Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
“It only seemed right for me to end the war between us. I wouldn’t pawn his death off like some coward. He deserved to look in my eyes and say his piece before the end. And he did before he left behind a nine-year-old girl so consumed with hatred she made my girls pay for her revenge.”
I drifted off him, staring unseeingly outside. “She killed us both to get you here. The only reason my death didn’t take is because she chose a hit man with principles. Anyone else, and I’d be gone.”
“That’s what she wanted. For me to come running at you hanging the flag, but I was always meant to be too late. She likely thought I’d stay in Regalia to search for who killed you. To search for her. Finally, her target would come to her.”
A chill climbed my spine. “That’s exactly what she said while smoke filled the room.” I locked on to him. “But I’m not dead, and I’m not going to play dead now that I know the whole truth. Winter was innocent in all this, and she tortured her to get to you. All to avenge a monster who got one child killed, then tried to soak his hands in the blood of two more.
“I get that he was her biological father, but the nut didn’t fall far from that sack. She’s no less a sociopath and she’s not getting away with it.”
“She won’t get away with it, and she won’t get what she ultimately wants either.” Alistair got to his feet. “Starling thought she could lure me out into the open, but now you’re here and safe. In the meantime, my associates are in the process of making sure she’s arrested for arson, kidnapping, and murder. They’ll plant the evidence if they have to.
“Once she’s safely behind bars, you can go back to your life, Luna. Winter will have justice. It’s finally over.”
The weight of that settled on my shoulders. It’s over?
But he was right. Everleigh lost her last bargaining chip. She couldn’t use me to get to my father, and she couldn’t hide anymore. I had four Rogues, but Alistair had all of them. He’d get the revenge I’d been seeking. He’d give Winter the justice she deserved.
“But I don’t want that.” As soon as I said it, the truth of it pressed harder than the weight. “I don’t want the pretty princess to sit behind a wall of lawyers, batting her dreamy eyes and fake crying while they spin the world into believing she was framed. I don’t want to watch her cut some kind of deal for a slap-on-the-wrist sentence. I don’t want to bite my lip till it bleeds when she pulls the same move as Everton and disappears the way only the mega-rich can do.
“Prison sounds like justice, but it’s not. Because in or out of a cell... she’s still alive.”
“I understand how you feel, but that’s not an option. Leon’s policy of not killing teenagers is one shared by me and everyone in my organization. We don’t kill kids.” He reached for my hand again, and I pulled away. His arm dropped by his side. “If there’s any benefit to her being so young, it’s that she’ll spend that much longer pondering her actions in jail.”
“You’re not hearing me.” I stood up, facing him down. “She’s not going to prison. Everleigh doesn’t feel an ounce of remorse for what she did to Winter. She said the goal wasn’t to kill her, but that didn’t stop her from laughing and taunting me.
“She will die for what she’s done. She’s going the same way as her father. Outed, disinherited, reviled, then dead.” I folded my arms, shrugging. “If you don’t want to be a part of it, that’s fine. Never asked for your help anyway. Now, is this ship pointed toward home? It’d better be. The guys are waiting for me.”
Alistair patiently waited for me to stop. “My dear, it’s you who isn’t hearing me. Your guys will be in danger again the minute she finds out you’re still alive. Leon risked his life and their lives to save you. Are you telling me you’re going to repay that sacrifice by making it all worth nothing?”
Guilt panged my chest.
“Everleigh Starling has countless resources at her disposal, and you have four teenage boys. How will you stop her, Luna? She’s always seen you coming.”
“I don’t know how. Yet.” Why lie? After all my scheming, tricks, and hacks, the only revenge I’d gotten against Everleigh was what she allowed me. I had zero dirt on her other than the Book Lady, and she didn’t give a shit about that.
I didn’t have a lot of options. What I had was four guys and a wayward father to protect. How did I do that while killing the bitch?