Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 33998 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 170(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 113(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33998 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 170(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 113(@300wpm)
Jessie laughed softly. “Stormy weather is my favorite kind. Mimics how I feel most days.”
I preferred sunshine to storms, but that was mostly due to my past. Bad shit always happened when it was storming. My parents were assholes; my mother turned a blind eye to my father to save her own ass, and he used me as a punching bag. I used Paul as a way to get out, but he turned out to be no better than my father. And for some reason, the anger was just so much worse when a storm was raging outside.
I was half-tempted to ask Jessie to take me back to the clubhouse to avoid whatever bad thing might be waiting on me, but I wanted to prove to her I was made of tougher stuff. Whiler was like a brother to her, and she wanted someone worthy enough for him.
So, I sucked it up and sat back, forcing myself to deal. And reminding myself I was just being superstitious.
Everything hurt. I could feel blood running down my face, and my arm was bent at an awkward angle. Trying to move my other shoulder sent fire racing through my veins, and I bit back a scream.
Jessie’s SUV was resting on its side, and I could see the ditch we were in quickly filling with water. Thunder boomed overhead. Rain pounded deafeningly against the car.
I sobbed, tears sliding down my cheeks. I knew storms only brought bad luck. I really should’ve told Jessie to take me back to the clubhouse…
Oh, God, Jessie. Was she okay?
I slowly turned my head to look above me. Jessie was still in her seatbelt, though she was unconscious. Blood covered her face and matted her hair. I tried not to panic, reminding myself head wounds bled a lot. But God, it looked so bad. Vomit rose in my throat, but I swallowed it down.
The sunroof above my head suddenly burst, glass shattering and sprinkling all over me, and I shrieked. My seatbelt was suddenly cut, and I slammed against the passenger door, a wail of pain ripping from my lungs before two sets of hands reached in and yanked me through the sunroof, glass slicing through my skin.
I moaned in pain, my teeth chattering, my entire body trembling painfully. I vaguely registered I was going into shock. I was cold, and it literally felt like my organs were shriveling in on themselves.
I cried out when whoever yanked me out dropped me onto the wet pavement with a loud smack. My chin bounced off the asphalt, knocking a tooth loose, and I spit it out onto the ground, blood rapidly filling my mouth. A boot slammed into my side, rolling me over. I gagged, vomiting in my mouth before I turned my head, letting it spill from between my lips.
“Remember me?” someone snarled.
I slowly turned my head, and fear slithered through my veins. Paul’s brother, Richard, was standing above me, his son at his side holding a wooden baseball bat in his hands. I tried to talk, but my teeth were chattering so hard, I only managed to bite my tongue.
“Paul mysteriously popped up dead this morning. Accident on a dirt road. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?” Richard asked, arching a brow at me, his hair matted to his forehead from the rain.
I shook my head because I really didn’t. But I knew that wouldn’t matter now. He already assumed I did, and he was here to make me pay.
I probably wouldn’t survive it.
Somehow, I managed to curl my hand into a fist, tears sliding down my cheeks at the feel of Whiler’s ring pressing into my skin. Richard made a sound of disgust, though it could barely be heard over the pounding of the rain. Lightning lit up the sky, turning everything white for a moment before thunder clapped overhead, shaking me to my bones and rattling the earth beneath me.
Richard snatched the bat from his son’s hands and tapped it against his palm. I tried to steel myself for the pain when he grinned down at me, water dripping from his balding head. But nothing could have prepared me for the crack of that baseball against my skin.
I screamed. I tried to push myself up to get the hell away, but agony shot through my left arm and fire shot through my right shoulder, crippling me, blinding me with the pain. The fucking bat slammed against my body again, and the pain made my vision go black.
I welcomed the numbing darkness with open arms, praying Whiler found me and Jessie in time.
Sirens were blaring in my ears. Something was grinding on metal. Someone unfamiliar was speaking above me, saying some kind of medical gibberish I would never be able to understand.
And then, I heard his voice.