Total pages in book: 168
Estimated words: 160578 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 803(@200wpm)___ 642(@250wpm)___ 535(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160578 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 803(@200wpm)___ 642(@250wpm)___ 535(@300wpm)
“There’s a possibility that we’ve had it wrong.” My mind spins and as much as I try, I still can’t manage to open my eyes. Lost in the maze of my own consciousness.
“Everyone get the fuck out.”
“Priest.” Another familiar voice. River? All movement stops. “She needs me.”
Dear Darlings
Dear Darlings,
Luna Nox Hayes is dead. Wanna know how I know?
Because I killed her.
There. I step back, admiring my work as music drifts through the room.
“Get the fuck up and go downstairs. Now.”
Rolling my eyes, I drag my finger across his chin as I dance down the hall, laughing at the pictures on the wall. “Let me guess!” I wail over my shoulder, knowing he won’t be far behind. “Each picture represents a stage of your feelings for Little Luna Nox!”
I finally hear the lyrics to the song playing. A smile touches the corner of my mouth when voices echo through. The pen had long since left ink stains on my fingers.
“Swell,” I announce, rounding the corner to the kitchen. “You’re all here, as suspected.” A simple chandelier hangs from the middle of the room, raining the reflection of diamonds down on everyone. I hum along to the song playing—one I don’t recognize.
“Well now…” I tease, burying my fingers in the mane of Priest’s locks when I pass where he’s sitting at the head of the table. “Are you going to tell all of your friends what I did to your sweet”—I swoop up his glass of whiskey, inhaling deeply until the notes buried in the liquor sting the tip of my nose—“little wife?”
“What the fuck is going on?” The dark-haired one at the end of the table glares at Priest as if he’s just dragged a new girl home.
He has.
Maybe she was close to Luna, so she’s annoyed that I’m here. Either way, sounds like a her problem and not one for me.
He shakes his head, his finger tapping against the tabletop as if he is counting down inside his head. Maybe he is.
I don’t think I’ll ever know him the same way that she did.
I don’t need to though. I need him to love me.
Which he will.
“I want to play a game.”
“Sit down…” Priest warns, earning his eyes to finally land on me.
I almost pause. Almost. This house is beautiful.
“Awww…Pookie, I’m not done, though!” I bat my lashes at him, but when the dark shadows over his features turn a familiar shade of gray, I roll my eyes and fall onto the chair beside the big, dark-haired one with the weird colored eyes. I was pleased to finally meet his friends, or family, but the more that time goes on, the tighter the tension gets in my head. Had it been this long? Did they forget who I was? Maybe they need reminding.
My knee jiggles beneath the table, but I keep my eyes fixed on the dark wall behind them. The dining table is long enough that if you want to whisper anything, no one could hear. That bothers me since I know they all want to whisper about me.
Her eyes burn the side of my face like a flame, so I give her what she wants, cleaning the spilled liquid from the curve of my lip and smiling at her with a wide grin.
“Can I help you?”
“Yes,” the raven-haired one says, and Jesus, she is pretty. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a girl as pretty as her. I’m not so sure that I’d even call her pretty since she looks good enough to fuck. She leans back in her chair, her black hair rolling over her slim shoulder. “You can tell us why the fuck you killed our friend.”
“Hmm…” I shuffle myself up on the table as waiters clear the dirty dishes, leaving the abundance of juices, wine, and expensive whiskey. “Nope. I don’t want to.”
My shoulders lift in a shrug, and I haven’t even tapped my way to where Priest is when the pain radiates in my back. Like a slice of hot metal, I fall to my knees in a wobble, the laughter leaving my mouth in a burst of mania.
“You shot me?” I roll onto my back, blinking up at the ceiling.
“Stella!” Priest is in front of me now, and it wasn’t the first time I’ve seen pain flicker over his eyes. The first time, well, the first time was when he realized Luna was gone forever and she was never coming back.
“It’s a flesh wound! I’ve had claw marks across my face deeper than that!” she seethes, her crimson-red lips sneered at me. “But since she’s already wounded.” She shrugs, flicking the elongated fork between her fingers in a way that makes me question whether she’s human. “Let me put her out of her misery.”
“Bitch,” I cough, banging on my chest. My hands find Priest’s shirt, leaving a smudge of red. “Huh. Red is totally your color.” Swinging my leg off the table, I push past the pain radiating from my back and find myself in Priest’s arms, right between my legs.