Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 82949 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82949 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
…and why do I get the feeling that I’m falling into a trap?
I had to keep running. I knew that the longer I stayed here, the less chance I had at getting away. Would they chase me? Yes. Would I die trying? Also yes. I was a fighter. My mother, bless her cold, dead heart, at least raised me with that. The bones of my ancestors were strong, and they didn’t come with any warnings.
I shoved the tree branch out of my way, the ship off in the distance. I needed to get on there so it could take me home. I touched the side of my face, desperate to feel anything. Any fucking thing.
Blood spilled from my thighs and the sun boring down on me only made me lose my footing. I couldn’t see straight. The ocean was tilting, the tree branches getting longer as I slowly fell to the sand, unable to move.
People shuffled around me, and I tried to move my arm again, but it was frozen. Unmoving.
“Get her up and put her back.”
Maybe I was dreaming again? I had to be. This couldn’t be right.
“I think we should just kill her.”
Who was that? None of their voices sounded familiar. Not at all.
“We’re not killing her!” another voice barked.
Was she mad? On my part? Why? She’s obviously an awful person to have put me in the position I was in.
“I know that. But she has to be put back in. It’s the bosses’ orders. Something went wrong. They’re trying to figure it out.”
Shiloh
I take the keys from Sparrow’s hand, staring up at him with the setting sun at his back. “So you took me here for what? To torment me into running around in circles?”
When I don’t think he’s going to answer, he holds my stare and clenches his jaw. “You think I wanted to spend the last few hours with a bunch of drunk teenagers, Shiloh? No, I didn’t.”
I fold my arms in front of me. Now that I know Cooper is crashed out on the boat and everyone who was here is now gone, I can breathe again. I can talk to Sparrow and hopefully get any and all information out of him. “You keep asking if I am the one. All three of you do. One of what? Who are you looking for?”
“It appears,” he murmurs, his attention falling to my lips. “Not you.”
I ignore the sharp sting that pierces my skin at those words. Ridiculous. Why would it hurt me that I’m not the one they want to kidnap?
“Go, Shiloh. Before I change my mind.”
“So this game?”
“Is not your business,” he snaps, his agitation obvious. “And don’t fucking breathe a word about what you saw out here either, or else we will pay a visit to your mother.”
I step backward, away from him. “All three of you are fucked.”
“Get on the boat, Shiloh.”
I climb over the hull and shove the key into the hole. I don’t take my eyes off him. Not when I put the gear into reverse, and not until I am boosting away from the dock so fast it is like I was never there.
Nothing makes sense. Not why they captured me, not what I would catch them mumbling about, and definitely not what they made me feel. They are confusing, as well as confused, if I guessed right. I drop down my speed when the small waves on the surface of the ocean white cap maunder between the breaks. The closer I get to the mainland, the more I have the urge to turn back. Something isn’t right. Why would they let me leave the way they did, and why throw a party on the island?
Cutting through the bar crossing, I swerve into the mooring docks, sliding into one behind Old Man John. He lives on his, and I’m sure won’t care that I’m leaving this parked behind. Or he might. Because it’s too flashy—as he would say.
“Cooper!” I shove his body with my foot. “Wake up.”
Cooper stirs, rolling onto his back while resting his hand over his stomach. “Was I dreaming, or was Dion there? I really did not want to see my cousin.”
“You were dreaming,” I mutter, jumping out of the boat and tying it to the dock. I don’t know when Sparrow will collect it, but I kind of like it.
“Oh…” Cooper pushes up from his position, pausing while staring off into the distance. His blond hair is a mass of waves and chaos all over his head, and when he stops breathing, his cheeks puff and his finger goes up, I know what is coming. He launches over the boat and spews into the water.
“Gross, Cooper.”
“Nope.” He shakes his head, pulling the sunglasses down over his eyes and finally following me down the dock. “What’s gross is the fact that you have been tapping that fine piece of ass, and you’ve hidden it from me!”