Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 63565 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 318(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63565 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 318(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
“I will help you, unquestionably, but I want to ask for something in return.”
His eyes move to me as he pulls out a cigarette and brings it to his lips. He’s beautiful in the most terrifying way, and he knows it. He could capture any woman’s attention, before completely crushing her spirit. Even then, she would probably still want him. He has something about him that makes you want to fall at his knees. He’s very hard to say no to.
He doesn’t ask questions, so I go on without further thought.
“I no longer want this life,” I say, my voice higher in pitch than usual. “I would like to start my life, away from all of this, and I never want to look back. So, I’m asking you if I help you get everything you want...will you let me walk away?”
Tipping his head to the side, he inhales deeply before slowly blowing smoke from his lips. “You want freedom?”
Swallowing, I nod. “Yes.”
“And you wish me to give it to you?”
I nod.
“Tell me, first, how did you kill her?”
He’s never going to let that go.
He’s never going to walk away until I tell him.
He wants me to say it out loud, to give him every horrifying detail.
So, that’s precisely what I do.
I tell him everything, including how she begged on the ground before me, blood pouring from her mouth, and I did nothing. I kicked the phone away from her, so she couldn’t call for help, and I stared down at her until the life was sucked from her eyes.
“I am impressed,” he murmurs, walking over to me, “you’ve always intrigued me, but now I must say you’d be a good asset to have on my side.”
“I would rather not be an asset,” I say, firmly. “I simply want freedom. Are you willing to give that to me in exchange for my help, or not?”
It takes him so long to answer, I begin to fear he won’t.
“Very well, if you give me everything I ask for, you may walk away.”
“Free of everything,” I say, “never to be bothered by this life again?”
“As you wish.”
Now, the question that terrifies me the most. “What exactly do I have to do for you?”
He smiles. “Just one thing. You have to take out the one thing that is in my way, that will be in my way until he is removed.”
No.
No.
Please don’t say it.
“You have to kill Death.”
THERE IS A LEVEL OF pain in my heart as I sit in the back of the cab on the way back to the club, a level that I don’t know if I can handle.
He wants me to kill Death.
The only thing he is asking in return for my freedom, for a life without him or anyone else in it, a life that I can start anew. If I don’t do it, then he won’t release me. I’ll be forever in his world, and the thought of that makes me almost sicker than the one where he asked me to kill a man I really don’t want to.
I don’t know what to do.
I don’t know how I’m going to make this choice.
Can I ever be truly free with that mark on my soul?
If I kill Death, it is a regret I will take to the grave with me. I don’t know that I can ever just forget about it and enjoy my newfound freedom. Yet, at the same time, the thought of staying in this world, with Marek running things, is almost equally terrifying.
Arriving at the club, I pay the cab driver and climb out, walking in past the two guys standing at the front gates, smoking. Their eyes fall on me, then move to my neck, and I know the mark that Marek left is unable to be hidden. I know that when I see Mex, he’s going to cast his eyes on it, and he’ll know...he will know what I have done.
I don’t owe him anything, I know that. Hell, the man was sleeping with another woman just days ago, but that doesn’t stop the dull ache in my chest and the butterflies in my stomach as I walk through the doors and rush to my room. Managing to make it without running into anyone, I lock the door and sit on the edge of my bed, closing my eyes and dropping my head into my hands.
I have a choice to make, and I don’t have long to make it.
Twenty-four hours. He gave me twenty-four hours to either kill Death or give up my chance at freedom. Either way, I don’t have long to make a life altering decision, and there isn’t anyone in the world I can talk to about it. Not even Jayme. He would want me to go and live my life, but at the same time, I know he wouldn’t want me to kill Death.