay,” I say, swallowing hard. “I love you, mate.” I put all the love and admiration and respect I feel into our connection, sending it in waves down the bond that binds us together.
He inhales deeply, closing his eyes as he drinks those sensations in. “I love you,” he says before he dips down, kissing me intently, like we have forever to do just this.
And as I wrap my arms around his neck, I make a promise with whatever forces are listening, that we’ll do just that.
Epilogue
SAINT
“Tell me you’ve got something,” I ask the second I step into the war room.
Ransom is behind the keys, checking several monitors and typing at rapid speeds. “Nothing yet,” he says, but he sounds hopeful, because of course he does. His mate and child are safe and he doesn’t have a mad twin with an agenda dead set on killing everything that matters to him.
I suck in a sharp breath. Fuck, this is not Ransom’s fault.
It’s mine.
It’s always been mine.
The reason we went into stasis, the reason Samuel is out now. I thought it would help cure him. I thought stasis would change him into the brother I grew up with. But I’ve been lying to myself for centuries. Samuel was always malicious and spiteful, even if there were periods when he wasn’t. The brother I thought I knew has been dead for a very long time.
Now I need to kill the one I do know.
The one who got to her.
The one who almost killed her. Again.
I rake my fingers through my hair, hating the itch in the back of my mind I can’t scratch.
“Saint.” Alek says my name like he’s approaching a wild animal as he comes into the room. I get it. I’m used to it. I’ll be the first to admit I’m not the most stable of creatures. Especially in times like this.
I need to carve into something. Preferably my twin brother’s heart. Then I’ll yank it right out of his chest.
“I’m sorry,” I manage to force the words out.
“For what?” Alek asks.
“I didn’t go after him.” I couldn’t go after him. I saw Aurora drop and…that was it.
“Saint,” Alek chides me. “You saved Aurora. You never need to apologize for making those kinds of choices.”
I study the king. He means it. He’s a good ruler. I’ve met enough to know that most would’ve rather I captured the threat that’s been evading us for months. One that broke onto our grounds by convincing the Greenbriars to sacrifice half of their coven to bring down our wards. He thought the casualties would be higher. He thought he’d claim the throne. He hadn’t counted on so many mates of the assassins and hunters joining the fight. Hadn’t counted on their strength in duos.
A mistake I know he won’t make again.
“We’ll find him,” Alek assures me. “I know we’re getting close. He’s losing key players with every attack. It’s only a matter of time before he has no one left.”
I nod. “Samuel has always had a way of recruiting people to his way of thinking. He’s never alone for long.”
“We’ll catch him,” Alek says, almost like he needs to convince himself.
I’ll kill him, I silently correct him. There’s no catching him. No imprisoning him. He has to die. By my hand.
After a quick debriefing with all the hunters and assassins, the war room breaks, and I head up the stairs toward Aurora’s chambers. It’s a nightly habit of mine, to see if she needs me to help her eat or sleep or offer anything else I can do to make up for what my brother did to her—