Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 118860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 594(@200wpm)___ 475(@250wpm)___ 396(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 594(@200wpm)___ 475(@250wpm)___ 396(@300wpm)
“This is one of three. Once you have all three, they will snap together, and your weapon is complete. Nothing from this earth will be able to stop you because it is fashioned from material not from this earth. It is that powerful. The combined power of Dubrinsky and Daratrazanoff will be nothing in comparison.”
Mitro reached for the triangular-shaped piece of metal almost reverently. “Where do I go to get the next piece?”
“Find your lifemate and dispense with her.” She stepped back into one of the whirling tubes and disappeared.
The relief of her foul existence leaving had Tomas breathing again. He hadn’t realized how badly the woman’s presence affected him until he remembered he was sharing Sarika’s mind and feeling her emotions.
Again, the two men had nearly left, both needing fresh air, when Tomas felt that same well of light rising in Sarika. He turned back.
Mitro had reached for the other woman, dragging her, chains and all, to force her to her knees in front of him. “Your turn,” he said. “You are so happy to serve me in any way that I demand. Say it.” He had shoved the piece of weapon into the front of his shirt.
Asiri, Sarika whispered. Sister kin.
Do not worry about me, the kneeling Asiri said. I will cooperate and distract him. You must retrieve and hide the weapon where he will not be able to find it.
Sarika gave a nearly imperceptible nod. What could she possibly do? Tomas and Dominic watched closely as the woman kneeling obeyed every foul thing Mitro instructed her to do. While she did, he roared with laughter and thought up even fouler, more vile things.
Sarika concentrated on the piece of metal. Her hands crept up to cover the amulet at her neck, cradling it in her palm as she matched the properties of the triangular piece of metal. She wasn’t Carpathian. Shifters weren’t able to change the composition of things or make them vanish into thin air, but somehow, she did.
Both men replayed that moment over and over, trying to see what she did to hide the weapon, but it was impossible. One moment she was all light and goodness, lifting the piece of metal from the inside of Mitro’s shirt as if she were a member of the thief’s guild. In the next, she and her friend combined their power and struck at Mitro’s throat, closing it off, taking the air from his lungs, opening a thousand cuts all over his body.
Both ancients could have told the women this would not kill Mitro, but it appeared they knew. They distracted him enough that they had the time to stop their own hearts and shut down brain function, essentially dying to keep the secrets the two women held.
Chapter
14
“I would say that answers the question of whether or not you have power and where it comes from,” Tomas said, as he once more bent to Sarika’s wrist.
Sarika looked up at him, not even wincing because he was taking her blood. Tomas should have taken that as a good sign, but he didn’t. Sarika was exhausted. And confused. She had just allowed two Carpathian males into her mind when she was anything but on board with that. He’d rather she argue or at least discuss what they’d found, so he opened the discussion.
“I killed my friends and myself. How is that coming from a good place?”
“You saved lives, sivamet. You and your friends saved many lives.”
“Perhaps.” She looked across the room to Solange. “Now you know I’m not so squeaky clean. You’ll have to make the decision whether you trust me to speak to your jaguar or even be acquainted with your family.”
It was evident she knew Dominic had shared everything he’d observed with his lifemate. Sarika sounded tired and defeated, not at all like the woman Tomas was used to. Twice he’d removed her headache, but it was back in force. After looking into her memories, he understood exactly why she had reservations about Carpathians. She knew Mitro was evil, and she was fully aware he had a lifemate. The bond between lifemates didn’t stop him from the brutal cruelty he had exhibited when deliberately wiping out an entire population.
Tomas exchanged a long, telling look with Dominic, but as before, it was Solange who took the lead.
“I understand why you think the way you do, Sarika. You’ve been horribly traumatized and didn’t even realize it. You suppressed those memories for a good reason. But I have killed far more male shifters than you can imagine. I planned their deaths and carried them out without any remorse. If there is one person in the room who should be condemned for the things they’ve done, it would be me. You are a saint by comparison. So I ask you, please, will you see what you can do to persuade my jaguar that I am not being held hostage? That I am still that ruthless warrior but have added to my arsenal by becoming Carpathian.”