Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 114936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 575(@200wpm)___ 460(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 575(@200wpm)___ 460(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
“Look!” I gesture toward the house. The door is slightly ajar, and even though it looks like the lights are off, there seems to be a flicker of light coming from the window upstairs.
“Oh.” She puts one foot in front of the other, and before I can stop her, she’s running up the stairs and to the front door.
“Dammit, Lilith!” Crazy bitch. I find myself once again pissed that I brought her. Yes, I feel safe with her because after we both escaped Patience, I learned that not only does she look pretty, but she can fight dirty. Very well. I wonder why she didn’t ask how I could fight when that all happened?
I follow behind her, looking over my shoulder as I climb the steps two at a time. Shoving open the door, I pause at the threshold, listening for movement. The lights are off downstairs, blanketed in darkness, but lucky for me, one of my training was other sight. Using other areas from your defense system when one is shot.
A tap drips slowly.
A clock ticks.
A single creak from the floorboards upstairs.
I jump to life and run up the stairs, looking for the light that’s coming from the bedroom.
“Lilith!” My need to know that she’s okay outweighs my other thoughts as I push open the door that flashes light from below.
A single TV is sitting on a cart where a video recording is playing in grungy quality.
“What…”
“You are going to be the best asset.” The man slid down the wall directly in front of me, his eyes searching mine. They called him Mr. Strange, and it suited him. It really did. Only he wasn’t strange. I understood him. I knew what he liked and didn’t. He wasn’t strange. “Do you want to be a good girl for me?”
I didn’t need to move to know that my head was already nodding up and down. I wanted to. I wanted to be a good girl for him. “Good.”
His hand came to mine and I looked at them both together. He was old. Old enough to be my father. “How old am I?”
He raised me to my feet. He stayed hidden from the camera, but I could see him just clear. “They will say too young, but I say perfect.”
I looked directly down the camera lens, my head leaning to the side. “Who is they?”
His finger dropped down my cheek, into the front of my top, where he rested it against my nipple. “They are you. They are all there for you.”
I slam against the wall on the other side of the room, sweat sliding down the side of my face. “What?”
Lilith’s hands are on my face, swiping my hair away from my welted skin. “Hey! Hey!”
“No!” I scream at her, squeezing my eyes closed. “This isn’t supposed to happen, they weren’t supposed to get in my head, Lilith! They—they—not me! What—” The door bursts open, and both Kyrin and Keaton stare down at Lilith and me curled in the corner. “What the fuck is that!” I scream at all of them, pointing toward the TV. “Who is that little girl, and why do I see this memory in my fucking head?” Before the tape can replay, Keaton kicks it over with his foot and grabs at his hair, turning back to face me but looking right at Kyrin.
“No!” I push up from the ground until I’m standing directly below both of them. I know Kill and King are hovering in the back somewhere, and someone else who I’m guessing is Kohen, but right now, I need to see Kyrin and Keaton, because they’re the ones I know when they’re lying. “What was that? No one was supposed to come near my head!”
Keaton steps in front of Kyrin, shoving him out of the way. “Who was it that was with you?”
My mouth snaps closed before reopening. “I—I don’t know.” I squeeze my eyes closed, frustrated that I can’t remember. Bile rises up my throat anyway, as if my body recognizes even if my mind doesn’t. “Keaton.” His name comes out with an exhale and my knees give way. I start falling when he catches me with his arm before I hit the ground.
“I promise we will figure out whatever is happening.” His finger touches my temple as he swipes my hair away from my face.
“You promise?”
His eyes search mine, like a tornado ripping through a forest. “Yes, I promise.”
“You could have told me.” I push up from the ground, looking between Keaton and Kyrin. Kyrin, who is glaring at the back of Keaton’s head. Clearly, he’s still not okay on the whole Keaton and me fucking around thing. “Both of you could have told me. I know you knew. Part of Killian’s mastery is seeing when someone’s memories and mind have been tampered with. You think that was Dominic with me?”