Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 120336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 602(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 602(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
We left the stands and got to the ground.
“It’s not a phone.” He moved his fingers in a blur of precision. With a soft click, he slid the top of the device back, and the sleek unmistakable glint of a tiny gun barrel emerged.
The rest of the fake phone’s case fell to the ground.
“Shit.” My breath hitched. The transformation was surreal—what had been a perfectly innocuous smartphone a second ago was now a compact, deadly weapon.
Four inches wide.
Three inches long.
Barely an inch thick.
Its bullets must have been pretty tiny.
It was smaller than any firearm I’d ever seen, but there was no mistaking its lethality.
“3D-printed.” Dima quickly turned it in his hands and talked fast. “I needed something inconspicuous, something no one would suspect.”
The trigger was concealed within a narrow groove, and the grip extended smoothly from what had once been the edge of the phone.
He twisted the gun slightly, showing me the safety mechanism, a tiny, recessed switch along the side. “Slide this down to fire.”
Fast, I grabbed it from him.
“You’ve got three rounds, loaded and ready. That’s it. Make. Them. Count.”
“Thank you!” I tore across the chaos of the arena, my heart pounding in time with my frantic steps. I tightened my hand around the gun and flicked off the safety switch.
Dima called back. “Do not hesitate! Kill him!”
I couldn’t think about how insane this was or what might happen if I failed. The only thing that mattered was reaching Lei.
The world around me blurred as adrenaline surged through my veins.
Leo was close to Lei now, raising his sword high above his head. My heart stopped, the scene unfolding in slow motion.
No. No. No.
Leo slammed Soaring Precious in a deadly strike.
Lei barely managed to roll away.
Terror spiked through my chest.
The sword hit the ground and the impact was brutal, sending shards flying into the air like shrapnel.
Still racing forward, I lifted the gun and aimed at Leo’s head.
Song’s voice rang out from the crowd. “LEO, WATCH OUT!”
Asshole.
Leo whipped his head around and stared at me in shock.
I pulled the trigger.
The bullet whizzed through the air.
At the last minute, Leo's head tilted slightly.
The bullet grazed his ear.
The remaining crowd erupted in panic again.
Damn it.
I gritted my teeth and continued forward.
Only two bullets left.
“My little monster?” Leo lowered his sword and gave me a deadly smile. “Did you come to talk to daddy?”
Keep his attention off Lei.
“No.” Still aiming the gun at Leo’s head, I stopped running yet, continued forward. “I came to bury you.”
I hoped I sounded confident as fuck because all I could wonder was. . .could I truly bury him?
Chapter thirty-three
Love in the Crossfire
Lei
Moni was in the arena—her small frame standing tall amidst the bloody violence—steady as if she belonged there.
But, she shouldn’t have been here.
Not in this blood-soaked battlefield.
Not in front of my father.
Not with that tiny gun aimed at him.
But, there she was.
Fierce.
Unstoppable.
Mine.
She’d tried to kill him. She’d come into this madness and faced down the devil himself.
How the hell did she get that gun!
It didn’t matter.
Nothing mattered except her and the fire blazing in her eyes, daring the world to challenge her.
Moni looked deadly. Her jaw was tight, and her lips were twisted into a wicked smile that made pride and fear stir deep in my chest. Her defiance wasn’t just admirable—it was a beacon, cutting through the haze of pain and exhaustion that had consumed me.
I should have been furious.
I’d told her to stay back, to let me handle this.
I’d thought her presence would weaken me, that I’d be too distracted protecting her.
Too caught up in fear for her safety to fight at my full strength.
I thought she’d make me vulnerable.
But God, I was wrong.
Seeing her like this—fearless and proud—made my chest tighten in a way that had nothing to do with the poison still clawing at me.
She didn’t weaken me.
She made me stronger.
Stronger than I had any right to be after everything my father had thrown at me.
Additionally, she made me believe I could finish this, that I could win—not just for her, but with her.
Let’s finish this, Mountain Mistress.
I spat out more black liquid onto the ground.
The viscous substance glistened under the arena’s harsh light.
The poison still burned in my veins, its fiery grip not yet gone, but her presence had changed it. The storm of it—once all-consuming—was fading. It wasn’t gone, not entirely, but it no longer felt invincible.
Its hold on me was breaking.
With every second Moni stood there—steady as a rock—it ebbed further.
You’re feeling better. Finish this.
My father shifted his stance. His gaze flicked between us. His confidence had been ironclad before, but now there was a crack. His steps faltered; his posture less certain.
She’d done what I couldn’t—shaken him.
He took a step forward. “We should talk, little monster.”
Her tone was deadly calm, her smile sharp enough to cut. “Yeah. Come here. Let’s talk.”