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)
I helped round up other survivors, some uninjured, others gravely hurt.
Rage burned white-hot in my veins.
“Mind Sweepers and witches get in position. We have to neutralize the fooker,” I roared and got my weapons out, diving into the fray and tearing into the Therabus, slicing and tearing, the acidic stench of its blood saturating the air.
Adryan was already moving, a dark, massive blur as he grabbed a human who hid behind a stall, filming on his phone. Crazy fucker that he was, Adryan at least had the sense not to kill the human. Instead, he smashed the device under his boot and snarled. A Mind Sweeper was right there, digging deep into the human’s mind and taking all memories over the last several hours. He was then shoved to safety, to the area all the other humans were being corralled to, the witches working their magic–literally–to keep this under control.
Kane flanked my right, tossing something toward the beast. I didn’t have a moment to see what it was before the fucking thing exploded. It roared, spinning toward the vampire. I opened fire, letting off round after round of poisoned, magic-laced bullets to help immobilize the creature.
But the damn thing wasn’t acting like it should and seemed more powerful than ever.
“Drive it toward me,” I snarled, yelling toward the vampires and Guard.
Sebastian blurred in from behind, his blade slicing deep into the beast’s hamstring, forcing it to stagger. The tail whipped wildly, but Kane caught it mid-swing with a weighted chain, yanking it hard enough to throw the creature off-balance.
I charged forward then, nothing else in my mind other than taking it down and ending this shit.
The witches were all around me now, chanting, and I felt their power surround me. My weapons heated white hot in my hands, and I secured them to my body, knowing they were fortified with the power I needed.
The Therabus was on me, taking me to the ground, but magic swirled and electrified around me, and I plunged my blade deep into its body repeatedly, covering me in its rotten blood.
The enchanted steel in my hand burned as I plunged it into the base of its skull. The knife met bone with a sickening crunch, shearing halfway through before the Therabus bucked and screamed. I twisted, pushing it underneath me so I could plant my boots on its spine. I pulled the blade free, and drove it down again, straight through the crown of the Therabus’s head so it came out through its eye socket.
Thick black blood exploded across the cobblestones. The beast shuddered once. Twice. Then went still. But the screaming in the streets didn’t stop.
I turned to witness a sea of witches, warlocks, and Mind Sweepers forming a tight circle around all the survivors. The Guard and vampires patrolled the area, gathering the dead. I knew a cleaning crew would have already been called, and the tech team was already doing damage control on the internet.
Thick magic swept through the square like flashes of light and electricity. And as the seconds passed, the humans’ panic lessened as their eyes glazed over, their memories already being rewritten. Their fear was being replaced with the memory of watching a live-action scene from an upcoming movie that was being filmed in their town.
Then the scene was ours again, and we controlled the narrative. It was the only way to keep everyone safe.
25
LENNOX
The Therabus’s carcass lay on the slab, its stink filling every inch of the chamber. We’d brought it to the outskirts of the estate’s property to a building used to treat in-field medical emergencies and as a training facility.
No fucking way I was bringing this fucking thing to the manor and anywhere near the females.
The witches worked quickly performing an autopsy not only manually but with their magic, as well.
They stripped its hide, sliced into its stomach, and probed its internal organs and bones and sinew and marrow.
One elder murmured an incantation, her palms glowing white as magic pulsed through her. Her expression was focused, her eyes closed as her brows were drawn down in confusion or maybe worry.
“This isn’t just a rogue Therabus,” she said grimly. “Dark magic swirls within it. There is something… more, but I can’t dig deep enough to figure out what it is. The darkness of it cloaks its true intent.”
The elder opened her eyes and stepped back as the oracle shuffled forward, her blind eyes milky, her skin stretched thin over sharp bones. She placed both hands on the flayed chest, the room silent as she searched for answers.
It seemed like an eternity of the room holding its breath before she exhaled and stepped back.
When she spoke, her voice was low and absolute. “It carries the stench of the Leandrean.”
Every being in the room stiffened as that truth rang through all of us.