Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 106292 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106292 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
I won’t be sacrificed. I’ll be crowned queen of this fucked-up empire, and then I’m going to burn it to the ground. I’m gonna save my father’s life and then I’m gonna save my own.
“I don’t want to leave you behind,” I tell him, my heart breaking at the thought of being away from him after only just getting him back.
“You must, Oakley,” he says, clutching the bars of his cell and fixing me with a hard stare, making sure I truly hear him. “Zade can’t find out I’m alive. If he does, he will not hesitate to end my life. Do you understand me?”
Nodding my head, I let out a heavy breath, feeling as though I’m about to break.
It’s almost bittersweet. Knowing he’s alive and here, but also having to leave him again. I don’t know how to feel about it. I want to celebrate, but the thought of leaving him behind is crippling me.
More loud clanging comes from high over the cells, and I keep my stare locked down the long hall, my heart racing with anxiety and fear. When it comes to these guys, there’s no telling how this shit is going to go down. All I know is that I need to be prepared for the worst.
The eerie glow of the oil lanterns lights the way, sending long, flickering shadows across the corridor. There’s the faint sound of a heavy metal door swinging open, the old hinges squealing in protest, before I hear the sound of feet scuffling across the floor.
“Where is she?” I hear a familiar whispered tone cutting through the deadly silence, sending my blood cold.
Zade.
“Bottom of the stairs. Turn right. Maybe fifty yards along,” Sawyer responds.
Clutching the bars, I try to calm my racing heart, but it’s no use. I won’t be able to breathe properly until I’m out of here. My only saving grace is the fact that Zade won’t kill me until the sixtieth moon. It means I have time to formulate a plan. But there’s no doubt he’ll make me pay for trying to escape him in the first place.
They’re like ghosts in the dark, moving silently through the prison until I hear them on the rickety stairs. If I weren’t trying to listen to every little whisper, I would have missed it. When Harrison comes down those stairs, it sounds like a herd of elephants, but these four guys . . . they’re stealthy, deadly assassins.
They hit the bottom of the stairs and there’s nothing but silence.
I shove my face right up against the bars, listening intently for anything that might clue me into their whereabouts, but there’s nothing. Not a damn sound. Maybe they’ve stopped or have run into trouble. Perhaps Harrison is there and they’re trying to figure out a way past him . . . or they’re working out how best to kill him like the fucking sickos they are.
I continue staring into the darkened hallway, seeing nothing when I hear a strange gurgling sound, followed by a loud thump of something dropping to the ground. My eyes widen, realizing I’ve heard that sound before—the night I followed the boys into this very place and watched as Zade slit a man’s throat.
Bile rises in my throat, and just as I’m about to gag, the shadows across the corridor begin to shift. I suck in a breath, my whole body shaking when I see them, the four demons living rent-free in my nightmares.
Sawyer. Dalton. Easton. Zade.
They can all rot in hell. But not until after they’ve busted my ass out of here.
“Where?” Zade questions again.
Sawyer’s face comes into view, his dark stare filled with determination. “Little further. She’s on the right.”
Relief pounds through my chest as they storm toward me, each of them holding heavy tools. But I’m not going to lie. I’m surprised to see Zade and Sawyer working together. How could they possibly come back from that? The fight they had . . . the way Sawyer broke. I could have sworn their friendship was over.
One by one, their sharp gazes come to mine. I look up at Sawyer as he clutches the bars of my cell, those callous green eyes locking onto mine. “You came back,” I breathe.
“I told you I would,” he says, his gaze jumping around the darkened cells. Zade’s laser-like stare hits my face, but I refuse to look at him. I’m not prepared to see evil staring back at me. Just as quickly as Sawyer appeared, he’s gone again, flying down the corridor to check on his father.
Before I even get a chance to follow his movements, Easton is right there, his dark gaze sailing over my body from head to toe. “You good?” he questions, not allowing even a shred of emotion into his deep tone.
I nod, watching as he shoves something between the bars to try and pry them apart, his strong tattooed arms working overtime, bulging and flexing with every movement. “Just get me out of here,” I insist, stepping away and focusing on the tool in his hands. It kinda looks like something firemen use to pry metal apart when trying to free victims from car crashes. I think they call it the Jaws of Life. Knowing my luck, the bars will probably snap and knock me out cold, though they won’t kill me. After all, only Zade can do that.