Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 49459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Her hand cupped my cheek, a soft smile playing on her lips. “I kno’,” she whispered. “I just hate that ye’re putting yerself in danger.”
I captured her hand and brought her knuckles to my mouth to kiss them softly. “Sometimes we have to go intae the fire to stop the spread, even if we kno’ it’ll burn us.”
She closed her eyes and exhaled, but nodded. We both hated this, but it had to be done. I had to leave my heart back on this estate while I ensured it was safe for her and all others outside of it.
I just hoped I came back whole to my mate again.
24
LENNOX
The call came in sharp and urgent over the comms.
“Attack in the center of town. A Therabus causing mass hysteria in the northern quadrant of the square.”
“Fook,” I hissed.
“Multiple casualties. Humans are filming. Need a team there now, along with Mind Sweepers.”
It was never a good sign when the Mind Sweepers were called–a branch of witches who could erase memories. Although they had limited capabilities in that regard, for right now heir powers would work. Human minds were fragile, bendable things, easily manipulated when the time called.
It needed to be done. We couldn’t have humans posting Otherworld business across social media and that shit going viral for everyone to see. The world wasn’t ready to know monsters lived amongst them.
By the time we hit the square, the air was thick with the scent of terror and panic. It mingled with hot human sweat, spilled blood, and something deeper… the cloying, metallic tang of a Therabus in its true form.
And the fucking streets were a war zone, a river of red covering the ground. We needed a lot more than Mind Sweepers here. We needed a whole fucking arsenal of damage control to keep this shit under wraps. If we even can.
Humans ran in every direction, their screams piercing through the wail of car alarms and shattering glass. Mothers clutched their children, and partners held each other close. Blood slicked the cobblestones in wide, dark pools. A jacket lay in the gutter, the light-colored fabric soaked with crimson fluid.
And then there were the limbs—legs and arms that were strewn around like discarded meat, torn clean from bodies. The sharp copper tang of fresh death clung to the air making my throat tighten with rage.
A man slowly walked past, deep gouges down the side of his face, one of his fucking eyes completely gone. He was in shock and didn’t even seem to realize what was happening as he stumbled around, his steps jerky as he wandered toward the street.
“Go get him. He needs medical treatment,” I barked out to Tavish, who caught him and led him off to the side and to safety. We had a shitload of injured who needed to be seen… and even more dead bodies to clean up.
I felt my muscles tighten as the war ensued, and I was thrust back to the night we fought the Assembly. My body wanted to freeze, fear and panic trying to take control. But I refused to let it take over. If I didn’t keep my shit together, my family and my mate would be hurt, and there’s no fucking way I’d allow that.
“On your left!” Kane’s shout cut through the chaos.
I turned in time to see it. The Therabus in its original form headed right at me. The fucker was a grotesque thing, but I found my center, exhaled, and slowly smiled.
No blond hair. No deceptive blue eyes. Just the raw, unfiltered nightmare of what this asshole was when it didn’t have glamour in place.
Its scaled hide was covered in red blood from the humans and black from the few shots it had taken. The scales weren’t smooth—they jutted in jagged, uneven ridges making it look like a living weapon–and that’s exactly what it was used for.
It slammed its body into anyone who got close, using its scales to tear flesh and flay them open.
Its jaws hung open, unhinged to show three layers of glistening teeth, all dripping with shredded flesh, saliva, and black and red blood. Strings of muscle and sinew clung to its mouth as it roared and lifted its claws up, charging right to me.
And that tail—more like a longsword of bone—whipped through the air, smashing a market stall to splinters. A poor bastard screamed in fear and tried to run, but the Therabus whipped the tail out, punching through the man’s chest, lifting him from the ground before tossing him aside like refuse.
A woman tried to crawl away, sobbing, her hands sliding in another person’s blood. The Therabus turned and tried to go after her, but three Lycan Guard were on it, using their knives and guns to plow through the fucker while another Guard pulled the woman away to safety.