Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 88613 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88613 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
“Is this a joke?” I already knew the answer before I asked the question.
“It’s not. I’m sorry.”
Caleb Forrester. The man who I had fallen for, the one who I let in, had been part of the very group we were hunting down. A cult. A group known for manipulating and brainwashing. For always being five steps ahead.
Had they planned this all along? Was this a setup?
Had I just been stabbed in the front, with Caleb holding the hilt?
“How long?”
“I was an initiate for less than a few months. I didn’t even make it to the inner circle. I’m sorry. It was after my grandparents died. I was alone; I was about to be homeless. I was scared. They took me in. I should have found another way, but I fell for what they were selling. I thought they could help me. When I realized how wrong I was, I immediately left.”
The words were coming out of Caleb’s mouth, but I was having a difficult time processing them. “How did you leave?”
“They have a night before we get initiated that gives us the option. No one ever chooses to leave. I did. Of course, it wasn’t as easy as walking out. They needed payment. It’s how they keep a lot of people in. People who have nothing aren’t going to be able to give anything. I went in without any resources, so I left the same. They give you an ultimatum: pay the dues or they come after you.
I had a half-million dollar bill hanging over me like a guillotine, knowing that if it wasn’t paid within a few more years, they’d come for my head instead. That’s why this job was so important to me. I needed the money to finally be done with them or I’d have to run for the rest of my life.”
“If you’d told me sooner. If you were honest with me, I could have handled it.”
“I know. I know.” He had his hands clenched in front of himself, squeezing.
“So you were technically an initiate up until a few days ago? When I sent you what you lost for giving up your case?”
Caleb nodded, and my world sundered in half. Magma might as well have started spewing from cracks under my feet. I felt like I could fall directly down to the core of the earth.
Fuck.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
“I trusted you.”
“I know,” he repeated.
“I don’t trust anyone. But I trusted you.”
“I know.” He squeezed his hand. Seeing him like this hurt. Hearing his words hurt even more. I should have known, should have learned my lesson. My phone started to buzz in my pocket. I ignored it, only able to focus on Caleb. The hurt I was feeling, the hurt he had inflicted. “I wasn’t going to keep it from you forever; I just had to find the right time. Watching Starlight’s performance, with you next to me, I realized I needed to tell you now. Had to get it off my chest. I’m sorry.”
He started to tear up, and that really hurt me. Seeing him like this was the last thing I ever wanted. Hearing him try to stifle it down hurt even worse. Shit.
“Caleb… I…”
My phone buzzed again. And again.
“Fuck. Hold on, I need to answer this.” I pulled out my phone and saw my sister’s name on the screen. She had left the party early, saying she wasn’t feeling too great. I wasn’t going to answer it, but the four other missed calls before this one gave me pause.
“Dawn? Everything okay?” I asked as Caleb sniffled. I put my hand on his elbow, squeezed. It would be fine—it had to be. I could give Caleb this grace. I could hear him out, listen to the full story.
“No, it isn’t. The castle’s been broken into. It’s a disaster. And whoever it was went straight to your horde room.”
The earth’s crust finished splitting underneath my feet, swallowing me whole.
I was wrong. So fucking wrong. Nothing was going to be fine. Nothing.
Chapter 25
Party’s Over
Caleb
My lungs collapsed. As if they’d been grabbed by two invisible hands intent on crushing them. Maddox answered his phone, which gave me a minute to gather myself. I tried to breathe, tried to remember all the things I had learned in the wake of my brother’s death. How to deal with panic and dread. I had the tools to prevent a spiral. I didn’t have to panic.
But I was. I was spiraling, hard.
Maddox was pissed. And whatever he was hearing on that phone call wasn’t helping the situation. His face contorted in shock before he looked at me. It was a look I’d only gotten from him once before, back when he first thought I was a threat to him. A sliver of ice cold cut across my throat. A memory.
“What happened?” I asked off his expression.