Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 110809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
“I don’t know what you’re saying.” I swipe his hand away, instantly missing his warmth. “And I don’t care. Tell me how to save Juno. That’s all I want from you.”
He drops his gaze. “There’s no saving her.”
“No!” I shove at him. “That’s not an answer.”
He takes it, barely moving. “She made her choice. That’s what you refuse to understand.”
“Well she can unmake it! Tell Gregor the deal is off. Whatever the hell he thinks he’s going to get out of this, tell him it’s over.”
“You know that isn’t an option.”
“It is.” I hate the wheedling in my tone, the utter childishness of my demand that the world be as I wish it. But I have to try.
He sighs and sits back, his gaze holding mine. “Think it through, Georgia. Think about the truths you don’t want to face. The moment you found the cure, Gregor would’ve wiped all of you out.”
“What?” I shake my head.
“He knows you’re close. I did everything I could to keep you from it. But the moment I gave you my blood, I knew it was over. I knew you’d find what you needed.”
I can’t seem to process what he’s saying. “You intentionally kept the cure from me?”
He gives a stark nod.
“People are dying!” I yell. “You withholding your blood is the same as if you killed them yourself!” My heart stutters as I meet his gaze. “You could’ve saved us.”
“I don’t care how many die as long as you’re alive!” he snarls back at me.
“I care.” I clutch my chest, my heart raging against my ribs. “I care about my sister, my friends. About the people in the world.”
“I care about you,” he says simply. “Only you.”
“It’s not enough.” I glare at him as he touches my cheek again, his fingers so gentle against my skin. “I need more from you. I need the truth. All of it.” I glance at the mangled refrigerator. “You can’t keep me here forever.”
Something in his gaze tells me he disagrees.
I go silent, matching his taciturn energy.
He sighs, low and deep. “I will give you what you want, but when it’s done, you may regret having asked for it.”
“Nice and vague. Just like I like it.” I grind my teeth.
He runs a hand through his hair, leaving it mussed. “All these things I tell you—you have to understand that I kept them from you to keep you safe. The more you knew about my kind, the more you knew about me, the more danger you were in.”
“I’ve had enough of people protecting me for my own good. Making these decisions for me like I’m a child. Do you hear me? No more. I’m going to fuck up the next person who tells me they’ve deceived me for my own good.” I flex my fists and wonder just how far I’d get.
He settles into the couch and crooks a finger at me.
“What?” I gawk at him.
“I’ll tell you everything you want to know. Once you’re here where you belong.” He smooths his palms down his lap.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I swear his audacity knows no bounds.
He smirks.
“No!”
He shrugs and leans his head back, his cat eyes closing.
I stare at him, willing him to open his eyes. He doesn’t move. Just waits. Pretending to be relaxed when I see the tension in his chest, his shoulders. He’s holding his breath.
“Seriously?”
Still, he doesn’t move.
I try to wait him out.
I try. But I fail.
I want to claw his eyes out. I think about it for a long moment before grudgingly climbing into his lap. He pulls me closer, resting my head on his chest. Why does this feel good? Why does my body seem to settle down, my mind go almost quiet? I hate how I react to him.
“Gregor is the oldest and cleverest of our kind. Blood Dragonis has ruled over the others for as long as our history has been written.” He strokes his hand down my back. “He saw the plague as an opportunity. The other houses believe that working with humans is folly. Even so, he forged ahead and offered a deal, one that would lead to a cure for the plague and his eventual ascension to rule over both humans and vampires.”
I close my eyes, listening to the deep resonance of his voice. “I knew all that.”
“Patience, my Blood. He offered the bargain to your sister. This bargain is one he’d been planning on for quite some time. Different versions of it in different centuries, of course. But this time, he knew it could work. He sent me to show her the lure and hide the hook. Without much effort at all on my part, she took it.”
“Tell me the terms.” God, do I want to know?
“She would become president with Gregor’s help. In return, she would open the blood camps where my people could feed at their leisure.”