Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 74589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
“I don’t have to do anything.” Nolan’s eyes are dark as he turns to stare at me. “She’s going to get herself killed. Hell, she’s going to get you killed messing with that piece of shit, and all for what? Because she’s feeling a little sad and lonely? That piece of shit tried to blackmail her, Cora. What’s she doing coming out here like this?”
“I don’t think she’ll do it again, okay? She’s just struggling to find herself right now.”
His lips pull back and he shakes his head. “I don’t give a damn what she’s doing. I care about keeping you safe, and I can’t do that if your sister keeps running off to meet with the enemy in the middle of the night.”
“I’ll handle her, okay?”
He walks toward me and shoves the gun into his waistband. I look into his eyes, trembling slightly from the adrenaline as it begins to burn out of my veins. He stops a few feet away and runs a strong hand through his hair, studying me, and a slow smile creeps across his face.
A bad feeling runs down my spine.
“I have an idea,” he says.
“I don’t like where this is going.”
“You want to find out who burned down your trailer, right? You want to hurt the ORB for hurting you?”
“I want my life back. That’s all.”
“Jaxson is a good start.”
I tug at my hair, smoothing is nervously. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
“Your sister. If she can get me Jaxson, I can get information from him.”
My eyes go wide. “No way.”
“Cora—”
“Absolutely not. You’re talking about, what, kidnapping him?”
He laughs and shakes his head. “It won’t come to that. I’m talking about ambushing him, beating him until he bleeds, and asking him a few simple questions.”
“I won’t do it.”
“Kady will.”
“I won’t let her.”
“I don’t think you have a choice.” He walks past me, heading toward the path. “This is the price, Cora. This is the cost of winning. It’s never without pain, you should know that by now. All she’s got to do is send him a message and tell him where to go. I’ll do the rest.”
I watch him disappear down the path, trembling with rage and fear and it takes all my willpower to start walking after him, following into the dark.
Chapter 14
Nolan
Cicadas whine outside the truck and their constant drone is like a hum that keeps me afloat. Cora pulls her knees to her chest in the passenger seat and stares out the window at the overgrown field. A hundred yards away, a lone barn stands, crumbling and dilapidated, the walls a faded white, the roof collapsed.
“Just don’t kill him, okay?” Cora doesn’t look at me as she says it. “I don’t think Kady will forgive herself if you do.”
“I don’t plan on killing anyone today so long as Jaxson isn’t stupid.”
“I mean it, Nolan.” She glances at me, eyes hard. “I hated this from the start, so at least promise you won’t be a piece-of-shit murderer.”
“You have my word. I won’t kill him. Though I’m going to hurt him.”
She relaxes slightly, but I know that isn’t enough.
This whole thing has her on edge. Kady’s safe back home and guarded by soldiers, but that’s still not going to put her mind at ease. Cora doesn’t like that Kady’s now deeply involved and actively a part of this war, which means whatever happens from here on out might affect her more than just sideways. The ORB might realize she was the bait, and they might act accordingly.
But that’s where Cora’s wrong.
If this goes the way I think it will, the ORB won’t know anything happened until it’s too late.
And besides, Cora and Kady were already involved. She wants to lie to herself and act like my fight with the ORB is separate from what she’s doing with me, but the two are intimately intertwined. Her burned trailer’s proof that she’s a target whether she wants to be or not.
“She doesn’t love him, you know.” Her voice is soft and distant. Like she’s trying to convince someone of something she doesn’t believe.
“I didn’t think she did.”
She gives me a look. “He’s just a distraction. A shitty distraction, but what else is there in this town?”
I shrug slightly and run my hands down the steering wheel. “What does that make me then?”
“An even worse distraction.”
I smile to myself. “I take it you’ve been thinking about that shower.”
“No, I haven’t.”
I look over and her cheeks are flushed pink. “You always were a bad liar.”
“Nolan, stop it.”
“If your sister doesn’t love this guy, why’s she keep talking to him? Why’s she keep going back when she knows he’s no good?”
“Probably the same reason I’m back in this car with you. The Stone girls are stupid when it comes to men.” But even I can see she doesn’t think that’s the only reason.