Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 129912 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129912 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
I cry out as the pain grows sharper.
Willow calls my name, but I can’t find her.
I can’t open my eyes.
“She will do everything she can to distract you so that she catches you before you catch her,” Hassha goes on, still clinging to my head. “She will make sure you’ve lost most of your energy just to take you and will do exactly what I am doing to you right now. She will try to take what’s yours and make it her own, but you will not let her. You will fight, Caspian. No matter the circumstance, no matter how tired you become, no matter what happens to me or Korah or anyone else you love, you fight and you end her. You save Vakeeli because it is yours!”
I yell louder and throw my head back. It takes so much for me to open my eyes, but I manage, and when mine meet her blue irises, I grip her upper arms.
She can be a bit dramatic, right? Yuri says.
I huff a laugh, and her eyes widen a fraction, then a knowing look washes over her. I can hear her thoughts. She believes in me. She knows I can do this…but I have to prove myself.
She has no time to react as I fly us to the sky, and when we’re above the treetops, I release her. Her breath hitches and before she can get away, I stomp a heavy foot on her chest.
Like a missile, she plummets to the land beneath us. I watch as she’s drilled into the ground, forming a crater so large it destroys what’s left of the meadow. Dust rises, and electric sparks of blue and red filter through the cracks.
I float down, searching for her in the hole her body created, but she’s not there. I sense her though. Behind me. I spin around with a conjured sword as she stands there with a bloody bottom lip and a cut on her cheek.
Then she does the unexpected.
She throws her arms around me and reels me in to hug me tight. It takes me completely off guard. The fire in my veins rinses away, returning me to my normal state. The sword disappears from my hand.
I hug her back.
I miss you too, Hassha.
“Yuri says he misses you,” I say over her shoulder. “And that you’re a bit dramatic.”
Hassha chokes on a laugh. “I knew he was in there,” she whispers. When she pulls back, she grips my shoulders with a proud smile. “You will conquer, Caspian. I have no doubt you and Yuri will see us through.”
SEVENTY-SIX
WILLOW
“That was unlike anything I’ve ever seen, Caz! And look at you!”
I can’t stop staring at this new version of my fiancé. He was already taller than me before, but now he towers above me by at least four heads. He’s as tall as The Regals, if not an inch or so taller, and his hair is no longer just black but streaked with white.
His ice blue eyes remain the same, though I notice specks of red within them now. Yuri has fused with him physically, making Caz appear like a god.
Caz stands in front of the cabin, studying his hands in awe.
“Daggers,” he says, and two red, glowing daggers appear in his palms. He huffs a laugh, head shaking. “I can’t believe this. Guns,” he shouts. Guns form in his hands next, silver with red handles. He turns swiftly and aims one of them, shooting at a tree. The tree bursts into splinters. “Stronger than any gun I’ve ever owned.”
With a flick of the wrist, the gun disappears, and his eyes fall to mine.
“You’re just like them now,” I say as he curls his arms around my waist.
“No.” He smiles. “I’m still me.”
I laugh, my eyes falling to his lips. “That’s true. But I shit you not, I thought I was going to fall to my death. Hassha’s lucky she’s a Regal. I swear she needs to get punched just one good time by me. It’s like they don’t care that I’m pregnant.” That still feels weird to think, by the way. Me, being pregnant. Only a year ago I was lounging on my bed smoking weed and singing sad R&B songs.
He chuckles. “Probably because they know you’ll survive…plus the baby will be strong, apparently. Not that it was right of her to do.”
I smile, and before I know it, his mouth falls to mine. He consumes me, a groan rattling in the base of his throat as he presses me closer to his warm body. His skin feels hotter, his lips too, but oddly enough, it’s soothing.
“I’ll never let you fall, Willow Woman.” His voice hums on my lips. “You’re mine to protect. Now and forever.”
I start to speak again, but the ground quakes beneath my feet. Rocks and pebbles rattle around us, and the treetops bristle.