Total pages in book: 164
Estimated words: 157308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 787(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 157308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 787(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
“Because now I know you want me as much as I want you. And you, Luna Sinclair, take what you want. Victor Wilson is no threat to me.”
“You can be confident for both of us. I can’t believe I still have this whole mess to sort out with Victor. Not to mention what I did with Lucien yesterday. Or the fact I cuddle with your brother every night. Or that Wilder kissed me today.”
He whistled, eyes closing like he was going to sleep. “Complicated for sure,” he breezed. “Lucky me. All I have to do is lie back and wait for you to pick me.”
Calling him a jerk was being kind.
I bit my lip. “Is it okay if I don’t figure it all out right now? Putting aside the feelings that I have to sort through for Lucien, Cato, and Wilder, there’s this mess with Victor. I have to figure out a way to end this engagement that protects my mom, and doesn’t get Victor disowned. I can’t have that on my conscience.”
“There’s no pressure coming from me, Luna. Take all the time you need.”
“Thank you.” I hid my smile against his chest. “I still want to call you my boyfriend, though.”
He cracked one amused eye open. “You fucking better.”
I lay on his chest, settling in to stay for twenty-four hours.
“Can I ask you something without it ruining the mood?”
My smile dimmed. “Is it about what happened today?”
“You took a fire extinguisher to a locked armory, then ran in here for a bomb. If I fall asleep, am I going to jolt up to the sound of an explosion?”
I searched myself for an answer. “No,” I said honestly. “There’s nothing in there that I need. My next strike has to take out every rotted b-bitch in that room today.” My voice shook. “It’s no good if I just get back at Saylor, then get thrown in prison.”
Rafael’s touch was warm on the back of my head. “What happened, Luna?”
I fixed on a point on the wall, holding onto the feel of Rafael’s arms. “Saylor, Piper, Everleigh, Gabriella, Iris, and six other freshmen and sophomore Royals dressed as Winter did the day she... died. They wet themselves down and painted their faces like they drowned.”
He stilled, chest frozen as he stopped breathing. “They fucking did what?”
“It was evil.” Wetness clung to my lashes. “A cruel, vicious, evil thing to do. And when I ran out screaming and crying... they laughed.”
A low, menacing growl silenced the joking trickster. “I shouldn’t have stopped you.”
“No,” I said softly, drawing him up and under the covers with me. “You did the right thing. I wasn’t thinking clearly. Whatever I would’ve done to them after getting into that room, I would’ve regretted it. I will make them feel so much pain—so much anguish and despair—that they will never think of being unkind to another person again. Doing so will set off a reaction so traumatic, they curl up in a ball of urine-soaked pants.” We faced each other across the pillow, hands linking under the sheets. “Will you help me?”
“Always.”
“Rafael?” Wilder pounded on the door. “Rafael, you in there?”
“Wilder, hold up—”
He blew in, stopping dead at the sight of us. My mouth opened to say something—what I had no idea. Wilder, that kiss was amazing and impulsive. As impulsive as what happened between me and Rafael? Please don’t see this and make up your mind about us before we talk.
Actually, that is what I should say.
“Wilder, that—”
Wilder shook himself. “Wait, you guys need to hear this first. I just found out the doctors couldn’t stop the bleeding. Luna,” he said.
“Ashton Scott is dead.”
I POSTED UP AGAINST the wall, sipping on a red velvet cake martini. It was official: this was the best party I’d never get credit for.
The massive blanket fort pulled off even better than I imagined. Some wires and light constructing out of PVC pipes created a blanket castle, covering the dance floor on three sides, leaving an opening where I was gifted a view of Royals and Dregs dancing beneath the fairy lights in their pajamas and lingerie.
I missed out on party planning the day before, but that didn’t stop Katie showing up at the Gallery that morning and demanding I come out. Thus ended my twenty-four-hour plan with Rafael, though we accepted this. It gave us time to put plans of our own into motion.
Fun, flirty pop music pumped from every speaker in the house. Outside over the outdoor pool—as opposed to the Langfords’ second indoor pool—we placed the platform and a mountain of pillow weapons. But what I was most proud of was the food.
Of course we only planned the menu and the chef did the creating, but what we came up with was nothing short of a culinary masterpiece. Chocolate milk with vanilla mocha ice cubes. A hot pretzel bar. Cookie dough marshmallow crispy treats. Pizza paninis. Cookies and cream popcorn. Champagne Gummi bears.