Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 33804 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 169(@200wpm)___ 135(@250wpm)___ 113(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33804 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 169(@200wpm)___ 135(@250wpm)___ 113(@300wpm)
I fly at her again, and this time, her reflexes are too slow. She falls on her ass and I pounce, my fist hitting her face. She screams, and I keep going, punching her again and again, my blood pounding.
I'm not stopping. Not this time. I'm going to kill her.
But suddenly, I'm being pulled away. Liberato holds me against the wall, and two other guards pick my mother up.
"Are you alright?" Liberato asks my mother.
"Fine." She picks herself up, swiping at the scratches I've left on her skin. Her fingers come away bloody, and she glares at me. "I suppose I deserved that."
"You fucking did," I hiss.
"Lock her back in here," she orders. "Restrain her if you have to."
"Wait," I snap. "I want to see my husband, please. Mom... I love him. I can't help it."
Mom's features soften.
"You've done so well, Tallulah," she says, nodding. "Alright. Let her go, boys. But keep an eye on her."
"You won't regret this," I say.
"Oh, I already do." She turns to the guard. "Take her to her husband."
He nods and gestures for me to follow. I walk out, and Liberato takes me down the stairs and into the dungeon. The other guard stays outside, and the door is locked behind us. I rip myself out of his grasp and run down the now familiar hallway, screeching my husband's name. But when I come to the cage, I find it empty. My father sits in front of it, holding a glass jar.
"Is that..."
"His eye," he nods, turning the jar slightly and letting the blood-stained orb roll inside.
I swallow the bile that rises up in my throat. "Where is he?"
"We didn't torture him," Dad says.
"What?"
"We didn't torture him," Dad repeats. "He decided to do it himself."
"Why?"
Dad shrugs. "Because he's fucking crazy."
"He's not."
"I disagree," he smirks. "He cut out his own eye, Tallulah."
"You forced him to," I scream. "Where is he? Where's my husband?"
Dad puts the glass jar down and approaches me, gently laying his palms on my shoulders. "It's too late now, mija."
"What?"
"Xavier will not survive the night. Not where he's going."
"What the fuck are you talking about?"
"Xander," he mutters. "He left with two hundred of my men, as agreed. Not long now until we hear back. If we do. Xander might just kill him on the spot."
"You monster," I hiss.
"This was all your doing, Tallulah," he says. "I had no part in any of it."
"Liar!"
"No," he snaps. "I'm not a liar. If you had never been born, none of this would have ever happened."
"Then why have a child?" I manage brokenly. "Why submit an innocent kid to an already decided fate? You made a deal with the devil, Dad, and you know it. You promised me to Xavier before I was even born, for fuck's sake!"
Dad groans, running his hands through his hair.
"You never should have had me," I whisper. "But that was your choice, not mine. To condemn me for your own sins."
"Tallulah, stop," he says.
"No! Why? So you can keep pretending you're the victim here?"
"Stop, for fuck's sake!" Dad presses his palms against his ears. "It doesn't matter."
"Of course it does," I spit.
"Not to anyone except you and me," he hisses.
"And what about Xavier? Does it matter to him?"
"Fuck, no. He would have done it all anyway. For fun."
"You're wrong," I whisper.
"Why?"
"Because, he loves me."
Dad scoffs. "Don't kid yourself. He's just as ruthless as I am. He'll do whatever it takes to get the job done."
"You're so wrong."
"I'm not. You don't even know him."
"And you do?"
"I know him better than anyone," Dad growls. "Better than his own brother, even better than his wife. Don't you fucking forget that."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"It means," Dad says. "He's still just a pawn. We all are. Pawns in a game."
"Whose game?" I demand, shaking him by the shoulders to wake him up from this hazed trance he's in.
"Xander's," he mutters. "It was always his game."
"Stop rambling, you lunatic," I growl.
"It's the truth. He's been playing us all. He's the real king, Tallulah. He was born for it. But his crown is stained with blood. Just like his hands. He'll kill us all if he has to."
"He wouldn't," I argue.
"He would. If he could get away with it. Which he can." Dad groans, pacing the hallway. "We're all fucking doomed now."
"No, we're not," I say resolutely.
"How can you say that?" Dad growls. "I can't put my faith in Xavier, he's stabbed me in the back too many times."
"Then don't," I hiss, raising my head proudly. "Put your faith in me."
"What?" Dad looks up. "Are you mad?"
"Probably," I shrug. "But I can't lose hope. Not yet. We need a plan. We have to save Xavier."
"No," Dad snaps.
"I'm doing this with or without you, Dad," I hiss.
"Tallulah, don't be foolish," he snaps. "Xavier is a lost cause. Even if he gets back alive, and that's a big fucking if, there's no coming back from what he did."