Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 120336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 602(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 602(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
She was playing with him, toying with the man who had been my nightmare for as long as I could remember.
And she didn’t flinch.
My father tilted his head. “You’ve come to be the man that Lei couldn’t be? You’re here to help him out?”
She sucked her teeth. “You think you’re a man by cheating with the poison?”
“How dare you judge anything I’ve done; you’ve only just entered our world—”
“You ran off like a little bitch, climbed into a tree, and then grabbed some hidden poison—”
“That’s genius—”
“It’s cheating—”
“It’s chess—”
“The sort of chess where you know without a doubt that your son would beat your ass fairly so you had to out-maneuver in other ways. Bitch ass ways.”
Damn her courage.
Damn the way she made my heart race faster even as my body begged to collapse.
Damn the way she made me proud to be hers.
And thank God for her.
Thank God for the fire in her soul, for the way she stood there.
Defiant.
Untouchable.
Seeing her was like a double shot of adrenaline coursing through my veins.
I forced myself to move, reached Imperial Lament, grabbed it, my fingers curling around its hilt.
Every movement was agony, but Moni’s presence pushed me forward.
How could I have thought that she would be a distraction when she was a reminder.
A reminder of everything I was fighting for.
Of everything I couldn’t lose.
She wasn’t my weakness.
She was my strength.
My father pointed at the stands, which was all chaos. I could barely check, but a small percentage watched as the rest fought each other. I was pretty sure even my aunts were battling too.
I put my view back on my father.
My father yelled. “Go back over there and sit down!”
Moni stood strong. “I won’t go back until you’re dead.”
A dark chuckle left him. “Do you really think you can kill me?”
“Not think, Leo. Know.”
I pushed myself to my feet, my legs trembling beneath me. Another wave of nausea rolled through my body, and I vomited more of the thick, black poison. The ground tilted but I gritted my teeth and forced myself upright.
I didn’t have time to falter.
She didn’t even gaze my way, but I was sure that she knew I was up.
Keep his attention.
My father took another step toward her. “Do you know how easy it will be to kill him now that you’re here?”
Moni’s smile sent a shiver down my spine. It was lethal, confident, and chilling. “But, can you kill him before I kill you?”
There wasn’t a single note of fear in her voice.
She sounded like death itself, ready to strike.
My father froze.
My chest swelled with pride, but it was tangled with a deep, gnawing worry. She was provoking him and he wasn’t the kind of man to let a challenge like that slide.
Raising the sword, I spread my legs apart and got into a steady fighting stance.
He noticed me then stepped to the side and flicked his gaze from Moni to me.
“My little monster,” Leo wagged his finger at her but now kept his view on me. “you should have stayed in the stands. Now you’ve made yourself the perfect bait.”
I headed for him.
“Get her out of here, son!” He backed away. “If you don’t, I’ll kill her first. Slowly. And I’ll make sure you watch every second.”
“Bullshit. I think you’re scared.” Moni’s laugh was low and sharp. “You won’t get to me before I put a bullet through your heart.”
Her words made me shiver.
She sounded so damn sure of herself, so unshakably lethal.
My heart swelled some more.
She is mine. Brave, reckless, and infuriatingly mine.
But I couldn’t let her pull that trigger.
I couldn’t let her carry the weight of killing him.
That was my burden.
My responsibility.
“This ends now, Father.” I charged for him.
His gaze snapped back to me, and for the first time, I saw something in his eyes I’d never seen before.
Real fear.
Closer to him, I lunged.
Our blades met in a clash of steel, the force sent a jolt of pain through my body, but I didn’t stumble.
I couldn’t.
Every strike was a battle against exhaustion, against the poison still gnawing at my strength.
But I didn’t stop.
His movements were brutally sharp but there was a hesitation in him now, a glimmer of unease as his gaze kept darting to Moni.
She still had the gun trained on him and her presence was a constant reminder that he wasn’t in control.
And that had to terrify him more than his oncoming death.
Thank God she came into the arena.
I pressed my advantage, lunging at him with a ferocity I didn’t know I possessed.
He danced back, dodging my blows as best he could. But there was an edge of desperation in his movements now.
His bravado was all slipping away from him, so I went harder.
Faster.
My body screamed in protest with every movement but I ignored it.
I was fucking close to getting him.
He was having problems blocking my sword.