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)
Moses folds his arms in front of his chest. “Trust me. I have my own reasons why I won’t and why I agreed to do this.”
My muscles ease as I glare at Vaden. Thought I’d enjoy his brand of crazy after the ritual, but it turns out he’s more like a wild animal that I’ll have to retrain. The ritual consisted of three steps.
The first kill.
The burning of said kill.
And the ignition of the curse. It hits one member after punishing us for our ancestors’ mistakes. Everyone always assumed it’d hit me, but it’s become obvious that it landed on Vaden. He’s now someone we have to watch. Keep an eye on, until he goes full dark and tears ours out. Pretty sure I’m the only one who has noticed, but War isn’t too far behind. He’s smart if the equation didn’t involve Halen.
Moses shuts off his phone. “How often do you want this done? I thought you were joking all those years ago, but times are different now. Aren’t you busy runn—”
I step into his space. Moses isn’t small by any means, but he and I know that my size is the least threatening thing about me. Leaning down, I whisper, “As many as it takes.”
He backs up beside his right-hand bitch boy. Once he’s a safe distance away, he tsks. “Maybe it’s gone for good. Ever think of that?”
The muscles in my jaw harden when my teeth clench. It’s not until they’ve both disappeared through the trees that I push the words away and turn to War, who looks extra fucking annoying tonight.
Pushing past him, I make my way through the ragged path.
“You sure about this?” War calls out from behind while following my steps.
Ignoring War has become easier as time goes on. I’ll always appreciate what he offers, but loyalty has never been there on his part the same way it has with Vaden.
“Just shut up and follow my lead, War.” I drag my eyes off him and slide into my car.
Vaden pauses outside his own, a door open and his tatted hand resting above the top. I tap my window down when his head tilts to the side, his focus clearly not moving from me. “They could kill her. You know. Maybe they’d bleach-wash her.”
Fucking Vaden. I don’t answer, revving the engine and forcing it into first. I haven’t even reached the end of the road when my pop’s name flashes over the screen.
“We’ve got a problem, son.”
I roll my eyes and glance out the side window. “What is it?” Cirque de Diavolo fades in my rearview mirror as I drop the clutch and hit one-sixty.
Tonight was the first night of a game that we’ve altered the rules for. Will it work?
“What did you find out about Luna’s whereabouts after leaving you?” At the mention of Luna, my eyes shift to the rearview mirror, expecting her to be there.
“What Dad told me.” My neck cracks when I bend it.
“And how much of that do you think was the truth?”
“Spit it out, Pops. I don’t have all night and in under five minutes, your granddaughter will be hovering around my shit like the damn police.”
He pauses again. I'm pretty sure I'm not gonna like whatever he has to say.
I’ve not even held the gavel for one week, and it’s already feeling flimsy.
“She’d been going back and forth between the US and Spain, visiting with her parents, but there’s no trail of her being there.”
Trees zip past, and the light on my speedo burns through my retinas. “I know everything.”
Silence. “Everything?”
“Everything,” I repeat, my lip curling into a snarl. “Keep looking. It’s not that.”
Thirty minutes later, I pull up to the curb of my house, the engine rumbling as Halen jogs toward the car behind mine. The racing scene keeps the girls preoccupied, but War is starting to feel guilty for excluding Halen. Like I knew he would.
Someone bangs on the top, and I wind my window down to Vaden, his gaze on War’s car behind mine.
“Losing him.”
I cut the engine. “Nah. Only so far. He’s a Malum.”
Vaden lowers his attention down to me. “Wanna talk about tonight and the little doll you left out in the open for Moses?”
My lip twitches. “Not really. And besides, we’ve got someplace to be tonight, remember?”
Vaden’s eyes darken as he slides into the passenger seat and shuts us inside. “You wanna talk about whatever it is that you’re about to take me to tonight?”
Obsessing about Luna isn’t where I need my head to be, but I find myself there anyway. Her beige-blonde hair is always tied back by the silk of a ribbon. It reminds me of her. Ethereal, yet a mind twisted enough to form a knot. She’s simply my longest project yet.
With a light tap of the accelerator, we both fly into our seats as Vaden toys with the music.