Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 89554 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89554 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Because everyone around him knew...
Everyone around him had heard.
And so they knew the exact moment it was when the spells faded, and his senses were unleashed—
The moment Hexius crashed to his knees—
Even without him saying a word—
They could all feel his chest exploding as agony ripped through the mating bond that chained his soul to a human girl’s—
Samira.
Humans and preters alike started to cry as they watched the Leopard King slowly whiten.
No, God, no.
Hexius could not remember feeling so damn helpless...as he listened to her heartbeat start to fade.
And knowing that he might be too, too far, and too, too late to reach her in time.
My Lord.
My God.
Save her.
Take my life in her place.
Please.
I beg You.
Chapter Sixteen
IT’S THE STRANGEST thing, weaving in and out of darkness, like passing through a veil back and forth, and seeing and hearing things like it’s all a dream.
Or a movie that’s all about...me.
I don’t feel anything as I watch Brandy shift, and in the next moment, it’s the fiercest fight between two snow leopards. If not for the scar on Brandy’s cheek, it would’ve been impossible to tell them apart.
My gaze drifts back to where my body is sprawled on the sidewalk. I’m bleeding profusely, with Vaughn having managed to bite a nice chunk of my neck.
Any moment now, I expect myself to fade and die.
But seconds turn into a full minute, and I’m still there.
Alive.
Barely.
Not because I’m holding on to something.
But because of someone holding me back.
A chain that refuses to let go of my soul.
And God, oh God...
Even though I can’t see myself or feel the tears running down my cheeks—
My heart hurts so, so bad that I know I’m crying.
Hexius.
Because I see him on his knees.
And oh, the things the people around him are saying just make my heart cry harder than ever.
She was attacked while he was locked up.
They say there’s no hope, that there’s no magic strong enough to heal her.
Poor man. How will he ever live with the guilt?
You heard what she said, too, didn’t you?
He doesn’t hear her thoughts like Domenico Moretti hears Misty’s.
So it must be true.
He isn’t in love with her.
They’re not saying anything I didn’t think.
But every word tears me into pieces because this time...
This time, I know.
I was wrong.
This time, I know.
I was so lost in my pain.
So convinced that only the world could define what true love meant.
That when he told me he was sorry—
I chose to walk away.
And when he told me he loved me—
I chose to believe he was lying.
And so now...
Oh, Hexius.
I fall to my knees in front of him, and I’m crying so, so bad I can no longer breathe.
Because the pain in his eyes—
It’s just too, too much.
I don’t even have to read his mind to know how much he’s hurting.
“I’m right here, my love.”
And I just want it to stop.
“It’s not your fault, so please stop blaming—”
“Samira?”
The people around him gasp.
“I think he’s lost his mind.”
But they’re wrong.
Oh God.
Because he’s staring at me like he can see me—
“Tell me I’m not imagining it.”
And hear me with his heart—
“Hexius—”
All I have time for is to choke his name out...before I’m suddenly being hauled back, and I’m not even sure how much time has passed, or how much distance my soul has been allowed to travel. It feels like both an eternity or a second has gone by.
All I know for sure is that it happened.
And when I open my eyes—
I know I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.
Because Hexius is seated right next to my hospital bed, golden eyes suspiciously bright, and his large hand slightly shaking as he takes mine and slowly brings it to his lips.
I love you, Hexius.
“How are you feeling?”
His voice is hoarse.
He still can’t hear my thoughts, but I no longer care.
Because we walk by faith, not by sight, and so I manage to smile, not just with my lips, but with my heart as well, as I whisper the truth.
“I feel...loved.”
Two Months Later
THE L’Alliance courtroom buzzed with barely contained energy as the judge’s gavel came down for the final time. Hexius watched from his position in the gallery as Vaughn was led away in enchanted chains, the snow leopard’s head bowed in defeat. Life imprisonment for the attempted murder of a human—specifically, the attempted murder of Samira Hondros-Mercier, mate to the Leopard King.
“This is Camille Dubois reporting live from L’Alliance headquarters,” the reporter spoke rapidly into her camera. “In what can only be described as the trial of the century, we’ve just witnessed justice served not only to Vaughn Mercier, but shockingly, to Arnulfo Hondros—grandfather of the victim herself.”
Hexius’s jaw clenched as the reporter recounted the horrifying details that had emerged during the trial. Even now, knowing Samira was safe, the revelations made his leopard snarl beneath his skin.
“The elderly Hondros, who appeared via video link from Greece, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder, supernatural trafficking, and—most disturbingly—the murder of an innocent human woman twenty-five years ago. The court heard how Hondros killed this unnamed victim as an offering to demonic forces, seeking to discover the perfect mate for his granddaughter in order to increase his family’s power.”