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)
22
THE COMEBACK
Blythe took her place in the underground arena with the rest of the combatants. Only a hundred or so had survived the unibeasts and very few hid their shock upon discovering her among their numbers.
She offered everyone a mocking smile and a middle finger salute. As predicted, frenzied horniness had left her cranky.
Teasing Roux before today’s competition might have been a wee bit foolish. But she couldn’t regret it. The guy was feeding wraiths on the daily to keep her strong. He tended to her. Charmed her. Beneath that tough, rough exterior might be—gasp—a candy-coated center.
He was just so different than she’d initially believed. Teasing him had become an enjoyable pastime. She had only to think of him to ache.
This wasn’t supposed to happen. She wasn’t supposed to like him. Or crave him. And sleep in his arms? Never.
Lifting her gaze to the royal dais, she caught his eye. And lost her breath. Oh, did she love the way his gorgeous irises lit up anytime he spied her. How his body all but vibrated with the need she had stoked.
Somehow, this male was her consort. The second. An impossibility somehow made possible. The evidence couldn’t be denied. She had napped in his arms. His blood hadn’t sickened her, yet drinking from others did. Even drinking from bloodfruit had bothered her. And his soul... Mmm. There was nothing better.
So what was she going to do about this?
“Congratulations, everyone,” Tonka’s voice echoed from the cavern walls. “You survived your worst nightmare. Are you ready for today’s challenge?”
Silence met her query.
“Wow. Save the enthusiasm for later, okay?” the harpy griped. “We’ve decided to take it easy on you this go-round.”
That did it. Cheers rang out.
Head in the game, girl.
When the celebration quieted, Tonka added, “When you hear the horn, all you must do is venture topside, find a queen of hearts flower, and bring it back here. Oh. And you gotta do it in fifteen minutes or less.”
Groans of distress rose from the masses. Uh-oh. What was a queen of hearts flower?
Blythe searched for Lucca, intending to ask her. Of course, the horn sounded and combatants scrambled out of the arena.
A plan formed. Blythe flashed topside, waiting at the well. A group of competitors shot from its shadowed depths, landed in the palace foyer, and sprinted outside. She stayed put, searching for Lucca... Yes! Payday, baby! The harpy and the Phoenix emerged from the well together.
Blythe jetted after them, blazing over grass, soon passing the circle of silos. Jockeying for a better position, she elbowed and shoulder checked anyone in her path. The combatants behind her ganged up to knock her feet together. Down she tumbled, the immortals trampling over her. She didn’t stay down, though. Nope, she ignored the bumps and bruises, and surged to her feet, giving chase once more. No sign of Lucca now. Dang it!
As Blythe pumped her arms to increase her pace, she followed the females ahead of her. They aimed for Wraith Island.
She mentally shifted through the sights she’d encountered the last time she’d traveled this direction. A wooded terrain. A field of wheat. A small village. A cemetery. A stretch of gravel. Another wooded terrain, two other villages, then the beach. Unless... Were the queen of heart flowers found on Wraith Island?
If so, Blythe could flash and arrive before everyone else. If not, she would waste precious time. She also ran the risk of losing the crowd, her current GPS.
Considering she had no idea what she was looking for, she opted to remain near the other combatants.
Through the woods they went. Trees blurred at her sides. Suddenly, prickles on her nape alerted her to a possible threat. She scanned...and sucked in a breath. Erebus! Up ahead, he stood in the frame of a red door, wearing his customary black robe, with an expanse of a star-studded sky behind him. He held a length of chain, and he offered the smile she reviled most. Smug.
“I have a surprise for you, daughter,” he called. “A good one.”
Fury scorched her. How she longed to punch that grin off his face and rip out his guts with her claws. No doubt he’d popped in to distract her at a critical juncture. She hadn’t forgotten the truth: she was nothing but Astra bait to daddy dearest.
Maybe Erebus even knew she’d come to kind of, sort of...like Roux. Or maybe the Dark One hoped to taunt her about her doomed situation, and the role she played in it. How she’d been granted a miracle, a second consort, but surviving the tournament meant cursing Roux. Did she really want to do that now?
Could she do anything less?
She garnered the strength to ignore the god, sprinting on. But again and again he reappeared, always standing in the frame of that red door. No one else seemed to notice him. In fact, several combatants misted through him. He occupied a spiritual plane.