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)
My mouth opens, and then closes, as I fall backward into something hard.
My eyes close as the pain spreads, so I apply more pressure and ride through the pain.
They pop open when heavy footsteps get closer.
I shoot up from the ground, the pain now blinding as I turn over my shoulder, holding my breath. I don’t know who it is. All I know is some asshole hurt me tonight.
What the fuck is happening?
“Fuck, Halen!” Someone is directly in front of me, and I wince from the salacious heat of his body.
Too close.
I reach out to shove him away, but my nipples harden against my bra. This is a problem when they’re both decorated with metal.
“Fuck you. Go away—”
He grabs my hand and forces my back against the tree. “Let me look at it!”
His knuckles graze over the side of my belly and I turn rigid at the impetuous pulse between my legs. It’s enough to distract me. “How the fuck did you do this?”
“Someone—” I say through clenched teeth. His features blur together and I’m pretty sure my skin is cold to the touch. “Am I dying?”
He bites on a laugh. It’s not one he wants to give me. “Finish your sentence.”
I shove him away again, finally over his antics. “You drugged me.”
He knocks my hand away, and when I try to shove him again, he snatches my wrist and forces it up above my head. “Fucking chill! The more you panic, the faster you’ll lose blood.”
“I don’t care.”
His hand comes to my chin, forcing my face up to his. “I drugged you. You were supposed to stay in the fucking car.”
“Why!” I yell, irritation coursing through me.
“Because your brother has gone completely over the edge and doesn’t fucking see you as someone who needs to be protected anymore.”
My mouth closes and the knife I’m holding slowly slips from my fingers. “What do you mean?”
War shoves his fingers into his hair and pulls.
He blows out an exasperated breath as his arms drop to his sides. “You’re an equal now, and when we complete the ritual, it will only get worse than what it is now. You have to do everything that we do, Halen. You don’t get to pick and choose who your loyalty is to. Your old man? He isn’t the knight in shining armor you have grown to think he is. Are you ready for that? To see this side of him? This side of—”
“Of who, War?” His name falls from my tongue like velvet, suffocating his rage. They think I don’t know who my dad is? I know who he is. I’d heard the stories about him when he was young, and that kind of madness doesn’t get put to sleep just because you age and have a couple kids.
Not even for love.
Not even for children. Especially when you’re a King.
But that’s not what he’s afraid I’ll see.
With the blanket of darkness around us both, I lower my tone. “Say it.” I lean my head against the bark, wincing when the distant throbbing returns on my side.
He means Priest.
Vaden.
Him.
Am I ready to see that? Yes. I know without a doubt that I am.
His hand covers mine and my breath hitches, but when he presses his knee between my thighs, I whimper, collapsing forward until my forehead rests on his chest. “Let me see it properly.”
“Fuck you,” I gasp, my heart racing.
“You’ve said that already.” His teeth graze the edge of my jaw, forcing my hand away from the wound. His other hand flies over his phone screen, before a flashlight beams onto my skin. A beat of silence stretches between us as his body turns rigid. “I’m gonna fucking kill them all.”
I swallow. “You don’t even know who did it.”
“Don’t care. They’re all dead.”
I shudder. “So this game that you protected me from seeing tonight. Are you going to do this every time?”
His thigh shifts once more and my mouth turns dry when I feel how close he is to me.
“Do what?”
My stomach tightens as my back slightly arches off the tree.
A loud bang explodes through my ears, cutting the tension, and I pull from his grip, shoving my shirt back down. As soon as his hand slips from mine and the connection is broken, I feel the absence. I hate that I feel that shit right down to my soul.
“What the fuck was that?”
He doesn’t step away from me, but his shoulders are back, his head snapped slightly to the side. It’s as if he’s waiting for someone to appear from behind us. When I hear twigs snapping beneath heavy boots, I know that whoever is here isn’t welcome. The muscles in War’s arm ripple against the moonlight as he slowly turns while forcefully shoving me behind him.
“Tsk, tsk… Well, what happened to the fallen princess?”
I grit my teeth at the snarky comment. I hadn’t even risen to fall yet. I was barely halfway there, since I apparently have no idea what twisted game the boys actually play during these nights.