Mated to the Beast of the Wasteland (Gillian and Merrick) novel Chapter 269

Chapter 269 Someone Got to Blue Phoenix

Chapter 269 Someone Got to Blue Phoenix

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Night fell. A hundred miles from the taint pool, a river snaked through the dark, and a thin stream branched off it, too small and tucked away to spot from the air.

The wet mud along the bank bulged. A scale parasite crawled out of the black water and vanished.

The ground in its wake looked freshly turned, like something had churned the soil, but there wasn’t a soul for hundreds of miles to see it.

*****

Gillian got Merrick’s message an hour later. He’d torn the Naiad River apart and found nothing. No warship.

Her mind drifted.

Where did they go? The Phoenixkin?

Something flickered at the edge of her thoughts, but she couldn’t catch it.

Four days until the Phoenixkin hit the Outer Planet. The plan she and Merrick had set was scrapped now. The taint outbreak had been contained, but the things lurking in the dark were starting to feel worse than the taint itself.

The taint pools were still a threat.

Merrick reached the taint pool base just as the sky began to pale on the morning of the 29th.

Number Five and Number Six reported that Gillian had fended off another wave of parasites overnight and gone straight back into the pool. He turned and headed there.

Ruby spotted him and gently nudged Gillian awake. The water lily holding her slowly opened its petals, revealing her curled up and fast asleep.

For two days, Gillian had done nothing but eat, sleep, and fight the parasites the taint pulled in every night. Every other hour, she was down in the pool.

She wasn’t going to waste time, and Adrian, Number Five, and Number Six had the Legion under control. They were better at it than she was. She didn’t need to get in their way.

Merrick looked at her sleeping and couldn’t bring himself to wake her. He tapped the water lily. “Lilia, follow me,” he said quietly.

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13:08 Tue, Jul 14

Chapter 269 Someone Got to Blue Phoenix

70

+20 Free Coins

Gillian wasn’t in a deep sleep. The moment Lilia Sterling started moving, she stirred and opened her eyes. Merrick was right there. She scrambled up, barefoot, and ran toward him.

“Merrick, you’re back?”

She was about to jump off the water lily when he stopped her.

“Gillian, slow down. I’m coming to you.” He didn’t dare grab her with the taint still on him.

Lilia, sensing they needed a moment, stayed still.

Gillian realized she wasn’t wearing shoes. All she’d wanted was to hear what he’d found.

She crouched and tapped Ruby’s roots. “Ruby, my shoes?”

Ruby darted off to fetch her bio-armor button.

“Gillian.” Merrick’s eyes swept over her, taking in how little she was wearing. “Where’s your bio- armor? Why aren’t you in it?”

The pools were sealed with cryogold and mithril, but the contamination out here was still far worse than Wasteland City. Moving around without protection was a gamble.

“Here, Dad Merrick.” Ruby’s roots pressed the bio-armor button against Gillian, and the suit sealed itself around her.

Gillian jumped off the water lily and grabbed his arm. “I’m fine. This level of taint can’t touch me anymore. Merrick, you said in your message you didn’t find them. What happened?”

The anxiety in her voice hit him hard.

Merrick took her hands. “I think someone got to Blue Phoenix. The message it sent back might not have been real. Dominic’s already gone to Wasteland City. I told him to bring Maddox.”

Gillian frowned. “You’re going to use the core bond between Elara and Maddox to track her?”

“Yeah.” He paused. “You think that won’t work?”

Her face went complicated. She knew exactly how ruthless Maddox was.

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