Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 65167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 326(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 326(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
So when Eris lunges at me again, I’m ready. I sidestep and pivot, and this time I catch her mid-leap and use her momentum against her. We fall together, but I twist to land on top of her. She hisses beneath me, eyes flashing with untamed fury as she claws at my arms, but my grip on her wrists is firm.
We roll in the dirt, teeth bared, snarling and growling. Each time she wrenches free from my hold, I catch her again. Each time she dives for my throat, I block her with a knee or an elbow or a well-timed roll. The world blurs around us into a whirlwind of dust and leaves and blood-scented air.
With every passing minute the struggle becomes more brutal. I scream as she pierces my skin, the fresh cuts and bruises blooming over me. But every hit I take only fuels the fire within me, adding to the burning rage that refuses to be extinguished.
“You can’t win!” Eris roars, her golden eyes gleaming with savage delight.
Her words sting.
But I brush them away.
I will win.
I have no choice.
And I’m better than my stepfather.
I won’t kill her.
And I won’t use the power Alara showed me.
I need to prove to myself and to my stepfather that he was wrong about me. That I’m not nothing.
With a feral bellow, I push Eris away from me with all the strength that remains in my battered body. She stumbles back, surprise etching itself across her fierce features.
Before she can recover, I lunge forward, my fingers curling into fists as I strike her square in the chest. She crashes into the ground once again, only this time she doesn’t immediately rise.
I stand over her fallen form, breathing heavily. My heart pounds and sweat trickles down my face.
I growl then.
Because I’ve won.
And I sink my teeth into her neck to taste the sweet victory.
60
Wolf blood flows over my tongue and down my throat, but instead of energizing me, it burns. It’s a bitter taste, like vengeance and regret intertwined. Yes, the dark chocolate of the wolf is there, but Eris is part demon, and that flavor overtakes the richness.
Demon blood.
Eris is only half demon. The blood of a full demon would set me on fire from the inside out.
Her body tenses beneath me, and even as her eyes flash with anger, they also hold a strange sense of relief.
I pull away, releasing her from my jaw. There’s no savoring this victory. I spit the blood onto the ground, the taste of it lingering like an acrid reminder of what I must do.
The win is bittersweet. A part of me revels in the triumph, relishes in the validation that I am more than just a half-vampire bound to my father and the blood lust.
Another part of me grieves for Eris. She may be my enemy and fated mate to the man I love, but she’s also a pawn in my stepfather’s game.
We have that in common.
My ultimate beef isn’t with this demon-wolf.
It’s with her king. My stepfather.
She’s not unlike me—trapped between two worlds and not truly belonging to either.
You have no choice.
I’m not sure the thought comes from Alara, my father, or simply myself.
Whoever it is, the sentiment rings true. There’s a reason Alara said I had to kill her.
Eris won’t stop. The demon within her thrives on the ferocity of her wolf half, and she’ll continue fighting until she claims Rogan as her own.
For that to happen, I can’t exist.
The child inside me can’t exist.
“Just do it,” Eris grits out, her voice low and wild. “You have the upper hand, vampire.”
“Your blood tastes like shit,” I retort.
“No one forced you to drink it.”
She’s not wrong. I wipe the traces of it from my lips, looking around—
I gasp. A silver dagger lies beside me. A gift from Alara? From my father? From the ether? All I know is that it wasn’t there before.
Eris’s golden eyes meet mine, and in them I see a spark of understanding. Maybe even respect.
“Know this,” I say, grabbing the dagger and gripping it firmly. “This wasn’t my choice. It was never my choice.”
Then I plunge the dagger into Eris’s heart.
She growls, grunts. “Fucking vampire cunt!”
Her naked form shakes, shudders, until wolf hair sprouts, her snout elongates, and her fingernails sharpen.
But she changes only halfway as she gasps for air. “You may have his heart, his child,” she says on her last breath, “but you’ll never have his soul.”
Her body stops writhing as the last bit of air leaves her lungs.
I regard her.
Half wolf, half demon, her golden eyes now unseeing.
A pathetic sight. Almost tragic, to be sure. Is it Eris’s fault that she was fated to be Rogan’s mate? That she was half demon?
She didn’t choose her lot in life any more than I chose mine.
She can no longer take Rogan from me. She can no longer hurt me or my child.