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)
Not merely dethrone the demon king.
But end him.
And then face the consequences.
65
The moonlight spills into my room, tracing the outlines of my crumpled sheets with an iridescent glow. Here, surrounded by quiet and the gentle hum of the night outside, I make a promise to myself, one whispered into the darkness that wraps around me like a protective shroud.
“I will fulfill my destiny,” I say to the shadows. “I will no longer cower in fear, ashamed of my identity.”
Rogan has fallen back to sleep, and I lean to kiss him when—
My hand unclasps, and a small object tumbles to the floor.
I swing my legs over the side of the bed and pick it up. It’s smooth as river glass, cool even in the heat of my palm.
It’s deep green, flecked with red, like it bled once and never quite stopped.
My grandmother pressed it into my hand in my dream…
My dream…
Was it a dream? It wasn’t the ether. She told me so.
It was a place where I could commune with my grandmother in a way I could understand.
I feel the weight of the bloodstone in my palm.
It’s here. It’s real.
I pulled it out of the dream.
And in my mind, I hear what I think for a moment is Alara’s voice. But it’s not.
It’s my grandmother’s.
This will keep you anchored when the world forgets what you are.
“Grandma?” I eke out.
I rise, cover myself with a robe, and walk out of the bedroom.
Alara stands there, her violet eyes shining. “I see you have your amulet.”
“Are you…”
Alara smiles. “Am I your grandmother?” She shakes her head. “I’m not, Hannah.”
“But how…?”
“You went to her in your dream so she could give you the strength you need.”
“I have my strength. I have Rogan and his blood, the child inside me, and I have your teachings. I was strong enough to defeat Eris, wasn’t I?”
“You were, and I’m proud of you, but your grandmother serves a much deeper purpose.”
“Which is…?” I rub the bloodstone in the palm of my hand. I feel tethered to it somehow.
“The strength of a mother’s love.”
“She’s not my mother.”
“No, but she loves you as if she is…or was. She made mistakes with her own daughter, your mother, and she made it up with you. Nothing is stronger than a mother’s love, and it is the ultimate shield. It’s more powerful even than your love for Rogan and his love for you.”
I swallow. “I see.”
“I know you do, for you feel it for the child growing inside you.” She takes my hand, closes it around the bloodstone. “Keep it with you. Your grandmother’s love. It’s the best protection you’ll ever have.”
I close my eyes, see my grandmother in her garden.
And I remember her hands. Her voice. The way she loved me fiercely, without needing to understand the monster curled beneath my skin. That though my mother forsook me for the demon king, my grandmother always loved me without condition.
I cling to that.
I turn back to Alara, but she’s gone, vanished without even a trace of smoke.
I return to my bedroom. A rustling wind sweeps past my window, and I know.
I know it’s time.
I think about Richard—the man who became part of our lives uninvited, like a weed sprouting among flowers. Then I think about my mother—a woman caught in his poisonous web, and the person I could lose when I do what I must. A part of me aches at the thought, yet another resounds with my grandmother's wisdom. She bore her regrets and now she has passed them onto me in hopes that I might do better.
Rogan still sleeps.
I have to go. But first, I must feed.
“Rogan.” I shake him gently.
“Princess…” He opens his eyes once more.
“I need you.”
“Mmm….”
He pulls me on top of him and I sink down onto his cock.
My eyes spring open, my fangs extend, and I bite into his neck. His blood flows into my mouth and I drink with an urgency that scares me. Wild wolf, sexy man, dark elixir. The nectar feeds me, sustains me, strengthens me. All while I ride him, letting him fill me in every way he can.
“Fuck, princess,” he grits out.
It's not just hunger that fuels me tonight. It’s a voracious need to fuck Rogan hard and fast, to take his strength into me, to prepare for what lies ahead. The dark and intoxicating taste of him seeps into my veins, burning away all fear, all hesitation.
He would give me everything he could—his blood, his life—if it meant helping me fulfill my purpose.
I know he wants to go with me.
But he can’t.
This is my fight.
I ride him harder, and he grips my hips, thrusting into me with unbridled passion.
When I’ve drunk enough, I let go, close his wound.
He grabs my breasts, twists my nipples, until we’re both ready to jump over the edge.