Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 92612 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92612 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
“Just visiting.” She tracks my movements with her eyes, her pupils dilating. “You seem uncomfortable with the new me.”
“The old you wasn’t a liar.”
“Oh, but I was.” She smiles, her beauty frozen in time, perfection etched into stone. “Everyone is a liar. Even you, Georgia.”
“Are you going to tell me what you want?” I cross my arms over my chest. “I’m tired and hungry.”
“I’m hungry, too.” She sits up with feline speed.
“Don’t.” I back up until I hit the wall.
Her eyes close. “I never heard the sound of a heartbeat before. You did. You were a doctor. But not me. Now, I hear them, and they’re a symphony. Not a simple beat, there’s more. The blood rushing through the chambers, flushing the skin, plumping the veins,” she purrs. “Beautiful.”
“The old you didn’t creep me out.” I tighten my arms around myself.
She opens her eyes. “You don’t find me beautiful?”
“Are you going to tell me what you want or are you here to fish for compliments?”
“You always were clever.”
“I thought you were, too.” I don’t know if it’s fatalism or because I survived a murder attempt, but I’m tired of her, of this. I walk to the nightstand and open the tray’s lid. A simple sandwich and some cucumber slices. Not bad. My appetite died the moment I saw Fatima, but I make a show of taking a bite of sandwich.
“Why does Valen keep you locked away in here?” she asks, her voice right behind me.
I whirl and swallow hard, the lump of food like a stone in my throat. She’s close, too damn close.
“What?”
She cocks her head to the side. “Why does he never bring you to the Black Cavern?”
“How should I know?” I stare back at her. I don’t want to think about him dragging me back to that horrible place.
She glances at my lips. “I suspect he’s become attached to you.”
I can’t help the snort that escapes me. “Attached? He’s kept me prisoner, assaulted me, bragged about murdering my sister to me.” My flash of amusement turns to cold anger. “So no, I wouldn’t say he’s attached.”
“Sounds like foreplay.” She presses me against the wall with her body.
“Get off.” I wince as she bares her fangs.
“No.” She grips my shoulders.
“This isn’t you.”
“Wrong. It’s me distilled to the finest vintage.”
“Why?” I spit the word like an accusation.
“Why?” she mocks, her eyes flashing. “Because I’m stronger than I’ve ever been. Because now I’m the one who calls the shots. I’m not your sister’s fucking lapdog.”
“You never were. You were—”
“You don’t know anything about me.”
“I know you used to sing—you had a beautiful voice. You never ate meat. You mourned your sister who died from the plague. You—”
“Shut up,” she snaps.
“You were a friend.”
“I was expendable.”
“Not to me.”
She laughs, the sound full of cruelty. “To Juno. You were expendable to her, too. That’s why you’re here.”
I grit my teeth. There’s nothing I can say to her, to this new nightmare that wears Fatima’s face.
“Gregor gave me a chance to be more. I took it.”
“What did you give him in exchange?”
Her grip tightens. “Enough of your bullshit, Georgia. Tell me what I want to know. What is Valen doing? Plotting against Gregor? Why hasn’t he stripped your memories yet?”
“What, no compulsion to force it from me?” I taunt.
She smiles, her fangs growing longer. “I’d be happy to—”
Someone clears their throat. I look past Fatima to find David in the doorway.
“You may not harm her,” he says in a chiding tone. “That was the deal.”
“You knew she was here?” I ask.
“Of course.” He has the nerve to roll his eyes.
“Get out,” she snarls.
“No blood,” he warns, then disappears.
Her tone turns silky again. “Is he plotting against Gregor? Tell me and you can have this. Young forever. Beautiful forever.” She skates her fingers along my cheek. “I could give it to you. You could do anything you wanted.”
I have no loyalty to Valen, but I have none to Fatima, either. I don’t answer.
“Tell me.”
“You think Valen lets me in on whatever it is he’s doing? You think what, that I help him figure out the quickest, easiest way to destroy humanity?” I scoff. “I guess you’re right. We never did know each other.”
“No, I said you never knew me. You, on the other hand, I know everything about you. Juno’s adored little sister, doted on, cared for, loved above all else. Child prodigy. Scientist. You were supposed to save us all from the plague. How’d that turn out?” She grins.
“Why are you here? Just to ask me stupid questions I can’t answer? Gregor should’ve sent someone else.”
“What makes you think Gregor sent me?”
I don’t have an answer for that.
Her eyes harden. “I told you, I’m making my own choices now. No one else is making them for me. Not even him. But I need to know which way the wind’s blowing.”