Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 178117 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 891(@200wpm)___ 712(@250wpm)___ 594(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 178117 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 891(@200wpm)___ 712(@250wpm)___ 594(@300wpm)
“I didn’t do shit!” I scream. “Where did you fucking get that page?”
“Oh, this?” Kai dangles it around like a carrot. “Found it underneath her bed just minutes before you crawled in through the window.”
“Give it to me,” I snarl. “It doesn’t belong to you.”
“No, but you know what did belong to me?” He steps closer until he’s right up in my face. “My fucking eyes. And you took one of them away from me.”
“You have your dead buddy to thank for that,” I retort. “He provoked Dylan by speaking about my sister.”
Nathan twists my arm, and Kai grabs my throat. “Don’t you fucking see it? All of this fucking violence points back to you and your fucking sister. You don’t even know what the fuck you’re messing with.”
“Then fucking tell me,” I reply.
Nathan snorts. “You think we can? We’d be killed before we could tell even one fucking soul.”
I frown. Killed? By who?
Kai’s fingers dig into my skin. “Enough. No need to tell her anything she doesn’t need to know.”
Nathan leans in too, whispering into my ear. “Should’ve taken my warning to heart, Penelope. Now you’ll follow in your sister’s footsteps.”
That’s fucking it.
I kick Nathan in the balls and shove my head back so hard it lands right into Kai’s nose, making him bleed.
“Fuck!” he groans as he grabs his nose while Nathan crumples with pain.
Not one second do I wait before I slice behind me. Right through the hem of Kai’s shirt, I jam the knife straight into his belly.
“Oompf …” He sinks to the floor as I pull back my knife.
Nathan charges at me with his fist, but I narrowly avoid it and jump him instead. I wrap my arm around his neck, holding the knife right at his throat.
“Don’t fucking move,” I hiss.
He swallows against the blade. “You’re going to regret this, Pen. You don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself into.”
“I doubt it,” I scoff, and I force him to turn around and face Kai. “Give me the fucking page, Kai. Or I swear to God, I’ll kill him right in front of you.”
His eyes burn with fire. I know how much they care about their fucking buddies. The houses are ride or die with their own. And there’s nothing they won’t do to save them.
Kai struggles to breathe as he pushes the burnt paper my way. “Fine. You wanna die?” he gurgles. “Go ahead.”
Die? What the fuck is he talking about?
Kai’s eyes slowly begin to roll into the back of his head. “I can’t breathe …”
“Penelope,” Nathan rasps. “Let me go.”
“Then choose. Follow me, or save your fucking buddy,” I growl, and I push him forward, then grasp the paper off the floor.
Nathan goes to his knees in front of Kai as I run to the door. Right before I close it, he turns to look at me. “Burn it and run.” I don’t know why it doesn’t just feel like a threat, but a warning. “Do you hear me?” he growls as I shut the door and bolt through the hallway to get away from them. “It’ll destroy you!”
Felix
In the dark, I lie awake. Always waiting. Always watching.
My bed is clammy. Cold and hot at the same time. Sweat rolls down my back.
The door opens.
I close my eyes and hide under the blanket.
I can’t ever sleep.
Footsteps patter into the room, and my heart begins to quake.
It’s coming.
Again and again.
Just like it does every night since my last birthday.
But I don’t want it to.
All I want is to call out.
Leave me alone. Leave me alone.
And scream.
In the middle of the night, I sit up straight in the bed, drenched in sweat.
But without the warmth to keep me comfortable.
It takes me a moment to gather my bearings as I blink rapidly.
Did I fall asleep?
That never happens, not in a million fucking years.
Not without the drugs or the alcohol.
But her scent …
I turn to look.
Penelope.
She’s gone.
Frantically, I throw the blankets off and look around the room. “Penelope?”
No response.
I run to the bathroom and check there, but she’s nowhere to be found.
Fuck.
She’s gone.
I storm out of the room and head straight for Dylan’s room. She has to be there. He wanted to sleep with her so fucking badly, I just know he tore her straight from my bed.
I’m seething as I slam open his door, inviting myself into his room. “Where is she?”
Dylan’s snoring half naked on his bed, and he jolts up. “Huh, what? What are you talking about?”
I throw his blanket off him to catch him in the act, but no one is in there with him.
What the …?
“Where is Penelope?” I growl.
He frowns as he leans up. “Jesus, Felix. I thought she was with you.”
“She’s gone,” I say, looking through his room, tearing it all apart.
“She’s not here,” Dylan says.
I open the bathroom door, but she’s not there either. “Then where the fuck is she?”