Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 90209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
“Oh, I love pastry—tell me more,” I urged him.
“So, it was made on this roller on a stick, is the best way I can describe it,” Jake sounded thoughtful, as though he was trying to bring back the memory in detail. “He dipped the roller in this huge vat of batter and then put the stick over a charcoal brazier and rotated it until that layer of batter cooked and then he dipped it again and repeated the whole process. By the time he was finished and had sprinkled the whole thing in sugar and cinnamon and nuts, it was about twice as long as a roll of paper towels and almost as thick.”
“Oh my God—that sounds amazing,” I said dreamily. “Did you eat the whole thing?”
Jake laughed.
“Of course not! The three of us—my mom and dad and I—shared it, but we still couldn’t finish it all. We wound up feeding bits of it to the pigeons that were all over the place.” He sighed. “I guess that’s one of my happiest memories—I think I was ten or eleven then.”
“It sounds wonderful,” I sighed. “I’ve never been outside the US. Not even to Canada or Mexico. There was a class trip to Europe my last year of high school, but I couldn’t afford to go, you know?”
“I’m sorry you grew up with so little,” Jake murmured. “That’s not right, Ani.”
“It’s okay,” I told him. “It made me stronger—and brought my mom and me closer together.” I sighed wistfully. “Actually, I have to admit, I resent your dad just a little. My mom and I have always been so tight, but ever since he came into her life, it’s like…we’re not even on the same page anymore.”
Part of that was the fact that she believed all the crazy Werewolf bullshit, of course. But part of it was also because she was so in love with Marcus it was like she couldn’t see anybody else.
“Don’t blame her for being distracted.” That hint of bitterness had crept into Jake’s voice again. “That’s what happens when a Were finds their perfect soul-mate—the one they are meant to be with for life. They…lose themselves in each other, you know? I remember my parents were the same way. I mean, they never neglected me and they were always there for me, but they were more there for each other. It was like they lived in their own little world—a world that nobody else could ever really enter.”
“Yes, that’s it exactly!” I exclaimed. “It wasn’t like that when my mom was with my dad—they loved each other but it wasn’t like that. But once my mom got with Marcus, well, it’s like he’s the only one she can see.”
“Believe me, my father feels the same way about your mother,” Jake said dryly. “He’ll do things for her he wouldn’t do for anyone else—even if they hurt other people in his life.”
“What do you mean by that?” I frowned, looking up at him.
But Jake shook his head.
“Never mind—it doesn’t matter,” he said shortly, which I took to mean that the subject was closed.
“Have you thought of a way for us to get out of here, yet?” I asked, changing the subject to a more relevant one. “I mean, not that I’m rushing you or anything, but these people seem like they’re on a schedule and I’d like to get away before the full moon.”
“If I could just get these damn silver cuffs off, I could kill every one of them with my bare hands.”
Jake rattled the handcuffs against the bed frame, his voice a low, bloodthirsty growl.
“Whoa, there,” I said. “I didn’t say I wanted to kill them—I mean, they’re horrible people but they’re in a cult, you know? They’re brainwashed. You saw the way Sorenson manipulates them—I really don’t think this is their fault.”
“You’re more forgiving than I am,” Jake said, and his voice still sounded angry and growly.
“I guess so. But then…I’m sure you have more to forgive,” I said hesitantly. “Jake, when they captured you before…what did they do to you?”
He sighed and I felt his big body go hard and tense. Then he blew out a long breath and seemed to relent.
“They milked me, mostly,” he said in a low voice.
“Uh, sorry—what?” I wasn’t exactly sure what he was saying.
“Jerked me off and saved the seed I shot,” Jake said harshly. “They had some crazy idea that maybe they could use it to impregnate some other poor Were girl they were watching who they thought might have Royal blood lines.”
“Did she?” I asked. I was trying to sound calm, but secretly I was horrified by what he’d told me. So the Worshipers of the Moon had sexually abused him before. No wonder he hated them so much he wanted to kill them!
Jake shrugged—as well as he could with his arms cuffed over his head.