 by Sheridan Anne.jpg)
Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 114551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 573(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 573(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
Every step I take, there’s someone waiting for me in the shadows.
There’s nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and now, I’m out here on my own, my hands stained with the blood of those I’ve killed to survive.
Zade DeVil was my executioner, my most feared enemy, but he was also my protector. I wasn’t willing to cross that line with him, despite how much I may have wanted to. He was my savior, but now he’s gone, just like the others.
Dalton Eros. Sawyer Thorne. Easton Cross.
They were the three loves of my life, the three men who would walk through the darkest pits of hell to save me. They were everything a girl could dream of until an explosion stole them away, and now I’m left with this hole in my chest where my heart used to be and a war that is not my own to win.
Empire will never stop coming for me, never stop hunting me, and I’ve had enough. I say let them come, but when they do, they better be ready for this blood heir to burn their great Empire to the ground, and in its place, I will rise as their new queen—the fate of their beating hearts now in my hands.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Chapter 1
CROSS
The echo of the explosion rings in my ears as I brace my hands against the metal beam pinning me to the ground and crushing my fucking chest. Clenching my jaw, I suck in a sharp breath through my teeth and take in the rubble of the ballroom scattered around me.
“Fuck,” I grunt, pushing it up just enough to take a deeper breath, only my lungs fill with the thick smoke flooding the room. If it weren’t for the plume of smoke billowing from the small window Oakley disappeared through, we’d all be fucking dead by now.
Sawyer kicks the splintered remains of the wooden door off him and rubs at the blood cascading down the side of his face from a deep gash in his head. He’s woozy, and if he doesn’t control the bleeding soon, he’ll pass out. Then it’s only a question if he’ll die from the blood loss or smoke inhalation.
Rubble falls from the ceiling above, raining down around us as I hear Zade’s pained grunts from beneath the window. The metal beam blocks my view of him, and I have no choice but to believe he’s alright. Dalton though, I’ve got no fucking idea.
Sawyer starts coughing around the thick smoke, and I flick my gaze back to him, watching as his head falls against the charred wall with heavy eyes.
“Yo, Sawyer,” I spit through my clenched jaw, demanding his attention while Zade attempts to pull himself together, cursing and grunting as he takes note of his injuries. “Get up, man. You need to control that bleeding or you’re no good to any of us.”
His eyes open a little wider, trying to focus on the sound of my voice and peer through the smoke before finally taking me in. “Ahh, fuck,” he mutters, trying to find purchase against the wall to pull himself to his feet.
Sawyer stumbles across the small room, putting pressure on the gash in his head as he flicks his gaze toward Zade, checking the fucker is alive. Continuing toward me, he tears off what’s left of his suit jacket, balls it up, and presses it against his head, hissing in pain.
“You good?” he grunts, moving in beside me. His gaze shifts over the metal beam, trying to assess the situation, as Zade grips the windowsill above his head and uses it to haul himself to his feet. His sharp stare quickly scans the room as the terrified screams of our people come from deeper within the ballroom.
I shake my head, the smoke really starting to fuck with me. “Nah, man,” I say, blowing out my cheeks as I strain under the weight of the beam, not able to hold it off my chest for much longer.
Zade steps in beside Sawyer and they grasp the metal beam. “On three,” Zade says as Sawyer nods. They each let out a breath, knowing this is going to fucking suck for all of us. Then not wasting a fucking second, Zade starts his countdown. “One, two, three.”
They heave against the metal beam as I push up against it, desperately trying to lift it enough to get my ass out from under this bitch. My muscles strain under the weight, the veins protruding from my arms.
“Ahh, fuck,” Sawyer grunts, spitting the words through a clenched jaw as the beam finally begins to lift. We keep pushing until the beam is finally off my chest enough for me to take a full, smoke-filled breath.
The tainted oxygen pulses through my veins, and I pull myself out from under the beam, my feet barely clearing it before it tumbles out of Zade and Sawyer’s hands.
“Fucking hell,” Sawyer mutters, collapsing against the wall as Zade moves in beside him, grabbing the discarded suit jacket and pressing it to Sawyer’s head, using the arms to wrap it around him like a bandage.
Zade looks at me, his gaze sailing over my body as I try to get to my feet, my head woozy from hitting the ground. “Dalton?” he asks over the deafening sound of the fire out in the ballroom.
I shake my head and search the room, peering through the thick smoke. “He’s gotta be here somewhere.” I start moving around, holding my jacket to my face and trying to filter out the smoke, knowing damn well that this is only the beginning.
Trying to think back to the moments before the explosion, I remember racing through the back of the kitchen, storming after Zade, unsure if I was trying to stop him from going after Oakley or if I was trying to get her myself.
Sawyer was just in front of me and Dalton was behind. I was so focused on the small window Oakley was pulling herself through, so focused on the agony of her betrayal that I don’t even recall if Dalton made it into the room before the blast.