Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 140940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 705(@200wpm)___ 564(@250wpm)___ 470(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 705(@200wpm)___ 564(@250wpm)___ 470(@300wpm)
“Come on!” Lunita’s voice echoed from down the hall. “We don’t have all the time. I have my own life.”
“Girl, bye. You’re lucky I can’t kill you.”
Lunita snorted and picked up her pace.
Rolling my eyes, I continued forward and gazed at the little girl. “What did you name your lion?”
“Kaz.” She grinned. “Of course.”
“Of course.” I lifted my view, not knowing how I should feel about that.
The little girl spoke, “You keep asking about a host.”
“There’s got to be a core person. That’s what I read. This would be the person that was the starting point to us.”
“We don’t know where she is at.”
“But you know who she is?”
“No.”
“Then, maybe I am the starting point.” Hope filled me.
The little girl giggled. “You’re not.”
I frowned. “Why is everyone so certain? You all could be mistaken.”
“You’re the Boss because when she made you, she finally knew what to do.”
I blinked. “She made me?”
“I think you were created to protect us. To take the brunt of everything bad. . .so we wouldn’t have to.”
My gut twisted. “That can’t be right. I don’t remember the bad stuff.”
“You were there when X died.”
Pain bit into me. “That’s. . .different.”
“Instead of the Boss, I wanted to call you the Shield, but they outvoted me.”
“I think you all are wrong.” I picked up my pace.
Lunita’s voice rang out from further down the corridor. “Hurry up!”
“I’m going to slap her.”
The little girl grinned. “It wouldn’t hurt her.”
“But, it would make me feel good. Sometimes that’s all I need.” I thought about where we were going. “So, this M is going to have answers?”
“Yes, but there won’t be tons of answers. We are pretty simple.”
“We are not simple. Figuring out me. . .us. . .this is like trying to solve a puzzle without all the pieces.”
“Or maybe it’s a puzzle with too many pieces.” She giggled.
I frowned. “That too. . .”
We got to the end of the hallway.
Lunita stood in front of a bright yellow door marked with a silver number 3. Instead of opening the door, she faced me. “This is the rules.”
I leaned my head to the side. “What rules?”
“Never bring up Felicity.”
The little girl nodded. “Never do that.”
I quirked my brows. “Who’s Felicity?”
“Doesn’t matter.” Lunita lowered her voice. “Don’t say that name, and if he says the name then pretend you didn’t hear the name.”
Horror hit me. “I still can’t believe I have a he inside of me.”
Lunita widened her eyes. “What? You do?”
“What do you mean I do?”
“A he is inside of you? What’s the he’s name?”
Confused, I raised my eyebrows. “His name is M.”
Lunita pointed at the door. “But, this is M?”
“Yes. I have a personality that is a man, and he’s inside of me.”
Lunita and the little girl exchanged glances as if I were losing my mind.
Lunita sighed. “M is not inside of you. He’s in his office.”
“Let’s just have her talk to M.” Gently, the little girl turned the knob and pushed the bright yellow door open.
We stepped into a room that contrasted sharply with the rest of the building.
It was an office, bathed in shades of white and yellow. Bookshelves lined the walls. The book titles ranged from classic literature to modern psychology.
A large, comfortable-looking chair sat behind a neat desk with papers and pens arranged in careful precision.
On one side, a small, potted plant rested.
On the other side, stood a man, and it was the male version of me.
Tension gathered in my shoulders. “No. This has to be wrong.”
He leaned casually against the desk, sporting a neatly trimmed beard that framed his face. His tortoiseshell glasses perched on the bridge of his nose.
His long dreadlocks were tied back into a neat bun.
His clothes could only be described as full professor attire—a tweed jacket with elbow patches, a crisp, button-up shirt, and neatly pressed trousers.
I stared at him. A mixture of surprise and recognition washing over me. He was me, yet not me—a reflection from a parallel world where paths had diverged.
Lunita stepped into the room. “The witch taught her how to come here. I told you that I should kill the witch.”
A deep voice left him. “And I said that it would be impossible with the Lion’s people watching her.”
I shook my head. “No. This can’t be real. It’s probably some sort of drug in whatever Delphine gave me because I don’t have a man inside of me.”
The little girl headed over to the bookcase and trailed her fingers along the spines.
“No.” M pointed at her. “Do not touch them. We have discussed this.”
She hurried away from the bookcase.
“We should have told her long ago. I said so.” Snorting, Lunita went over to the chair behind the desk and sat down. “Everyone thinks I’m the crazy one just because I like to kill people, when lots of people like that. I am the smartest.”