Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 50512 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 253(@200wpm)___ 202(@250wpm)___ 168(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50512 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 253(@200wpm)___ 202(@250wpm)___ 168(@300wpm)
Another shrug. “The Sons are useful to the cause. Things need to change. We need a new king. One who will shift things back to more familiar ways. Bring strength and purity back to the bloodlines. Put an end to the Conclave business.” He scoffs. “How many times has Alek made you work with lycans or demons or witches since you joined his side?”
I shake my head. “Who the fuck are you?”
“You know exactly who I am. I’m half of you.”
Ice crystalizes on the back of my neck as he plucks at one of my biggest fears. “I’m nothing like you.” I take a step closer to him.
He takes a step back. “You are, brother.” His features shift to a softer, more familiar shape. Reminding me of the bond we used to have—the way we always had each other’s backs, never letting true harm come to the other. It burns.
“Aren’t you tired?” he asks. “Tired of fighting it? Tired of pretending humans are anything other than sustenance? Tired of bending a knee to a vampire king who would sooner put you back into stasis or stake you than sever his loyalty to the humans and other supernaturals?”
“I am tired,” I admit. “Tired of trying to redeem you. You’re beyond saving. I wasn’t able to see it before, but now I realize your thirst for power is the exact reason for your downfall.” I knew as much after he kidnapped the princess Avianna and imprisoned me, but I couldn’t admit it. And after we found Aurora…after everything he’d done to her, I knew the brother I’d known had died for good.
Samuel laughs. I take another step toward him. He doesn’t move back this time.
“You know, I’ve been busy. Tainting your blood supply wasn’t the only item on my agenda. But after you and the others put up such a fight, I made backup plans. You know how organized I am.” He tilts his head. “The vote is coming up. You’ve never paid enough attention to the political side of our world, but you should know, I’ve gathered almost all the votes necessary to throw Alek from his throne and claim it for myself.” He smirks. “I only need one more. And wouldn’t you know it, a new duchess has been appointed who I happen to know quite well.”
My stomach bottoms out. Alek sent Aurora and me here to claim her inheritance, ensuring her vote counts in the upcoming election.
“She should be easy to sway next,” he continues. “Fragile little thing, but who better to make her come to heel than the vampire who made her.”
“You’re dead.” I lunge at him, knives in my hands, aimed at his heart.
Nausea hits me like a sledgehammer and my legs go numb beneath me. I drop to my knees, my bones cracking against the cobblestone road. I double over, hurling up my guts.
“Ah ah,” Samuel taunts. “We’re going to play nice.”
I retch again. “This is nice?”
The nausea ebbs, but the numbness remains. Samuel crouches down, just out of my reach, but enough to catch my gaze. “She’s with you, isn’t she?” He inhales deeply. I know he can smell her on my skin.
Panic streaks through me as I try to get my limbs to work. I have to get to Aurora. I can’t let him find her.
“Your shields are down again.” His eyes flare.
I check them, finding the weak spot and patching it up one second too late, an image of Aurora springing to my mind.
“Ahh, Rory,” he says, and the sound of the name she hates makes my skin crawl. “She wears our mark.”
“You stay away from her!” I thrash against his power, lashing out with my own. Trying to grip his reality and send him to the hell he deserves.
He laughs, deflecting my attempt. “You know I always see that coming.”
I growl.
“She’s not your mate,” he says with a confidence that threatens to kill me. Does he sense something I don’t? “As much as you’d like to pretend she is, she isn’t. I made her. She belongs to me.” He crouches to my eye level. “Her body. Her mind. It’s all mine. My creation, mine to bend. Just like her vote.”
Pain spears into my bones, his power gripping my soul and wringing it out. My shields drop, images bursting down the twin bond I can’t stop. Aurora’s kiss, her fangs dripping with my blood, her smile—
“Oh,” Samuel says, the pain easing enough for me to breathe. “That is interesting. Her obsession with you must be tied to me. To the fact that we, too, share a bond.” He tilts his head, smiling widely. “I won’t even have to torture her to get her to obey. I bet she’d hand herself over willingly, if I promised to keep you alive once I’m on the throne.”