Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 110080 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 367(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110080 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 367(@300wpm)
“I want one,” Lucca said, making grabby hands. “Give her to me.”
The Amazon shrugged. “I’ve seen cuter.”
“Smart move, bringing a cute kid here to distract everyone,” the gorgon spat at Blythe, “but it’s not going to help you.”
She ignored them all, mapping out a strategy in her head. No outcome had ever been so important. Nothing would dissuade her from the prize. Total victory.
“So, when you hear the horn, go for gold or whatever. I don’t really care anymore. There are no rules. No time limit, either. Last one breathing wins.” Tonka’s preoccupied tone poured through the stadium. Then she began to baby talk with far more focus. “You are too adorable. Yes, yes, you are. Come here to me. Let me rock you to sleep.”
“Stranger danger!” Isla cried. Then, sounding almost smug, she added, “My mom says I get to disembowel strangers anytime I want.”
Tonka laughed, as though delighted. “Such a spicy little pepper. I’m still going to hold you—” Her pain-drenched scream registered next. “You cut off my hands!”
“You shouldn’t have reached for the girl,” Roux stated flatly, and Blythe might have fallen in love with him that very nanosecond.
Sexy Astra. Did he or did he not carry Laban inside his head? What did it mean for her either way? He wasn’t Laban and...she didn’t want him to be. She liked him. Somehow, he just fit her.
Focus! Head in the game.
Perfect timing. The horn pierced the air, and the fight was on. Blythe launched herself at the Amazon.
Carrigan and Lucca went for the gorgon. Clearly, the Phoenix and the harpy had the same plan as Blythe. Remove the two other competitors, then figure everything else out.
Didn’t take long to deduce the reason the Amazon had made it all the way to the finals. The power of her punch and concrete-like fist shattered Blythe’s jaw and knocked out several of her teeth. As she wheeled backward, spitting blood and enamel, the other woman followed the punishing blow with a vicious stab that would’ve slammed a blade through the underside of her chin if she hadn’t misted. By the time she materialized, a split second later, her bones had healed, and her teeth had regrown.
The Amazon used her warp speed momentum to throw another punch. Blythe expected the action, ducked, dove through the other woman. Upon landing, she flowed to her feet, solidified, and kicked backward.
As the other woman stumbled forward, Blythe spun and lifted her sword. Her opponent had already recovered and swung a sword of her own. Their blades met with a clang, metal to metal. No trinite.
“I’m not letting you win,” the Amazon snapped.
“I’m glad to hear that,” Blythe replied. Taking time to trash-talk allowed her to regain her bearings and do what needed doing. “I enjoy my victories so much more when there’s resistance.” That said, she misted into the Amazon. As she’d done to so many others in the past, she took control of the inhabited body and forced the woman to hack off her own head. Then, she slipped free just as Carrigan and Lucca finished off the gorgon.
Was the gorgon the one to wield the trinite?
She intended to check the fallen warrior’s array of weapons. Instead, she was forced to concentrate on the scarlet-splattered Phoenix and harpy, who’d locked in, stalking a circle around her.
“Well?” Carrigan demanded. “Have you made a decision?”
Had she? What to do, what to do? Was the gorgon the one to wield the trinite? Or did Carrigan and Lucca have an agenda of their own, as Erebus suggested? Did the royal council intend to betray Blythe afterward, as Roux believed?
Guess she’d have to roll the dice and trust the only person who had safeguarded her since his arrival. “I have, yes,” she said, lifting her sword. “No deal. I’m taking no chances. I’m going to kill you both.”
28
THE WINNER
Roux sat next to Isla on the dais, white-knuckling his knees. Blythe blocked attacks from both of her competitors. But the partnered pair worked well together, driving her in different directions throughout the arena, and it wasn’t long before the two landed a series of blows.
When one struck, the other prepared to do the same a split second later, leaving their foe little time to think, defend, or render a strike of her own. In a matter of minutes, she was stripped of all weapons. No. No. Maybe she’d shed them willingly for some brilliant reason he couldn’t compute.
Most of her wounds healed in seconds but several remained, gushing crimson. He gripped the arms of his chair. Why? Still she fought, using her claws and teeth.
“She’ll win,” Isla announced with her usual pride and confidence. “She’s the best.”
“She is,” he agreed. But watching her suffer pain, the day after he himself had inflicted more than she’d ever before braved...it wasn’t easy or fun. He would rather endure a thousand more centuries of his former blessing task.