Total pages in book: 191
Estimated words: 188966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 945(@200wpm)___ 756(@250wpm)___ 630(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 188966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 945(@200wpm)___ 756(@250wpm)___ 630(@300wpm)
My gut churned with anxiety.
“It’s only eight, and it’s Friday.” Neri crossed her arms. “And besides, we have a guest.”
Jack bopped her on the nose with his finger. “We have another early start in the morning, and you have all the homework that you were supposed to finish yesterday. That means you don’t get a weekend, and our guest isn’t going anywhere. You’ll see him tomorrow.”
“I will?” Her eyes brightened. “Can he come with us to see Koholā?”
I blanched.
Go back on the ocean after it stole my entire family?
No fucking chance.
“We’ll discuss it tomorrow.” Jack pointed at the sliding door leading into the house. “Now, git.”
Neri glanced at me, her gaze sharp and far, far too seeing. Chewing on her bottom lip, she looked at her mother and then her father and shuffled deeper into her chair. “You know...you might as well let me stay and listen to whatever it is you’re about to talk about.” She crossed her arms. “I’ll just eavesdrop anyway. No matter where you go, I’ll just sneak around until I hear everything.”
“Nerida. This doesn’t concern you,” Anna scolded gently. “Go to bed, love.”
Determination etched Neri’s young face, making my heart skip. “It does concern me.” Pointing at me, she said firmly, “I’m the reason he’s here. I’m the reason he’s alive. He belongs to me just as much as I belong to you. Whatever you have to say to him does concern me because he said it himself.”
My heart raced as she leaned forward, never taking her intense stare off me. “His every breath is mine now, and I think I have a right to know where he’s gonna live while taking those breaths.” She looked at her mother, a plea entering her tone. “He’s alone, Mum. We’re all he’s got. I want to be here to make sure you’re not gonna send him away. He needs us.”
“Neri, enough,” I whispered. “Go to bed.”
She scowled. “Don’t tell me what to do, Aslan. I’m staying. Whatever you’re about to say to my parents, you can say to me.”
Jack hung his head and slouched in his chair.
Anna sucked in a tired breath.
And Neri stuck up her chin, knowing she’d won.
She was definitely a force.
A tiny hurricane.
A tropical cyclone far more terrifying than the storm that’d smashed apart my world and left me clinging to life because I had an awful, awful feeling if she ever smashed apart my life like that storm did...I wouldn’t survive the wreckage.
“Aslan...it’s your decision,” Jack finally said. “We can go for a drive and leave my troublesome child to wander the streets searching for us, or we can talk here.” His eyes shot a blatant message. Say nothing that might scar my child or cause her nightmares.
After what Anna had told me about Neri’s childhood friend being killed and Neri somehow knowing about it, I agreed with his request.
She didn’t need any other darkness staining the bright, beautiful light she shone.
Besides, I was well used to keeping evil as far from innocence as possible. I’d done my utmost to keep Melike naïve to why we were running and what would happen if we were caught.
Neri never looked away from me, her crystal-clear blue eyes drowning me in so many things. Beneath her determination to hear things she shouldn’t lingered hurt and fear.
Hurt not to be included.
Fear that I might not be here when she woke.
The way she watched me sent alarm bells clanging in my head.
My chest tightened, and I knew I shouldn’t. I cursed myself that I did. But my heart gave another strange kick, and I found myself bowing to every demand she made.
“She can stay.”
The smile she gave me made air hard to come by.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “I promise I won’t utter a thing you say to anyone.” She drew a cross over her chest.
I cleared my throat and looked away.
Jack caught my stare, his dark blue gaze churning with things I didn’t want to see. Throwing a quick glance between his daughter and me, he leaned forward and clasped his hands on the table. “Alright then...let’s begin.”
Anna stood and disappeared into the kitchen, returning a few moments later with a jug of water to top up our dry glasses.
“How old are you?” Jack asked.
I sat taller, grateful the questions would start off easy. “Sixteen.”
“And how many of you were travelling?”
“Five. Me, my cousin, my sister, and my mother and father.”
Jack swallowed with a wince. “And...did you see what happened to them? Is there any chance they might still be alive? That they’ve been found by others and are looking for you?”
My heart panged with vicious, cutting hope.
I hadn’t even thought of that.
My hands shook as I clutched my glass. “I-I—a wave ripped us apart. My last memory was huddling with my mother, sister, and cousin, and then...I wasn’t.” My voice thickened. “I suppose there’s a possibility they were able to stay afloat like I did. That they drifted to another rescuer.”