Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 108563 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108563 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Her momentum sends her flying right past me, and I bring my blade down, slicing straight through her thigh as she goes. Raven cries out, and as I whip around to face her again, she stumbles, struggling to right herself after the blow.
“You fucking bitch!”
“I’m the bitch?” I scoff. “Were you not here just now? Did you not see the way you came at me? Have a little class. I thought we were going to do this like ladies.”
Raven clenches her jaw, anger flashing brightly in her eyes, and while I’ve made plenty of mistakes so far, she’s just made the biggest one of all. You never fight angry. It may make you dangerous and unpredictable, but it also makes you sloppy. She should know better.
She lets out a battle cry and rushes me again, only this time, I meet her with the same force she brings, throwing my arm up and blocking her lunge as my fist slams into her ribs. We trade punches, and it quickly turns into a lethal dance.
There’s no denying it, she’s good. But she’s not as good as me. She has skill, speed, and precision, but so do I, and unfortunately for her, nobody trains like I do.
Raven keeps coming at me, and when she rears back, preparing for another devastating blow, she leaves herself open. I take my shot, slamming my boot right into her chest. Her body flies back against the brickwork of the pillars holding up the massive bridge above us.
She sputters a cough, the blow winding her, but before she can pull herself together, I whip around, sending my foot up in a beautiful spinning kick that meets her temple.
Her head rocks on her shoulders, and as she struggles to find her feet, she drops the blade in her hand, letting it clatter to the ground.
I take a breath, having the perfect opportunity to make my kill, but I don’t go for it, not feeling comfortable ending someone’s life while they’re already down. Instead, I wait, knowing my moment is coming. “God, I fucking hate you,” she spits, leaning heavily against the bridge. “Can’t you ever just let me have one fucking win?”
Raven takes a second to regain her balance, and I take this opportunity to switch blades, reaching for Reaper’s other one. After all, they both deserve to have their moment in the spotlight. “The fact that I haven’t ended your life despite the six times you’ve left yourself open should be more than enough of a win for you,” I tell her, taking a step toward her and watching the way her eyes follow me. “But I’m bored now. I’ve allowed you plenty chances to try and pull your shit together and make this somewhat of a fair fight, but your arrogance is getting in the way. It’s time to end this, Raven. You’ve been fun competition over the last few years, but it’s over now.”
“It’s not.”
“It was over for you the second you accepted your invitation to War Games,” I tell her. “Now hurry up and make your move. I don’t want to kill you while you’re stumbling against a wall, and I doubt after everything you’ve achieved during your career that this is how you want to go out. Now, come at me so I can give you a respectable death.”
Raven holds my stare, her eyes narrowing to slits, and just as she reaches for a new blade from the holder on her thigh, she lets out a roaring battle cry, storming toward me with everything she’s got. Her long, thin blade is angled right for my eye, and in the split second it takes for her to lunge toward me, it becomes obvious that she has no game plan at all. Critical thinking has gone out the window, and all that’s left is undiluted rage and desperation.
Her blade hurtles toward my face, but at the very last second, I break to the left, clutch her arm, and slam her own blade straight through her stomach. Raven cries out in agony, her eyes widening in horror as she gapes at me, understanding quickly dawning. “I . . . I’m not going to win,” she breathes.
“No,” I tell her. “You’re not.”
Her brows furrow, and when tears fill her eyes, a new determination comes over her. She knows she’s going out, and just like I offered, she wants to go out fighting.
Then in a flash, she grabs a smaller dagger from her belt, and despite the long blade still protruding from her stomach, she lunges at me again. Only I don’t have the heart to stand here and watch her suffer, so when her small dagger narrowly skims past my face, I whip out with my own blade, sending it soaring across the front of her throat.
Raven goes down, dropping to her knees as blood gushes from her open wound, splattering across the sidewalk and quickly pooling beneath her. She clutches her throat as she looks up at me. “Tell . . . tell my—”