Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 51589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 258(@200wpm)___ 206(@250wpm)___ 172(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 258(@200wpm)___ 206(@250wpm)___ 172(@300wpm)
“Until she’s of no use anymore.” Missy finished. “Then it starts all over again.”
“We have to stop him. That twisted bastard,” I snarled, pushing up from the table.
“We’re still missing something,” Julian mused. “We need to figure out what we’re missing.”
I heard a lot of mutterings behind me, and I had to inhale some long breaths in order to calm down. The thought of how close that revolting bastard had come to getting his hands on Missy. What he would have done to her if he had— I couldn’t stomach the possibilities of the hell her life would have been. How quickly it would have been over for her.
“He was—is—obsessed with her. It’s as if he thinks she is still alive somehow. His posts were disturbing before she died. After, they became—” she shivered “—unnerving. He will never stop looking. Feeding his fixation. Searching for his ‘perfection.’ His Xyla.”
“How did she die?”
“She threw herself off a bridge. They never found the body, which has only fed into his delusion.”
“We need a new plan,” Julian said. “We need to flush him out. Instead of burning down his buildings, he needs to come to us.”
“How?” Damien asked.
“You use me as a decoy,” Missy said calmly.
I was aghast at her suggestion. “I am stopping this shit right now.” I leaned on the table, glaring at her. “Don’t even fucking go there.”
She didn’t react. “It would work.”
“He thinks you’re dead. It’s going to stay that way.”
“Then make me undead. Use whatever you use to let it slip a lone survivor was found and show my picture so he would see it. Set me up somewhere easy for him to get to. Say I have total memory loss. You could lure him.”
“To what end? So you end up back in another cage? Do you know what you’re asking? What horrors you’re risking?”
She stood, her anger now matching mine. “No, you wouldn’t let that happen. Embed a chip in me—a dozen if you want. I’ll keep a weapon hidden.”
“You gonna shove a gun up your ass?” I asked sarcastically. “Because they’ll strip you totally, and you’ll be fucked again.”
“No, I’ll hide a blade somewhere. They never touched my hair last time. I could weave one in.”
“A knife?” I spat. “You think you could defend yourself with a knife? I doubt you can even cut bread without hurting yourself. Give it up, little girl. You aren’t playing with the big boys. And we’re not using you. End of story.”
I strode to the cupboard, grabbing a cup. There was a sound, high and fast, and I felt the heat of something pass by my face. The collective inhale me from behind was startling, and I stared at the door beside me and the small knife Damien had been using earlier to peel an apple that was now embedded in the wood, the handle quivering from the force of its trajectory. I turned and met Missy’s furious gaze.
“I think I’ve proven my point, big boy.” Her voice dropped to a frigid level. “I am here to play, so get over yourself, asshole.”
The slam of the door echoed in the room.
I stared at the door, shock rendering me useless for a minute. Then I was racing after Missy. Julian stood, holding up his hand.
“Marcus.”
“Not right now.”
He shook his head. “Following her is not a good idea.”
I brushed past him. “I have to.”
“Then you need to listen to her.”
“No, you need to mind your own fucking business.”
“Watch your mouth,” he warned.
“Sorry, Commander,” I snarled. “I am talking her out of this stupid idea, and no one is going to say a word about it to me.”
He sat down, shaking his head. “I’ll be here.”
I caught the last few words as the door shut behind me.
“If there’s anything left of you.”
I pounded up the stairs, my feet sounding like a herd of elephants. Fury rippled under my skin at her words and actions. Another quarter of an inch and that knife would have been buried in my cheek. She was careless and acting like a child. And if she thought I would actually agree to allow her to be involved in this case again, offering herself up as a sacrifice, she was more delusional than I thought.
She was not going to be put at risk. Period.
I was so angry I had to punch in my code three times to open the door. I expected to find Missy standing in the living room, hands on her hips, ready to fight. Instead, only silence greeted me. For an instant, my anger was replaced with worry, and I wondered if she had somehow left. Except I heard a sound down the hall and knew she was in the bedroom.
No doubt sulking.
I stalked down the hall and threw open the door, ready in case she had another fucking knife in her hand. Something akin to shock hit me when I saw my suitcase on the bed and an angry Missy shoving the clothing I had bought her into it. Ice wrapped around my chest.