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)
My cheeks flush and the fire beneath the surface slowly spreads.
“He figured out that you, in fact, didn’t have a disorder but that you were two different people after he killed her. He thought you were both when he did the act.”
His words penetrate the wall I’ve kept up. The Fathers of the EKC were nothing short of brilliance. Mad, powerful, ethical. My annoyance with Priest came from him not being his father. Not being Nate. They would never, and if he was saying these same words in light of Bishop or Nate, I wouldn’t believe it. I wouldn’t second-guess. I’d know it was a lie.
With Priest…I am not sure. Because it makes sense. Because through the confusion of my own emotions, I’ve allowed myself to get lost back in the fantasy that he loves me, but does he do so with the thought that he’d killed me and not her? I’d heard she pretended to be me with him a few times toward the end. Vice versa would make sense.
My heart breaks for the final time.
I have no reason to believe he knew who I was. None.
“You know I know this to be true because you know how…”
I did. God, but I knew how he knew.
Grabbing me from my arm, he forces me to my feet. Turning to look over his shoulder he pauses, tucking me under his arm. I follow his line of sight to the audience behind the glass. A dozen people sitting in their seats, probably happy to even get an invite. There aren’t whispers. There is no fear. Simply because what this is, what Corbin is, doesn’t exist to anyone. He is simply the mechanism beneath the surface. No one takes apart a watch to see how it works, you simply trust the face. That’s what this is.
Corbin smirks, squeezing me. “I got my girl back.” He looks to the side before back to the audience. “Sic ’em.” The sound of blood-curdling screams are cut short when the door to the only exit closes, encasing us inside.
He reaches backward for me, and I look between his hand and his face.
“You can drop the act now. Come.” Act…like a dark cloud on a sunny day, it dawns on me what he means. The confusion of his back and forth tosses me in place.
Okay. He does think I’m Darling. He thinks I’m her and that Priest killed me on accident.
“One day, we will need a favor, Luna, and you can’t tell anyone, much less Priest, what this is because he will jeopardize it.”
“Did you let Madison go?” I ask, my mind blank.
He laughs, the side of his cheek crinkling against his leather coat. “Of course not. Chopped her up into little pieces and fed her to the animals. They’re rather hungry and haven’t seen you since you joined the show on the podium.”
My mouth dries as I shut out the memories.
His harsh thrusts. Pain. Pain radiating between my thighs as people would stare down on me from their seats. In a ring of torment, that’s all they would do.
Was watch.
He reaches for me once more.
This will be the performance of my life.
Chapter Forty-One
luna
Blood sprays across my face, raining murder.
Blow after blow, the boy loses his life at the hands of another. When the other finally has him on the floor, blacked out, or dead, a woman appears at the door, naked with her hair tied back.
“What do you think, lover?” Corbin asks excitedly, leaning in close to brush his lips over my ear. Peppermint and cigarettes, the smell is like a memory that won’t stop replaying.
“I think at least she’s older.”
He laughs, leaning back against his chair as the naked girl stares into the distance with a blank look on her face. Fueled by drugs, her movements are slow. She stops when her feet collide with the unconscious man on the floor before she turns downward, licking the palm of her hand and swiping it over her unshaven pussy. She slowly lowers herself to his cock, tugging on it a few times. He grows stiff in her hand. Maybe not dead. As soon as she can, she arches her back and directs the head of his cock into the mouth of her pussy. Her hips roll as she swallows him whole, her long hair grazing her tailbone as she rides her body over him.
Still, the man doesn’t move.
The girl rubs her tits, grabbing him by the throat and picking up her pace until her clit hits his pelvic bone every two seconds. Her body quivers before a scream erupts from between her lips.
“So fucking hot,” Corbin answers, watching the girl rape the unconscious man.
We need a favor. You’re not going to like it, but you’re not going to say no. I’m really sorry, Luna, you don’t deserve this.