Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 150546 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 753(@200wpm)___ 602(@250wpm)___ 502(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 150546 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 753(@200wpm)___ 602(@250wpm)___ 502(@300wpm)
His shoulders straighten. It’s pointless. He’s the product of every Hayes ancestor that ever walked the earth. Humphrey included.
Disappointment has my head shaking from side to side.
His words stop me from leaving. “If you’re implying that I don’t care about my sister, War, you’re wrong. I shared a whole womb with the brat, you don’t think that means anything to me?”
I want to say no. He continues. “If there’s one person walking this earth that can force me to bend, it’s her. Don’t get it twisted. Put your fucking dick away. You have my support.”
“Good.”
I climb the steps that lead up to the main foyer, stopping when I’m at the base of the split staircase.
Bishop stares down at me from above. “Find her. Now.”
The front door opens onto Vaden and River. I ignore them both, moving out to the patio. Anxiousness gnaws at my chest. Everything with Halen has always been too much. It’s why I ignored it for so long, why I need to continue to ignore whatever it is that we’ve started.
I carry on through the garden that leads to the Lighthouse. It’s not until the elevator closes behind me when my phone vibrates in my pocket. I pull it out and answer without looking. “What?”
“War…”
The world around me stops and my phone almost slips from my grip. “Where are you?”
I could kill the little shit for removing that damn GPS.
“I—” Her breath catches. I try to pay attention to the outside noises. Wind. So much wind. Water? Waves against sand? “I shouldn’t have stopped. They’re back.”
“What?!” I’m already shoving my feet into a pair of socks and grabbing at the stray pair of Jordans near the kitchen.
“They won’t go away.” The choke of her words has my brain short-circuiting as the elevator opens behind me.
“Listen to my words, baby. Are you listening?” Rage burns through my veins. I need to calm the fuck down if I’m going to have any chance of finding her. I can fucking kill whoever they are later. All of them. “What do you see in front of you?”
Priest moves to the other side of the room, opening the floor-to-ceiling cupboard that’s behind the conference table. Weapon after weapon lines every inch of space as Vaden and the girls follow closely behind him.
She pauses. “On the cliff of Devil’s Cockpit.”
Vaden throws me a semi and I catch it with one hand. “Step away from the cliff, baby.”
The whimpers of her pain tug at something feral and wild that lives deep inside of me, that only exists for her. The grip I have on my phone tightens until I swear I hear the screen crack.
“It doesn’t stop. It won’t stop.”
The phone line goes silent and the realization of every-fucking-thing we didn’t want to happen floats to the surface like the fat of boiled meat.
Maybe we were wrong. Fuck.
My phone’s back in my pocket and I’m across the room once more, my palm hitting the button to the elevator. “Devil’s Cockpit.” We all pile in together but I know Priest and Vaden are both asking the same question I am.
Did we have it wrong? Surely not possible.
“Talk. Right now!” I snap at the girls. They’d been hiding shit for Halen for a long time, if I’m going by the little hints that they’ve left over the past month. Priest’s thumb flies over his phone as the elevator reopens onto Creed. He’s the head of our security, and by security, I mean his hands are in everything.
His beady eyes bounce around us all. “Get in the caddy. I’ll drive.” We slide into the back and as soon as we’re on the road, Stella opens her mouth.
“The first thing you need to know about what’s happening right now, is that you can’t kill them.”
I squeeze the barrel of my gun to stop myself from choking her out. “Oh, that’s real funny, Stells. Next joke. This time be sure it’s funny, instead of making me want to kill you instead.”
She glares at me. “Jesus Christ.” I wouldn’t. Or maybe I would. The control I’ve spent so many of my years honing is weak right now, and I know that at any given second, I could tear someone’s head off if they so much as joke about her being in danger.
Her exhale is steady, but before she can continue, River interrupts her.
“Maledictionem…”
The word sucks warmth out of the space and my eyes land straight on Priest, and then move to Vaden.
“What?” My head tilts to the side. Priest’s eyes narrow on mine for a second, before understanding settles around him. “What curse?”
River’s head shifts to the side window. “We don’t know a lot about it, but I’m sure Halen will tell you.” Yeah, because she’s been so forthcoming leading up to this moment. “There’s a curse that runs through Riverside, and now, through her.”