Mated to the Beast of the Wasteland (Gillian and Merrick) novel Chapter 266

Chapter 266 Nectar

Chapter 266 Nectar

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Gillian sat in the taint pool, and the gray concentrate fell like rain over the flower beasts, their petals spreading wide and their bodies stretching with easy, reckless growth.

The flower beasts had worked out a rotation to guard her, and she’d lost track of how much concentrate she’d refined.

She only knew she’d gone from dawn to dark and emptied two full pools.

She cracked her stiff knuckles and looked up. The sky, once smothered by the taint, had thinned enough to let a scatter of stars through.

All the taint cores at the source had been cleared. If no new ones showed up, this view belonged to everyone on this land.

She kicked a spent blackstone into the empty pool and moved on.

“Ruby, how many flower beasts have hit level 8?” she asked.

“A hundred, Mom.” Ruby was practically vibrating. She hadn’t expected Gillian to feed them this freely. “The rest are all at level 7. Mom, you want to rest?”

“How many level 9?” Gillian asked. It still felt too slow.

“Three, counting me.” Ruby’s voice carried a note of pride. She saw how pale Gillian’s face had gone and passed her a cup of nectar with her roots. “Mom, drink more of this. It’ll help with the tiredness.”

Gillian took the cup of cloudy liquid and drank it down. It was crisp and sweet, nothing like how it looked. The warmth hit her the second it reached her stomach.

This nectar was the real thing, and she’d lost count of how many cups Ruby had handed her today. She couldn’t argue with the results.

“Thanks, Ruby. I can’t place the flower-it tastes like a whole bunch of scents mixed together. I think I’m starting to smell like it myself.” A healthy flush had crept back into Gillian’s cheeks.

“You like it, Mom?” Ruby asked.

“I do. But Ruby, where’s this nectar coming from? You gonna tell me?” Gillian asked.

Ruby just smiled and shook her head, telling her to guess.

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13:08 Tue, Jul 14

Chapter 266 Nectar

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Gillian ran through the list. “Rose? Jasmine? Peach blossom? Camellia?”

Ruby shook her head at every guess, and Gillian gave up.

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Ruby didn’t seem to mind. She took Gillian’s hand. “Mom, let’s go to the next pool,” she said.

“Alright.” Gillian let it go and followed her.

There were still two hundred and forty pools left, and she’d barely touched ten. Right about now, she wished she could grow ten more hands.

She stood at the edge of a fresh pool and stared into the dark water.

The flower beasts gathered fast and wove their soft white roots into a platform. Gillian stepped onto it and felt it hold her steady, then carry her out to the center.

The black taint liquid rippled around her. She sat down, centered herself, and started refining.

Her mind, which had been buzzing and frayed all morning, had finally gone still.

Power had a way of doing that. Holding it in her hands was like breathing again after nearly drowning. Worrying wasn’t going to change anything. Building strength would. If she had the power to tear through whatever stood in her way, she wouldn’t be stuck here, sick with worry for her sisters and Merrick.

She sank into the work, and the only sound around her was the soft pull of white roots drinking concentrate.

Inside the pool, Camilla let out a deep, full burp. She was so stuffed that her camellia petals had split open.

“Ruby, what’s with Mom today?” she murmured. “She’s just letting us take it. No limits. What’s going on?”

A red spider lily leaned in beside her. Ruby tapped Camilla on the head and pulled a drop of nectar from her chest.

“If you’re full, swap out. Mom wasn’t happy when she heard we only had three level 9s. So work harder, all of you,” Ruby said.

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