Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 78886 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 394(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78886 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 394(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
“Same,” Valkara said with a gleeful nod.
“Now, be a good little mouse and let the big falcon decapitate you.” He rubbed his hands together. “Let’s get the finale started so I can claim my ten prizes.”
I truly despised this man. But all the pieces of the puzzle finally clicked into place. Why he’d teamed up with Valkara, a woman he knew he couldn’t trust. His goal wasn’t just revenge against the King of the Turuls, but to reign over all the primordials. To rule all berserker and shifter factions. He would command the most powerful immortal army in this world or any other. Able to subjugate lands. Slaughter humans. Do whatever he wanted, whenever he desired.
Both Deco and Valkara must be stopped, no matter the cost. That was the greater good.
A moan escaped Viktor.
Deco grinned. “You understand your mission, Clover, and the consequences if you fail.” He lounged on the other side of the rack while the remaining soldiers took up posts near the cells.
Fighting dismay, I patted Viktor’s cheek. “Wake up for me, Tor. Come on, baby. That’s it. Yes, yes, good boy.”
He blinked open his eyes, then jack knifed to an upright position. His focus whipped to me, and he scanned me from top to bottom. “You are good?”
“I’m unharmed. And you?”
“Alive.” He shifted to search for Bodi. A muscle jumped in his jaw when he spotted the prince, who moaned, beginning to awaken. His gaze moved to the pair at the rack, and his lids slitted. “The Valkara aids Deco.”
“Yes. They’re working together.”
“Go ahead,” Deco called. “Try to escape.”
With a roar, Viktor leaped to his feet and slammed into the metal bars. He beat them with his fists, breaking bones. Slashed them with his claws, ripping off nails. Kicked and heaved with all his might, leaving his body battered and bruised. All to no avail.
“Stop. Please,” I said as the shifter king laughed and laughed. Valkara tapped her feet, impatient. “There’s more I must tell you, but I won’t talk to you while you’re hurting yourself.”
Huffing and puffing, Viktor paused and fought for calm. The perfect opportunity. I stood and cozied up against him, petting his chest. His muscles relaxed bit by bit.
“Tell me,” he croaked. “Go ahead. I can take it, whatever it is.”
I could think of a thousand reasons to lie and hide the truth from him, and only one reason to tell the truth. I loved him. So, the truth it was. “Valkara is my birth mother. She gave me to Malachi as a baby, and he placed me in a home far from my sister.”
Juniper made a noise around her gag. Valkara tapped her knee and snapped, “Be quiet so I can overhear their conversation, or I’ll remove your tongue.”
My twin went silent, and my anger neared a breaking point.
Viktor jolted, but didn’t erupt again. “And? Continue, love.”
More pets. “And she foresaw my importance to you.”
“And?” he said, shoving the word through clenched teeth.
“She revealed to me a supposed end. How I’ll murder you and everyone we love unless I let you kill me.”
His entire body jerked. He flung his arms around me and hauled me firmly against his chest, shielding me from any threat. “I will not. Not now, not ever. I love you. Need you. Want you. Cannot live without you. She showed you a lie, just as she showed me lies.” He didn’t attempt to moderate his tone, unconcerned by our audience. “Only they will die today. Not you.”
Tears stung my eyes. The declaration hit deep in my bones, and I clung to him. “I love you, too,” I rasped. So much.
“Ja, but do you love me more than the foolish Benjamin? And you must answer honestly because you owe me. This one has been in my queue, attempting to claw its way out. I might be internally, eternally scarred.”
Despite the awfulness of the situation, I snorted. “It’s not even close. What I felt for him is a drop of water compared to the ocean I feel for you.”
“Good. That’s good. But I have more questions.” Viktor kissed the top of my head, then rapid-fired questions as if they were bullets from a gun.
“Will you wed me? Will you move to my world and into my palace? Will you spend forever at my side and never leave me?”
“Go ahead and say yes,” Deco taunted. “Actually, I think the line is yes, yes, a thousand times yes. It’ll make your death so much sweeter.”
My gaze strayed to Valkara, who observed us with a smug smile. Her plan was bearing fruit right before her eyes, the players she’d set up acting exactly as she’d hoped. Then I glanced at Juniper, who watched me with wide eyes. The tingles and warmth in my hands increased by leaps and bounds.
My tears spilled over. With every fiber of my being, I longed to say yes. To marry Viktor, build a life and a family with him. Wait… did he say palace? I’d only ever seen tents and a stick shack in the forest.