Total pages in book: 168
Estimated words: 160578 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 803(@200wpm)___ 642(@250wpm)___ 535(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160578 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 803(@200wpm)___ 642(@250wpm)___ 535(@300wpm)
“At the castle?” Halen wants to protect her, but she doesn’t know Evie’s father’s involvement, even if it is minuscule. Dad and I kept it that way until the time was right. As time passed, Evie would ask questions since her father also kept her out of it.
Evie lays down beside me, blowing her hair out of her face. “Why’d you choose that?” She points to the patterns carved between the panels.
“What?” I ask, tapping through my Snapchat stories.
Vaden’s face fills the screen, his pierced tongue out and his eyes wide. He takes a line, clears his nostril, and snatches the phone off whoever is holding it on the other side. He brings it closer, his lips to the camera.
“Did you fuck that poor girl and have finally landed your parents in some shitty lawsuit that not even daddy could get you out of?”
I shut off my phone, cutting off Vaden’s dimpled smirk and move toward the armoire.
“What?” Unable to find my mask, I close the last draw and rest against it. Evie fixes on me. “Did I fuck who?”
She crosses one leg over the other, her head tilting to the side when she leans up on her elbow. Her invisible claws plunge deeper into my brain. She does this to see if she can pull anything out. Nothing but death and darkness. She should already know that.
“The girl at Madship’s!”
I ignore her cheesy name for my parents.
“Luna.” I push up and grab my phone, heading into my closet. I need to get the fuck away from Evie before her relentless bullshit sets in and it’s too late to backpedal myself out of it. “Her name’s Luna.”
“Oh fuck!” She must have stood up because her voice was close again. “I thought she looked familiar. Shit. Wait—” I turn, tearing off my shirt and tossing it to the corner of the room. Starting on my belt, I give up and leave it unbuckled when I notice she isn’t dropping the topic. “What ever happened to her?” I’ll never answer a question I don’t want to. She’s never been fazed by that. She wants me to know that she saw her.
Popping open a drawer in my dresser, I loop the rope of my Calvaria around my wrist. “I almost killed her.”
Evie’s smile drops.
My eyes darken. “Multiple times.”
There are no longer any more questions.
***
I’ve never been able to feel the cold. I used to find it confusing, as if I lived in a universe with muted sensations. Tonight, however, was crisp enough for me to feel the whistle of winter over the tattoo on my neck.
Soft whimpers sound through the trees, turning me to Vaden. “They’re late.”
He shrugs. “There’s a first for everything.” He’s both right and wrong. They’re never this late. I need to call him. I’m about to reach into my pocket when footsteps pad over fallen leaves.
“Sorry, we’re late.” Moses Dale and his sidekick appear behind a tree, moving branches out of the way. “Kind of thought he might change now that you have the gavel.”
“Told you I wouldn’t.” I glance at Vade. “We don’t stop until it’s done.” Everyone silences as leaves rustle across the forestland. I’ll wait for one of them to say it first and then jab them in the fucking throat.
Moses’s laughter catches in his throat when the light from his phone illuminates across his face.
He looks between me and his phone. “No breadcrumb trails this time?” His fingers pinch at his screen. “What’s the stopwatch mean?”
“You and I know that’s not how this game works.” I keep my eyes level on his. They may be called the Gentlemen, but there’s nothing gentle about how they work, and I’ll never turn my back on a snake. Lost in the middle of a treaty formed by our parents and grandparents, Moses and I have come to a mutual understanding over the years, but that’s not to say we’re amicable. One second inside a room we’re all in, and a nine wouldn’t even be able to blow a hole through the tension.
Vaden’s particular beef is not so simple. Judging by how shifty he’s been tonight, I’ll go ahead and say his nights partaking in the Hunt are numbered. For their convenience, not ours. Unless you count scrubbing Gentlemen brain matter off my ten-thousand-dollar Jordans. There are stories that circulate about why Vaden feels the way he does about the Gentlemen and why they hate each other so much.
None of which is the truth.
“Who have you got with you?” War asks, his eyes shifting from me to Moses. The more time he spends with my sister, the less I can tolerate him. I don’t need either of their morals spilling over the EKC. Thank fuck she’ll never—ever—have any say in how this gavel is slammed.
Vaden’s shadow emerges from behind War, his lip twitching. The lollipop he’s sucking on slides over his pierced tongue. “Or by all means.” He smirks. “Please break the rules.” His words stop me.