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)
“—and conniving like her other father,” Dad adds through a sip of whiskey. He lowers it onto his knee. “Sorry, son. I planned to have this conversation with you about that at a later time, but it’s been one thing after another since you’ve come on, and I wanted you to warm up to your other duties before dropping this one on your lap.”
I clench my teeth. “I have large thighs, Dad. Pretty sure my lap could have taken it.”
He snickers. “Smart ass.”
“For the fucking record, though?” I am sure to hold the room, waiting until each of them has their whole attention on me. “I’ve loved Luna since the day I first saw her. I know that now. When I told you to draw up a marriage contract, I allowed you to think it was best for her own safety, because I allowed you to think she needed the force of my hand to keep her alive or I’d kill her when I found out that she was a twin, which by the way, I knew. All along.” I could reword my following sentence, but without her here, I no longer care to sugarcoat shit. “I would have slit that girl’s throat a second sooner if I ever had my hands on her, so trust me when I say, Luna is the love of my fucking life, and if I ever hear another word out of anyone’s mouth mentioning that fucked up bitch around her?” I flash a wicked smile. “I’ll throw your ass in Wonderland. Won’t I, Stella?”
Stella grumbles, crossing her arms in front of herself.
I make them wait. “I made her my wife to protect her once she left the safety of Del Morts. All along. I knew if she were my wife not a single motherfucker would lay a hand on her, so how does it feel? To be played at your own game and knowing that in your old age, you were too busy playing checkers while I was playing chess.”
I light the end of the cigarette. “Moving on, now that we’ve got that out of the way.”
Pop’s in the room’s darkest corner, his hands buried in his pockets.
“What’d you all find out about the Ministry during the whole time that you decided to place one of our own—no—” I pause, shaking my head and flicking my thumb over my bottom lip. “—my own—into a situation that could have ended badly for her and I’m not talking about Perdita.”
The room falls silent.
“Well, nothing. We trained her with a specific set of skills that would help her survive, and we asked her for a favor. The time came when they took Madison just to get her attention. We led her to the house, and then you decided to go rogue and slaughter their entire army, walking out of there with the only man we’ve known to lead an organization by a collar around his neck. This man has done what no other has been able to do.”
“Mmm.” I don’t speak, and my eyes find Pop once more. “Interesting. And you’re saying she’s back there now, so now I’m going to tell you where your favor has led us.” I lean forward. “She broke out Corbin and is now running back with him to the hole they crawled out from, just to find this—Minister that no one has ever seen with their own eyes.”
“Bishop. The Ministry is a very new organization. It came about when you were in your mother’s stomach, but it’s new compared to others. We found out they run tunnels like the ones in Perdita that connect all over the States of New York and Colorado with connecting pipelines that keep them all together. This operation doesn’t come from the hand of an amateur.”
“You’re right, it doesn’t.”
They all stop, the tension in the air cracking like thunder when Dad’s eyes narrow on me. The smirk was inevitable since I’d successfully done the one thing I never thought I could do.
“It’s run by me, and Luna? She isn’t with them.”
Past
I stare back at the beaten and bloody face. It’s like watching your favorite horror movie with subtitles.
“This is him?” I ask Pop, gesturing to the man bleeding out on the chair in the middle of the room. To think…this farmhouse was once a place of family.
A fucked up one at that, but still a family.
“Here I was thinking you were showing me something—anything else. Since Dad hasn’t even given me the key yet. At least I’ll be ready when he does.”
His head hangs low between his shoulders. I grab the edge of my hoodie and pull it off.
“Before you do this—” Pop stops me. “You have to know some information that I found out. Most importantly, he’s apparently part of some new organization called the Ministry who took over the tunnels when your father declined the key. I don’t know many details other than that. I spoke with Lilith, who gave me a little background on her family heritage to try to piece together the twin situation and your wife. Seems they could have been formed by a child they didn’t kill when they took out the people Lilith came from. It’s been a slow build, but they’ve finally got the power and numbers by stealing and grooming members of Midnight Mayhem over the years. I don’t know what this motherfucker is doing mixed up in it—” He gestures to the beaten man on the chair.