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)
“Who has you?” Evie screams this time, but it’s too late. My door is ripped opened, and a hand is buried in my hair. Whoever it is drags me across the road as gravel bites into my flesh.
I don’t scream. My mouth remains closed as I hold on to his arm until he yanks me up to my feet and throws me into the back of the van.
My eyes explode with pain when I land on the side of something hard, and my movements slow to a daze. Light flickers on above me, showing two others in the back. None I recognize. I don’t think. The van jolts forward and I slam against the panel again, my head cracking against it, and I’m out.
***
“We can use her as our bargaining chip.” Hushed whispers stir me to life.
“Why? When she’s worth more! That’s Bishop Vincent Hayes’s daughter! She’s worth an easy fifty million!”
“Because we don’t have the means, dumbass! I wear a crucifix with a tie to you? Or a fucking skull, or Thorn of Armor tattoo? That’s not our niche.” I hear rustling, before a dust of warmth over my cheek. “She’s waking. We need to decide what we’re doing. I don’t trust anyone back at the village,” the dumb one announces.
“They got so many killed for this bitch. So many of us, man! The Kings might kill us too!” the dumber one blurts.
My chest cackles with fluid, and I roll to my back as blood dribbles down my cheek. “I can assure you, they will. And they’ll find you. Within minutes. In fact, I would say they’ve already found you now.”
A shadow casts over my body and I peer up at the man standing over the sofa. “What if I got her pregnant? That’d be a big fuck you to them all.”
My lip curls. “You come near me, and I promise you, it’ll be you the one who is pregnant, only not with a child.” I swipe the blood from my mouth and glare back at the girl who is sitting on another old sofa in the center of the lounge. I don’t know where we are, but it can’t be far since we couldn’t have been driving long. The blood is still wet on my face.
“You killed a lot of our people.”
“Wrong!” My eyes widen on them. “We did something better… we gave them hope, made them chase their tails, made them think they had a future, and then we ripped their spleens out and watched them wither with time.” My legs swing off the side of the bed. I don’t even know who exactly it is they’re talking about, but if they’re going to blame me, I’ll be theatrical about it.
But I do know why I’m here. “Where is he?”
The bones of my ribs ache and I wince, applying pressure to the side. Photographs line the fireplace and I study each one carefully. There’s one taken near a lake, where fireflies glow through the night, and a large boulder in the middle of the water. Cute. It looks picturesque.
“I don’t want to deal with you. Take me to him.” Dust falls around my boots and I look over my shoulder. They’re both staring back at me with open mouths.
“You know who we are?”
“Depends. Do you go by Bakers, or are you Candyman’s bitches?” I raise a brow. “Of course, I fucking know. Jesus. Are you lot really that fucking stupid?” My head shakes from side to side, as I lift my hand to stop them. “Don’t answer that.”
My arms cross in front of myself, a satisfying smirk crawling over my mouth as they both shrink. I remember Dad talking about this. How people cower in your presence eventually, because they know what you’re capable of.
“I’m tired and my best friend is waiting for me.” My foot is in front of the other, as I make my way to the other side of the room, when the girl launches up from her chair and her palm flies toward my face.
The back of my hand whacks it away, as my other fist lands between her eyes. A loud crack splits the air before blood sprays over my cheek.
“Well, damn.” War claps from the front door, a smirk wide and directed on me.
My teeth grind together as I swipe her cartilage from my knuckles. “Took you long enough. I could have died.”
“What?” He spins around to follow me when I pass, and I ignore his persistent eyes. “You against these lot? Hell nah. They should be the ones scared.”
“I’m not scared.” I pin him with an icy stare.
He raises his hands in the air. “I know.”
“I don’t have time for this, War. Leave me alone.” I head toward the front door when his hand catches my arm.
“Nah, fuck that. You’re gonna tell me right now what you’re talking about and why the fuck you had Evie call the emergency number.” His eyes capture mine when he stares down at me. “Where were you going, hmm?”