Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 67437 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67437 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Spreading out my arms, I shoved power into my steps and began to blur to her.
Somehow Seraphine sensed me, glanced over her shoulder, and screamed. The next second, she burst forward too.
What?
And with that blur of speed, she loudly gasped.
I grinned.
She has no idea that our connection has made her stronger?
I would need to get her back before she fully understood the depths of the new magic growing in her.
Chapter 10
The Chase
The Quiet King
The hunt went on longer than I planned.
We were in the clearing. On both sides, the forest encircled us with ancient trees, their roots crawling deep into the earth, knotted and twisted.
Up ahead of me, Seraphine’s silhouette was a darting, dancing phantom in the darkness.
Our footsteps echoed in the night.
The more we rushed away from the camp, the more darkness enveloped us.
Still, Seraphine’s scent lured me forward. Even with other scents competing for my attention, the smell of her blood always pulled me back toward her.
I pushed a thought in her mind. Stop running. We should talk.
Seraphine sprinted ahead.
I groaned in annoyance.
Our chase shifted into a dance between two powerful beings.
It was no hunt.
It was a rhythmic race.
Every step, every breath, every beat of my heart was attuned to the pursuit of her.
Despite the pain in my lungs and the burning in my legs, I pushed on, propelled by a determination I hadn’t felt in so long.
Then, our dance changed.
Seraphine had been running one way, but now she changed her direction, heading toward mage territory.
Ah. You think they will be able to help you. You are very wrong.
The only reason why the mages were still alive was because they had Phinova. Once I got her back, every last one of them would die, including my brother, this Horned King, and even the little queen he had somehow taken from my castle.
Chuckling, I shifted my direction and followed Seraphine.
Why would she think that she could simply run away from me?
Did she not understand that I had this insatiable hunger for her drumming in my soul?
How unfortunate for Seraphine that once I saw her, I craved her and now I planned to take her.
Never would she leave my side again.
Every fiber of my being yearned for her blood, her scent, and even the taste of her skin.
Closer.
Blurring her way, the gap between us began to melt into nothing.
Closer.
Soon, I was only ten feet from Seraphine.
A mischievous smile spread across my face.
I entered her mind. Seraphine, come to me.
She glanced over her shoulder. Her eyes widened in disbelief. She shrieked.
Then, a truly breathtaking thing happened.
Her eyes flashed to this glow of crimson.
Oh my.
That gaze was two hot coals of passion—eerily radiant against the blackness.
So unpredictable. So dangerous. So intoxicating
Even more desire hummed in my core for this lush creature. This enchanting little blood mage that would be all mine.
She whipped her hands in a flurry of movement.
My foot lost its balance.
What did she just do?
I crashed to the ground with such a hard impact that my bones rattled.
I gritted my teeth. Very good, little mage.
She spoke into my head. Stop following me! Be happy that you are healed, and leave me alone!
I slipped into her mind. Oh, Seraphine, you have no idea what you have unleashed within me.
I stood up and brushed off the dirt from my clothes, not taking my gaze off of her for one second.
Seraphine had somehow figured out how to blur away, although staggering and kicking up dirt through the process.
I would have been proud of her being such a fast learner, if not for the fact that she was so dangerously close to mage territory.
If she made it there, the war would start tonight. No doubt mages guarded this area, anticipating my first move.
My heart pounded in my chest.
Blasted little blood mage. Now I must use force with you.
Raising my hands in the air, I sent out my power. Like an invisible whip, it lashed around her ankles and held a tight grip.
“No!” She screamed and rose in the air while flailing her arms and legs uselessly.
I yanked her my way.
With every foot closer her screams only intensified. The sweet taste of fear slid down my throat.
My cock throbbed in my pants.
Soon.
Once Seraphine was barely two feet away, she lifted her hands.
Now what does she think she will do?
The red glow in her eyes intensified.
A thick droplet of blood flowed from her palm and suspended in mid-air.
What?
The drop hit my nose.
My breath hitched as unbearable cold seized me, numbing my body and mind.
No.
I lost the hold on her.
Shrieking, Seraphine fell to the ground.
My breaths fogged the air.
I trembled uncontrollably as my limbs and muscles went taut and frozen like stone.
What magic is this?
The chill crawled up into my skull until my vision was encased in a shell of cold.
No!
Powerless and ensnared in a paralyzing invisible shell of ice, I felt like a helpless fly caught in a spider’s web, unable to move or escape.