Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 35602 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 178(@200wpm)___ 142(@250wpm)___ 119(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35602 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 178(@200wpm)___ 142(@250wpm)___ 119(@300wpm)
She wipes a tear from her eye and I reach out squeezing her hand.
"How did you stop being afraid, Tallulah?" she whispers.
I have no idea if I should lie to her. The truth is, I never stopped being afraid. Selfishly, I still believe my life to be more important than the debt my parents had to pay to Xavier. I want to live. I don't want to be a killer. I don't want Xavier to kill me for what I've done to him. I know if they find me... they will kill me.
I finally decide to tell her the truth.
"I'm still afraid," I say. "I'm afraid every day that he's going to find me and steal me, force me back to where I was before. But I'm not going to let him hurt me anymore. This time, I'm not going to play the perfect role for him. I'm going to fight him every step of the way, until he realizes I have the upper hand. I'll never let him imprison me like like he did before. I've experienced freedom now. I've got a taste for it. I'll keep running."
"You know how it is with these men," Yvette sighs. "You keep running, they keep chasing you."
We both giggle.
"But now let's move on to why we came here. You see? There's a full moon tonight."
I look up at the sky where the pearly, shining moon is lighting our path through the darkness.
"What's that got to do with anything?" I ask her.
"The full moon is a good omen for us. It means our charm will work."
"A charm?" My eyebrows shoot up. "I haven't done anything like this in years. Not since I was a kid with Mathilda."
I remember an old box of mismatched keys my sister and I used to play with in our family home. Burying them around the garden and telling ourselves when we found them years later, they'd unlock a great fortune.
We never got to dig up those keys.
"There's a special way we can ensure our safety," Yvette says excitedly as she hands me a pin, but not before pricking her finger with it and watching a fat drop of blood drip out. "Do the same thing I just did."
As if in a trance I follow her words. The end of the pin pricks my skin and my own blood forces its way out of my hurting fingertip.
"Now we put our fingers together like this."
Yvette excitedly grabs my hand and pulls it towards her, pushing our hands together. Our blood mixes. I want to tell her I don't think this is a good idea. But there is a maniacal shine in her eyes I can deny. It's terrifying yet exciting, and somehow I believe her charms under the fool moon will protect us.
I'm a fool.
But it seems like Ivette will do anything to solidify this bond with me. When our palms break apart, her smile is wide and infectious. We begin giggling, laughing and clutching our tummies. The night feels magical.
"Now they'll never be able to find us," Yvette tells me. "Because we made a pact and now we're sisters. Our magic is going to protect us from them. I know you won't break our bond, Tallulah. I believe you. I know we're going to be friends for life."
I do feel a special connection to Yvette. But at the bottom of my stomach, something wakes up. A hunger only my guardian can sate.
From the moment I met Xavier, I knew he was special. I knew I belong to him in a way my parents couldn't explain to me. And even years later when I found out the truth, I knew I'd signed my soul over to him years ago.
It's hard to think about what I would do faced with a choice between Yvette and Xavier. I don't know which one I would pick. I keep telling myself it's Yvette, because Xavier has nothing I want from him.
But I don't want anything from Yvette either. I just wish she could go back to her real life the way she wants to. Without the abusive asshole that keeps controlling her and trying to manipulate her life decisions.
"Sisters for life, right?" Ivette asks me, winking.
I shake her palm, my hand still bloodied from where we cut our skin, forming a new sisterhood.
Maybe we will be able to protect each other. Or maybe this is all just a fever dream.
A short reprieve of freedom which will end soon... When Xavier undoubtedly finds me, and drags me back to his lair. And then there will be nothing I can do for poor Ivette.
But maybe we were both doomed from the beginning, when we met our husbands.
Chapter 7
XAVIER
I wake from another nightmare, panting, sweating and my heart threatening to beat straight out of my chest. It was another dream about her. The girl who haunts my dreams now. Invading my thoughts even more when she did when she was with me.