Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 145942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 730(@200wpm)___ 584(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 730(@200wpm)___ 584(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
I swallow hard, the fear flowing through my body and crippling me as I make a show of standing as still as possible. “What do you want?” I demand, unable to stop thinking about all the kids who are standing on the dance floor, swaying their hips and celebrating these exciting new changes in our world, completely oblivious to the fact that their lives are currently in my hands.
Carver. King. Grayson. Cruz.
Dianna Danforth, and all the boys’ siblings.
One wrong move from me and their lives will amount to nothing but just another number in a long list of mass casualties, and I know without even a second of hesitation that I would hand my life over if it meant saving all of theirs.
“I guess you’re smarter than you look,” Paris says, flicking her gaze to her daughter and nodding.
I watch Ember through the bathroom mirror as she moves in behind me and shoves the dagger deep into the holster on her thigh. “Hands behind your back,” she spits, grabbing my wrists with such force that a sharp sting sails right up through my arm. She takes her time binding my wrists together and I let out a shaky breath, realizing that it was all too good to be true. I was so close and have had targets on my back since the day I was born. My luck was bound to run out at some point, and today, that time has come. I just wish that I’d had the chance to see Paris go down before my luck had run out.
I keep my stare on Paris, watching the delight in her eyes as for the first time in her life, her ridiculous little game is actually going as planned. “Alright,” she says once her daughter has me secured. “You’re not going to say a damn word. You’re not going to raise the alarm, and you’re sure as hell not going to alert those boys. Screw up and I blow it. You’re mine now. Is that clear?”
“Crystal,” I spit.
“Excellent,” she says, a smirk pulling at her lips. “Let’s go.”
CHAPTER 23
I stumble forward but quickly catch myself as Ember yanks me back to keep me on my feet, though not out of the kindness of her heart. To get away with this, Ember and Paris need a quick getaway, and while Paris has a shitload of C-4 strapped to her chest, I’ll be doing whatever the hell they want, even if it means giving up my life.
There’s a very real possibility that she’s fucking with me and that the explosives aren’t even real, but I can’t take that chance. I won’t risk anyone else’s life. Besides, Paris has already caused enough destruction in my world and I will personally see that she chokes on her own damn blood before causing any more.
I’m pushed right to the door of the bathroom and Paris opens it just an inch. She peers out, making sure that the boys aren’t about to bust her ass, and after confirming that her insane little plan is going just as she had hoped, she swings the door wide and rushes out.
Ember pushes me along, her hand shoving hard against my back as she forces me to keep up with her deranged mother. We continue in the opposite way from where I came, and after taking a sharp right-hand turn into a small storage room, Paris slams the door behind us and bolts it shut.
Ember immediately gets to work pushing a tall storage shelf aside. It’s clearly heavy and she’s using everything that she’s got just to move it out of the way and I find myself watching the show, taking in the way Paris stands back and refuses to do any of the hard work herself. It must be fucking nice to have minions doing everything for you.
“You’re taking too long,” Paris hisses, making a sour expression cross Ember’s face.
I can’t help but laugh. “What’s the matter? Upset that mommy doesn’t love you?”
Ember clenches her jaw and pushes harder. “At least I have a fucking mother. That’s a shitload more than what you could ever say. What happened to her again? Oh yeah, my mother convinced some deranged fucktard to take her out.”
Ouch. I’m not going to lie, that stung just a bit.
“Get on with it,” Paris snaps. “It’ll all be for nothing if we don’t get out of here and finish this.”
Geez, she really is a moody bitch. No wonder my mother never liked her.
The shelving shifts out of the way and I raise a brow as a long skinny staircase is revealed. It’s dark and there’s absolutely no hints as to where it leads, but on the bright side, if they were leading me to hell, all the movies suggest that the stairs should be going down, so there’s that.