Total pages in book: 187
Estimated words: 184867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 924(@200wpm)___ 739(@250wpm)___ 616(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 184867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 924(@200wpm)___ 739(@250wpm)___ 616(@300wpm)
“Where is he?” I ask.
“Upstairs, to the left of the balcony. The door is painted black. You can’t miss it,” Blaine answers.
I nod a few times, then look at my own hands which don’t look like mine at all. Someone else’s blood is on me. “I … want to take a shower now.”
Ares’s eyes narrow. “Fine. Go on, then.” He nods at the stairs. “I’ll be right there.”
He’ll be right there?
“What did you do to her?” Blaine whispers behind me.
“Someone got what they deserved …” Ares responds. “And now I need a fucking drink and a smoke.”
I head upstairs, still feeling like my own feet aren’t mine. I don’t want to go back to the guest room. It doesn’t feel like mine. Doesn’t feel right.
So I knock on Caleb’s door, hoping he’ll be my salvation.
I can’t be alone right now.
I can’t be with my own thoughts, or I’ll go mad.
Ares left me with such a destructive wantonness that I don’t want anything anymore except more blood and cum. Death and desire have been forever interlaced.
And all I want right now is to lay down my head and forget.
Caleb
“Leave me alone …” I groan.
I don’t want to eat more of Blaine’s awful cooking. Besides, I’m not in the mood to listen to his endless stories either.
“It’s me.”
Crystal’s squeaky voice instantly makes me jump out of bed. I run to the door to open it up, but my whole body freezes to the ground at the sight of her covered in blood.
What happened to her?
“Can I come in?” she asks.
I pull open the door farther and let her step inside, but I can’t take my eyes off her. She’s covered in splatters of blood, and judging from the shell-shocked look on her face, I’m pretty sure she didn’t just witness a murder … she took part in one.
She steps inside my room, looking around at my decorations and furniture, all in black and red with as little light as possible as I like to keep the windows shut and the curtains closed.
She picks up a skull lying on the cabinet and stares into its eyes.
“He made you kill, didn’t he?” I ask, swallowing.
She places the skull back and sits on the bed, staring at the floor like she’s seen ghosts talk.
I sit beside her and softly caress her hand, but she pulls it away.
“I’m sorry,” she murmurs.
“What are you sorry for?”
Tears well up in her eyes, and she leans into me, swallowing them away, refusing to let them fall. And I’m torn between loving her and hating him. Even though I was the one who wanted him to ruin her, destroy her … I never realized it was only because I wanted her so badly I couldn’t stand her.
But now all I feel is regret.
“I’m the one who should say sorry,” I mutter, gently caressing her back. “I was blinded by my own rage.”
“Everyone in this house is.”
I’d disagree, but I know she’s right.
Even she’s been corrupted, her heart poisoned with hatred.
All because of us.
Crystal
A noise downstairs makes me look up, and I immediately run to the door before Caleb can stop me.
“Crystal, wait!” Caleb says, but I’ve already opened it up, and I peek through the gap.
A guy with flowy dark brown hair downstairs is yelling at Ares.
“What the fuck have you done, Ares?”
I clutch the door to get a better look at the guy. Something about him feels so familiar.
“Hello to you too,” Ares grits.
“Are you insane? That’s fucking Bonesmen territory you just barged into.”
Bonesmen?
“Why do you fucking care what I do?” Ares quips, casually drinking alcohol from a glass. “When have you ever cared?”
“I’ve always fucking cared, dammit.” The guy slams his fist onto the table next to the door. “This ain’t no fucking game, Ares. You murdered one of their men in cold fucking blood.”
Ares narrows his eyes. “And you know this … how?”
“Who the fuck do you think told me?” the guy replies, running his fingers through his dark hair. “You know he does business with the Bones Brotherhood.”
“Bones Brotherhood …” I mutter.
“Traffickers and drug dealers,” Caleb answers, scaring me a little because I didn’t even realize he’d creeped up on me.
The symbol of bones flashes across my mind again, and my stomach instantly squeezes together.
Only when I take a closer look at the guy yelling at Ares do I realize why he looks so familiar.
“Wait … is that Kai?” I whisper. “That’s Nathan’s friend from the Phantom Society.”
“Yes.” There’s a hint of disappointment in Caleb’s voice.
“You know both of them?” I ask.
Caleb sighs out loud. “Unfortunately.”
“I don’t fucking care,” Ares tells Kai, stoically drinking more alcohol.
“I don’t understand you,” Kai replies. “All this time, you’ve been fighting him, and now you just go around murdering anyone you set your eyes on.”
Ares sets down his glass before eyeing him. “I murder those who fucking deserve it. And don’t fucking pretend you don’t kill whoever you want to kill. I’ve seen you sneaking off with your friends.”