Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 97071 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97071 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
It’s the same one I used the first day on the Crimson Hag and again back on the island that contained my portal home. My magic hits her in the center of her body and sends her hurtling away. She takes a bit of my skin with her, her claws scratching my face in the process. It’s not going to be enough to kill her, and fool that I am, even with the threat of her right in front of me, I can’t bring myself to summon fire.
I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with me. Normally I’m not one to let something like being sentimental color my actions. But this is Lizzie, and she … “You were going to let your mother kill me! You didn’t even give me a way out! And now you’re pissed that I found an escape and took a little something with me to survive? Fuck you very much, Lizzie!”
Nearly fifty feet away, she staggers to her feet. She’s bleeding from several long cuts on her arms and face. I watched in horror as she draws the blood from her skin and forms it into a knife. Within seconds, the cuts themselves vanish, courtesy of her accelerated healing.
I am so fucked.
I draw Bowen’s dagger from its sheath at my hip. Bunny made sure I had plenty of self-defense training, but in the years since she passed, I’ve forgotten to practice more often than I’ve remembered. A good thief doesn’t need to defend themselves; they’re there and gone before anyone knows the valuables are missing. The last fight I had was a drunken brawl in a bar, and very few people are actually trying to kill each other in drunken brawls. It’s just a bit of fun to let off some steam.
I can’t say the same for this fight. If I don’t win, she’ll kill Bowen. That, I can’t allow. I take a breath and brace myself, and then she’s on me.
Fast. Lizzie is so fucking fast. I barely manage to deflect her strikes, and even then, I am nearly certain she’s pulling her punches. I’m not this good. It’s just reality. She could have killed me several times over, and I’m starting to think her holding back has nothing to do with keeping me alive to find her jewels.
Which doesn’t make any fucking sense. She didn’t care about my life when I was in her bed. Why the hell would she care about it now? “You were going to let me die,” I repeat. My breath is fire in my lungs. Gods, I would’ve thought my stamina would be better after all the time working on the ship, but I’ve never been a match for Lizzie. No human is.
“You really believe I was going to let you die?” She slips under my guard and draws a shallow, fiery line over my stomach. “Why do you think I was there to catch you stealing my family heirlooms, Evelyn? Because I came back to get you out!”
“Don’t lie to me!” I stumble back. “You were in that room for the jewels. Not for me.”
Bowen is still banging on the shield, which is draining my magical reserves faster than I would like. I can’t keep this up indefinitely. If I hit her with fire, it might be enough to override her healing magic. Again, I hesitate even as the little voice in the back of my mind screams at me to finish this.
“I knew you’d get out. You’re too smart not to.” Her eyes are glowing crimson. “I didn’t think you’d steal from me in the process.”
I shuffle back a few more steps and give a half-hearted stab. Suddenly I’m not so sure I’m right. She was in that room when I went through the portal, and even if she was there for her family heirlooms, that meant she went back to her bedroom.
It means she went back for me.
“Why didn’t you just fucking say that, Lizzie? For someone who normally acts like they’re charged by the word, you sure as shit have a lot to say today.”
She gives another of those snarls that make my skin prickle in terror. She’s losing her temper in a way I’ve never seen. Normally, when Lizzie is angry, she goes cold. There’s nothing cold about her now—she’s all frenzy. She comes at me far faster than I can meet, leaving a trail of tiny cuts in her wake. “You are the most aggravating person I’ve ever met. Impulsive, reckless, and downright suicidal at times.”
“You sure did like the things I do with my tongue, though.”
She hisses. “The jewels. Where the fuck are my jewels? Don’t make me torture you, Evelyn. I’ll do it.”
That’s the thing … I’m starting to think she won’t. She could have ended this fight dozens of times since it started. Gods, she could have ended it before it started if she’d used her magic on me. She didn’t. I might be bleeding from a dozen places, but they’re nothing a quick bandage can’t fix. Even my jaw is only slightly sore. She’s been holding back. She doesn’t want to kill me any more than I want to kill her.