Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 66383 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66383 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
“She would never hurt me.”
“She may not, but she’s done something to our world already. I can feel it changing.” I understand what he is saying. I may not be as powerful as either one of my sisters, but I know that something in the air has changed, and it’s not for the better.
“We need to get back home to tell John and your sister what happened.” Melvon leans in and kisses my lips. It’s soft and tender, everything he is for me. “Don’t worry, okay?” He brushes my hair behind my ears before we turn and start our trek back to the wolves.
Straight away, I spot Tatiana.
She sits on the grass, her baby asleep next to her, watching her other little one play. I walk over and pick the baby up, cuddling her and keeping her close to my chest as my sister studies me.
“What happened?” she asks.
There was a time when she wouldn’t have had to ask those questions because she would’ve been there. She was the most protective of Talia. But things change, loves change, and I’m not sure how to tell her what happened. “You weren’t able to bring her back?” she asks. “What of Viper?”
“He’s dead,” I tell her. “She did it.”
“Good, I’m glad.”
“The castle has been razed to the ground.” She perks up at that, and her eyes fall on her baby in my arms.
“Did she do that as well?”
“Yes.”
“Shit. She’s angry.”
“She is.” Like I have never seen before. “And there is something else.”
“What?”
“Max is dead.” She freezes, doesn’t even blink, and stays like that for a good minute before finally asking, “Where is she?”
“Off to kill all the vampires. Anyone who served Viper is going to die,” I tell her. “I’ve never seen her like this.”
“She wouldn’t,” Tatiana whispers.
“Oh, but she would.”
“Get the babies!” John shouts as he rushes over to us. He scoops the baby from my arms.
“What? What’s wrong?” Tatiana stands, checking around, confused.
“Grab what you can and run,” he says, sounding panicked, reaching for his mate and pulling her to him as Melvon approaches with their other child.
“What’s happening?” I ask as soon as he reaches us. Twenty or so wolves start in our direction, and I see something behind them.
Is that?
No.
It couldn’t be.
“Mother?” I say, confused.
“Don’t look, just run,” John urges.
Melvon reaches for my hand as what appears to be my mother reaches a wolf. She touches him, and I watch in horror as he drops to the ground, the life gone from him in an instant.
“What is that?” Melvon tugs on my hand as I stand frozen at the sight before me.
“They are called yorks. It’s just one, but they are powerful,” a wolf says. “You can’t let it touch you. If you do, it will take your soul.”
“So… run, Tanya.”
I do as he says and start running with them. I check over my shoulder and watch it touch another, then drain everything it once was and now is never going to be.
“How did this happen?” John asks the wolf who told us what it was—he is from Max’s world.
“A portal is the only way.”
“Who is strong enough to open a portal?” John asks.
He looks to Tatiana.
“Your sister.”
“No, she wouldn’t. Does she know those things were there?” Tatiana asks.
“She does. King Maxilliam showed them to her.”
“It’s a mistake,” Tatiana says, but keeps on running.
We all follow, not stopping until we finally get to the forest. Since Viper has left the forest, it’s not the same as it once was—it was full of tricks and games that kept anyone away. Now it’s once again a simple forest one can get lost in amongst the trees and undergrowth. John has run through it many times and knows the way out. We all follow, ignoring how tired we are. We can’t stop because if we do, we could end up exactly the same as the others who have managed to get close to the york.
We don’t know how fast they travel or even how to kill them.
We just know we can’t stand around and wait for the inevitable.
As night falls and our feet start to bleed, we reach the end of the forest. And what lies in front of us is absolute destruction. There is no other word for it. We’ve exited the forest where Max’s people once were living. They lie on the ground, blood everywhere. Lives shattered with hardly anyone left.
Melvon moves forward and sniffs around. He can smell the difference between life and death—I guess it’s one of the perks of being a vampire. When he gets to a woman on the ground, he hovers over her and cuts his wrist. He leans down and pours his blood into her mouth. It doesn’t take long before she can start moving again. Then she sits up and screams when she sees him.