Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 52864 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 264(@200wpm)___ 211(@250wpm)___ 176(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52864 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 264(@200wpm)___ 211(@250wpm)___ 176(@300wpm)
“Piper, I have gone over everything in my head a million times. Your dreams are visions. Visions of the future where I keep telling you over and over again to remember something important. I think you are meant to kill me, and that is why our paths have crossed.”
Draco
I was beginning to see clearly for the first time since my awakening, and that clarity had brought me to the conclusion that no matter how things went, I could never kill Piper.
At my core, perhaps I was a bad man. Perhaps not. But I understood that some things in this world were sacred.
Piper was one of them.
She’d defended me against King. She chose to believe in me when no one else had. Not even my own parents. For that, she had my eternal loyalty. But mostly, I think it came down to her soul. There was an integral kindness in her heart that could not be removed or tainted. It was simply part of her. And that goodness radiated outward, making her the sort of woman who left others in awe. Yet she was completely oblivious to it.
“I don’t know how many fucking ways to say this,” Piper shook a finger in my face, “but I am not a killer. I will fight tooth and nail to defend myself or a person who needs my help, but that’s as far as I go, Draco.”
I took her hands, and once again pinpricks spiked through me. I knew the same happened to her when we touched. Like fire and ice attempting to be friends.
“I am not in any way saying that I wish for you to end my life,” I said. “Because I fully intend to fight these people until the bitter end. However, should I fail, should things not go our way, you must be my insurance policy.”
She frowned, pure anger in her eyes. “No.”
“Why?” I snarled. “Do you not understand what’s at stake?”
“I’m here, aren’t I?” she snapped.
“Then what must I do to convince you?”
“You’d have to convince me that you are so evil that you’re without redemption, and that you intend to kill everyone I love, everything good in this world, and the only way to stop you is me taking your life. So, you tell me, is that you? Is that your plan?”
“No.”
“Then I’m not going to agree to kill you.”
“Piper, I understand how difficult this has been. It is not every day that the anti-Christ shows up on your doorstep asking for help—”
“You’re not the anti-Christ, and I’m sorry I said that this morning. I didn’t mean it.”
She was too sweet. “My point is that if the only means to save the world from turning to shit is ending my life, promise you will do what is necessary. Without hesitation.”
“Fine! I’ll murder your ass. Happy now?”
I grabbed her by the shoulders. “Promise, Piper.”
She pushed my hands away. “I fucking promise, okay? Now drop it. Let’s go!”
She was fuming, and it only convinced me more that I was right. She and I were bound together in this journey for a reason. One road led to her ending my life. And the other…? I did not know.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Piper
I was livid. Never in my life had anyone yo-yoed me like Draco. One minute, he was saying he needed me to stop the end of the goddamned world, and the next, he was telling me my purpose in life was to kill him.
Seriously? He really believed that was the point of my existence? Not that I worked hard or tried to be a good person. Or that I cared about what happened to others. Nope. Your life boils down to murder, Piper. It’s all you’re good for.
Maybe he was an evil bastard, because what sort of man made a person like me promise to commit murder? It was like asking a nun to marry Satan or a pacifist to lead an army. So stupid.
“Stop being so melodramatic,” Draco muttered as we took the elevator down to the lobby.
“Stay out of my head,” I growled. “But I’m not wrong. You’re an idiot for asking me to do that.”
“You promised, so it is a done deal.” He turned those pale eyes on me. “Unless you plan to renege?”
“No.” I fucking hate you.
He chuckled. “You wish you did.”
I scowled in his general direction. The doors opened, and we were about to step out, but a tall, shadowy figure blocked our way.
The shadow lunged at Draco, and he fell on his back into the elevator, landing hard with an oomph!
I screamed, not knowing what else to do. I wasn’t even sure what I was looking at. A ghost? A demon? A figment of my imagination?
The shape moved with fast, fluid motions while Draco attempted to get to his feet. He was almost there when the shadow gripped him by the neck and tossed him to the floor again.