Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 148397 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 742(@200wpm)___ 594(@250wpm)___ 495(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 148397 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 742(@200wpm)___ 594(@250wpm)___ 495(@300wpm)
Animals weren’t allowed the gift of words.
And only an animal could’ve done what I did.
“We need to get rid of the body,” Rachel said, cutting through the buzzing in my brain.
“Tie a few rocks to it and toss it into the ocean,” Peter muttered, faint and swaying. “The tide will drag it out to sea. That’s how Victor gets rid of all his other…” He faded off, swallowing hard.
With a soft gasp, he fell backward.
Ily and the two girls dashed toward him.
I followed silently, almost as if a tether lashed Ily and me together, binding me to her even now.
I was her animal.
Her nightmare.
Towering over Peter, I let the girls stroke his pallid cheeks and mutter worriedly to one another. Things like how they’d get him back to the castle. And how much he needed Dr Belford.
In the middle of their whispered debate, his eyes popped open again.
They locked on me.
And he smiled as if he saw an angel instead of a devil looming over him. “I see what she does now.” Almost dreamy and completely high on agony, he smiled. “You did come for us. You’re going to free us. I know it—”
And then, he passed out.
Chapter Nine
………………………….
Ily
IF THE OLD ILY COULD SEE ME NOW…if she watched me willingly leave behind her only weapon and walk over the drawbridge into Victor’s fortress, she would’ve disowned me for my stupidity.
She would’ve screeched and shouted and ordered me to run and swim and do whatever it damn well took to get as far away from here as possible.
But…
But.
I sighed heavily as I glanced at the sorry company I kept.
I’d come here alone, yet somehow, I’d grown attached.
Three jewels and one Master.
All of us dripping in pain.
Leading the way, Henri prowled on bare feet. His left arm coated in blood from where Kyle stabbed him, his t-shirt soaked with murder.
We matched, him and me.
We all did.
He might be painted in blood, but the rich scarlet matched the red paint covering me.
Stars pinpricked the black velvet sky above. The hazy whirlpool of a galaxy gleamed brightly as if studying our sad procession.
Rachel walked beside me. Her own body covered in red paint like mine. When Henri had snatched Kyle’s gun, checked the canister still had paintballs, and aimed at Rachel and Mollie, I’d leapt in front of him.
“Don’t you dare shoot them.” I’d balled my hands, fighting through debilitating pain from all my bruises. I’d studied his blood-streaked face for some reaction. But there’d been none. He was a total stranger with every emotion shuttered and every feeling hidden.
He hadn’t spoken to me.
But he had spoken to them.
Arching his chin at the two jewels, he shrugged with indifference. “I don’t know what we’ll be walking into when we return, but I do know Victor will expect a winner. I’m claiming all of you. It’s the only way I can think of to keep you safe.”
Rachel and Mollie shared a look.
Keep you safe.
Such a protective sentence yet said with blood-tipped frost.
What did he mean by that?
Had he had a change of heart and seen the errors of his ways?
Is he going to help us?
Peter remained passed out, unable to offer his counsel.
What he’d said before…the comment about seeing something in Henri.
What had Peter seen?
Fragments of light?
Filaments of hope that Henri hadn’t truly forsaken his task?
I sucked in an optimistic breath; pain daggered right in my ribs.
The urge to bend over and hug my bruised chest faded as Rachel cupped her belly, shielding her new pregnancy.
I sucked in shallow breaths as she bit her lower lip. Bracing her shoulders, she nodded. “You’re right. Victor might be psychotic, but he’s strangely fixated on rules. If you shoot us too, I doubt anyone else will have managed to shoot three jewels at close range. He’ll add up the bruises and announce you as the winner.”
None of us mentioned that the winner was entitled to do anything he wanted. And with how empty Henri looked, I honestly didn’t know how far he’d go.
He turned Kyle into ribbons.
“This is nuts.” I threw up my arms, immediately paying for the move with a flush of agony and that nasty stabbing in my side. “Let’s crack open a few balls and just smear the paint over you.”
“It has to be authentic.” Mollie stepped forward, jutting out her chest and presenting her faded bullseye. “The game is called Bruises, remember?”
I shook my head. “The colour doesn’t match. Henri was given orange paint.” I pointed at the area of his jeans that used to be tinged with brightness but only found blood. No sign of orange anywhere, thanks to him wearing every droplet of Kyle’s lifeforce.
“I don’t think it will matter.” Rachel dropped her arms and balled her hands. “Victor has a soft spot for him. I’ve never seen him be so tolerant to another Master before. That has to count for something.”