Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 118042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 590(@200wpm)___ 472(@250wpm)___ 393(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 590(@200wpm)___ 472(@250wpm)___ 393(@300wpm)
I wasn’t proud of what I’d done up there.
I put it down to the black insanity slowly creeping over my mind.
Victor had wanted me to perform a Diamond Kiss to fully initiate me into his realm.
Well…last night I’d finally done it.
Five fucking times.
And I had to say, it was hard work.
Breaking their rib cage, hacking through gristle and muscle.
My hands had been bright crimson by the time five fat-riddled hearts lay on the mantle, lined up like gruesome Christmas stockings waiting for Santa to stuff them.
Blood pooled on the tan leather of the Lambo as I screeched down the hill, drove like a fucking maniac around the twisty, turny lanes of this quaint Tuscan village, then shot down the main drag out of town.
This entire place looked like a pretty postcard.
Yet it housed despicable monsters just like everywhere else.
My hands slipped on the steering wheel, smearing blood.
My blood or theirs?
Looking down, I snickered as yet more scarlet stained the car. The cleaning bill would be horrendous. My eyesight faded a little as streetlights vanished, and I turned on the high beams, slicing through the countryside.
It felt like I was the only one alive.
The only one who didn’t want to be.
I chuckled as I swayed. I blacked out for a second. The wheels juddered over the edge of the road, making the steering wheel dance beneath my fingers.
Whoops.
How funny would it be if I drove myself straight into a ditch?
Would it kill me quickly or slowly?
I grinned, feeling a lightness in my chest that hadn’t been there for so long.
Tonight.
I felt it.
Tonight was my last night on this earth.
Checking the address of my next victim, I almost drove into a rock wall.
“Whoopsies.” I laughed.
It felt so good to laugh.
So fucking good after so much fucking misery.
Ah, Ily…
I’ll see you soon, little nightmare.
I just have one more home to visit, and then I’ll join you.
I stomped on the accelerator. My thigh blazed, my torn arm dripped, and I smiled with twisted happiness.
Driving into a ditch wouldn’t kill me quick enough.
But the next beast I put down most likely would.
I had a few hours left judging by the dark pool glinting on the car floor.
Just a few hours to get there, kill as many cunts as possible, and then…I can sleep.
A deep, wonderful sleep…with her.
Chapter Thirty-One
………………………….
Ily
I WOKE TO MY PHONE screeching.
Sitting up, I fumbled for it on the couch where I’d passed out in the Chauhan home.
We’d talked until dawn.
They’d gone to bed holding hands and insisted I stay.
I’d called my parents so they wouldn’t worry and texted Krish that I was okay.
So who…
Blinking at the caller I.D, not recognising the number, I wondered if it was my brother.
The fact that I could come and go without him fretting revealed just how much he didn’t need me anymore.
Most of my life I’d been the only one who could calm him, soothe him.
Now, Tiger had replaced me.
“Hello?” I scrubbed my eyes, brushing away salt residue from all my tears. I ached worse than I had when I’d woken from the dead. All that grief inside me had poured out and made space for yet more to well.
But it’d been healing too.
To talk about him.
To tell his parents just how selfless their son had been. How he’d protected not just me but all the jewels. How he’d become their rock, their leader, their hope.
“Ily?”
I almost dropped my phone.
That voice.
My heart lurched with hope. “Henri?”
“No, it’s me. Q.”
All my hope popped. I heard it now. The French accent where Henri’s was English. But the baritone. The gruffness.
For a split second, I’d been in ecstasy.
Bracing against the cushions, I drowned beneath worry. Paavak’s parents, Arun and Saanvi, had turned on a side light by the old brick fireplace. The logs in the hearth had turned to charcoal, leaving the room chilly as the sun rose.
“What is it?” I rushed. “Is Henri okay? Did you find him?”
I rubbed my heart.
The beat felt stable, strong. I’d felt no kick or skip.
He has to be alive.
He has to be…
“You need to come with me. Right now.”
All sleep and grief vanished. “How? Where?”
“You’re in Leeds? I’ve tracked your phone. Franco is on his way to you.”
I stood and almost bashed into the coffee table. “What’s happened? You’re scaring me.”
“My brother has earned quite a murderous reputation for himself. He’s pissed off a lot of people. I’ve just intercepted an email between a few bastards that says they’re meeting today to kill him. They’ll be far more than he’s expecting.”
“What?” Grabbing my puffer jacket off the couch’s arm, I raced to the door. “Where is he? I’ll drive there right now.”
“He’s in Tuscany. Franco will take you to the airport. I’ve already sent the plane. I’m on my way. We’ll meet there.”
“Is he…is he okay?” Shrugging into my jacket, I dashed to the car. “I’ll drive myself. Tell me what airport. I’m leaving now.”