Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 82949 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82949 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
I ran the lens down the line, careful to get all of them in view. “I take it you all have heard of the stories in Hades Hollow?” I knew I could land my ass in shit for this, and I wasn’t thinking about law enforcement. I was about to land my ass in hot water with Eshka. “You all know about the scorned siren and her lover Hades. I mean, we’ve all heard it, right? The pirate who came to Hades Hollow with his men, raped and stole all the women and tied their ankles to anchors, and let them sink to the bottom of the ocean. But what you may not know is that that’s only part of the story. The women who sank to the bottom of the ocean were pregnant. There were four of them. Four women. All pregnant. The tale says that the babies didn’t die. The women did, but the ocean birthed the babies from the women and helloooo…sirens.”
Everyone laughed. I held mine in for the seriousness.
“For centuries, the story has been told, retold, twisted and turned, ripped open and lied about, but no one really knows if there’s any truth to it.”
“Get to it, D.” Blaire tapped her foot. “I’ve got places to be and didn’t want to come, but you know us. Can’t turn down a party.”
Shiloh grabbed on to Blaire’s arm.
“Tonight, I offer you a task. We need to find the four anchors that tied down the women. What I want all of you to do is find them.”
“Oh my God, Dion!” Shiloh snapped, stepping forward and grabbing the phone from my hand, flipping it to selfie mode. She raised it higher so we were both in the screen. “Dion is batshit crazy, and he needs to move to LA already so he can use that tongue for something else other than talking shit.”
I tilted my head to the side, losing myself over the line of her sharp jaw. “You and I both know my tongue is good at other things, St. Claire.”
She blushed, shoving my phone back into my chest. “Fuck you. I don’t want to do this.”
“Yeah, me either,” the other girl in the line-up said.
Shiloh turned toward her. “You can leave, Natasha. It’s fine.”
“I’m not leaving without you two.”
“We will be fine.” Shiloh gave her a shove. “Go.”
“Are we leaving?” Shiloh turned to face Blaire.
“Oh jeez.” Ruin laughed from behind me. “You guys’ codependency really knows no bounds, huh?”
Shiloh’s eyes flashed. “Jealous?”
Everyone knew she and Ruin were into each other. Shiloh was a good lay, but we both knew going into it that we needed something from each other. We grew up around each other. Of course a mutual pact between us to lose each other’s virginity was going to be fun. Fucking around for hours to self-teach each other shit was all part of The Game too.
“We’ll do it!” Blaire shrugged.
The wind picked up, and the leaves around our feet flew up into the air in little tornadoes.
“What?” Shiloh snapped at Blaire. “Are you serious?”
Blaire grabbed her shirt from the bottom and pulled it over her head. “I’m sure.” She tossed it onto the ground before unbuckling her jeans. “We know these waters inside and out. I’m sure finding the anchors won’t be hard.”
“Err…” Shiloh cleared her throat. “Hate to be that person, B, but these waters aren’t welcoming at midnight. There’s no visibility down there.”
Ruin dropped a sack in between us, and Shiloh’s gaze dipped down to the ground. “Scuba gear.”
I’d known Shiloh all her damn life. She was stubborn more than anything. She’d never do anything she didn’t want to do. It’s what separated her and Blaire. Blaire had a reputation to uphold at Hades Hollow High School. She couldn’t be seen as weak. Shiloh didn’t care. It made her that much hotter.
“And are you planning on teaching these three how to use it?” Shiloh lifted a brow sassily, and my finger twitched against my phone.
Maybe I would fuck her tonight. Again.
“Because I’m pretty sure Blaire and I are the only ones here who know how to scuba. This is a fucking death wish. You’re all idiots.” She bent down to pick up Blaire’s discarded clothes, shoving them into her chest. “We’re going. Like right now.” She turned to face the others. “And that’s all of us.”
The other three people, two boys and one girl, stared back at Shiloh, blinking.
The second one turned to look at me. “What if we find them?”
I was pretty sure her name was Jenny Bengal, and her family was the least wealthy lineage in Hades Hollow. I knew what I needed to say to have her agree.
I reached into my back pocket and pulled out a wad of cash, fanning it out at the side of my face. “How does ten stacks sound? Hmm?”