Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 89379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
“Can we get two tickets, please?” Belinda requested loudly, shooting a smug look over her shoulder at me.
I rolled my eyes and turned to Peter. “Guess we’ll be waiting for the next one.”
“You snooze, you lose,” Liz chirped at us, and she and Belinda cackled. They were clearly still feeling sore about us winning Tug O’ War at Games Night and felt the need to reclaim their power. Incredibly childish, yes, but I expected no less from Belinda Williams. Just because we made peace with each other at Grace’s house party didn’t mean she would turn over a completely new leaf.
“Hey!” Grace exclaimed from where she sat next to Ren, a few feet up in the air as they waited for the ride to begin. “Did those bitches just skip you in line?”
“We were defeated under the pretext of snoozing and losing,” I replied deadpan.
“That old chestnut,” Grace called back, looking annoyed.
“Don’t worry about it. We’ll get on the next one,” I said as Belinda and Liz flounced by, fanning themselves with their tickets as they sassily climbed aboard the final carriage.
“Why don’t we go get something to eat while we’re waiting,” Angela suggested.
“Good idea,” I said, thinking some sugary pink candyfloss might counteract the saltiness I felt toward Belinda and Liz right then.
Peter took my hand, and we walked to the nearest stall selling candy floss, toffee popcorn, pretzels, and giant lollipops. Angela asked Peter about an assignment from one of their classes, and I fell back, distracted by a strange sensation tiptoeing down my spine. Being a dhampir, I’d always had a good sense of when someone was watching me. I didn’t mean when someone was merely looking at me in a benign way. It was a sense of someone with predatory intentions observing me, and it never failed to put me on alert.
My hand fell free from Peter’s as I stopped walking and looked around. A sea of humans surrounded me. I couldn’t see anyone suspicious, but I could feel them.
“Darya, are you okay?” came Peter’s voice, startling me. I’d been so fixated on the unknown presence that I didn’t realise my boyfriend was standing right in front of me.
I blinked, and the feeling of spiders crawling down my spine vanished. Whoever, or whatever, had been watching me was gone, and my relief was stark. I didn’t like feeling that kind of fear, but what freaked me out the most was that someone was observing me, spying on me, most likely with ill intentions.
“I’m fine. I just got a weird feeling for a second,” I finally told Peter. His brown eyes narrowed in concern.
Angela reached out to touch my arm. “You seem a little shaken, Darya.”
“Do I? I’m probably just tired.”
I’d tell Peter everything later. I didn’t want to freak Angela out, not after the demon vampire, Sven, attacked her. She’d already suffered enough trauma and sleepless nights. Sven was locked away in the Prison of Thorns, which I knew gave her peace of mind, but still, informing her of some new, unknown presence wouldn’t be a good idea. She’d been doing so well getting back to normal, and I wanted her to continue doing so.
Peter reached out and tucked some hair behind my ear. “Come on, let’s get some food.” He slid his arm around my waist, and we continued on our way.
A little while later, after we finally got our chance to ride the Big Wheel, our group decided the bumper cars might be fun to try next.
“I’m going to sit this one out,” Angela said. “All that bumping gives me a headache.” She briefly touched Peter’s arm. “Will you stay and keep me company?”
“Sure, I can stay with you,” he replied politely.
“Come on,” Grace said, taking my hand. “Let’s grab a car before they’re all gone.”
I allowed her to lead me onto the platform, and we lowered ourselves into individual bumper cars. Then, like a bad smell, Belinda and Liz appeared and climbed into cars.
“Are they stalking us?” Grace asked grouchily.
Belinda eyed us, then leaned across her car to say something to Liz in a quiet voice.
“I have no idea. Just ignore them,” I replied, slotting in my seatbelt.
Taking my own advice was tough because both Belinda and Liz made it their mission to attack my car every chance they got. Belinda drove into me from the side while Liz bumped me from the back. I growled under my breath and swung the steering wheel around, determined to get them back. It was useless, though. The two of them worked together, ramming into me repeatedly until I wished I’d taken a leaf out of Angela’s book and sat it out entirely. Grace tried to come to my rescue, but they had me completely penned in.
“You’re being incredibly childish,” I shouted at them.
“Being childish is so much fun,” Belinda shot back with a chuckle as she rammed my car again.