Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 125465 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 627(@200wpm)___ 502(@250wpm)___ 418(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125465 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 627(@200wpm)___ 502(@250wpm)___ 418(@300wpm)
“I’m sorry.” She’s quick to back off, down to the way her shoulders rise, nearly covering her ears. If she had a shell, she would have retreated into it. Deep breaths, I say inside my head, trying to stay on track. My anger isn’t toward her. She’s done nothing wrong.
“Look, I’m sorry.” I heave out a breath and run a hand through my damp hair. “Safe Haven was a terrible place, and the people who ran it…there are no words to describe them.”
She rubs her arms briskly as if to ward off a sudden chill. “What kind of place was it?”
There’s only one word for it. My lip curls with rage, remembering all the horrible, gruesome things they did under the guise of goodness.
“A cult. I was raised in a cult, angel, along with Luna… and my older brother.”
Her blue eyes bulge, and her shocked gasp fills the cabin. “Your—”
“Your father told us Safe Haven was dismantled,” I continued, speaking over her, my voice becoming twisted and thorny. Her beautiful eyes filled with horror. She needs to know this. It’s the most important part of the story. I smile; the justification for revenge beams along every cell in my body. “But my brother found me, and together, we’ve learned that was a lie. So now, it’s up to us to set things right.”
17
SCARLET
This is almost as bad as being kidnapped.
Almost as bad as hearing what he did to Aspen and Q.
This is an atomic bomb compared to mere fireworks. It’s left me trembling, hugging my knees to my chest while I try in vain to wrap my head around it.
An older brother? Immediately, I go back through the years, searching my memory for a single reference to a brother. Not once has Luna mentioned one, and I know Ren hasn’t. That’s the sort of thing a person would remember.
Like the fact that he grew up in a cult. So that’s what Safe Haven is? I remember hearing Dad and Uncle Roman talking about it when I was a little kid, but it was the kind of thing where they’d instantly go silent as soon as I entered the room. And let’s face it. It’s not like I was paying strict attention. I was too young to care.
Ren hasn’t said a word yet. He’s too busy observing me like I’m a zoo exhibit. If I didn’t know better, I’d accuse him of joking.
Nobody jokes about something like this. It would be too sick.
As sick as injecting you with something to knock you out?
“I’ve shocked you,” he murmurs. There’s no emotion behind it. Why should there be? He’s only speaking facts.
“Yes. You did. I had no idea you had an older brother.”
“Yes, his name is River. Now you understand why I did what I did.”
Record scratch. “No, I don’t. I want to—you have no idea how much I want to.”
I lean in, reaching across the table for him. He’s still standing in front of the sink, though, and my gesture does nothing to bring him closer. “Ren. I’m here. I want so much to understand. I’m on your side.”
When all he does is stare blankly. What was he expecting? I ask, “What else can you tell me? What do you mean when you say my dad lied? What did he lie about?”
His jaw tightens as he lowers his brow, arms slowly folding in front of him. “He said the cult was destroyed, disbanded, whatever. But that’s obviously not true. He didn’t have what it took to stop them for good, and then he lied about it.”
“So you hurt Aspen and Q because my dad lied?”
“No. I didn’t want to hurt her. It wasn’t me at all. It was…” He sighs. “It was River.”
“River? How the hell did he get into Corium without anyone noticing?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. He doesn’t tell me every little detail of his life.” My eyebrows draw together. There is something odd about the way he talks about River. Something I can’t quite put my finger on yet.
“But you knew about it?”
“Not before it happened. But I knew right after.”
“Why?” Even though his body language screams at me to back off, I can’t shut down the stream of questions bubbling up in my mind.
“Because they were getting too close.”
“Too close to what?”
Ren presses his lips into a thin line. I know he doesn’t want to talk about this, but I can’t let it go. “Let’s start at the beginning. Who is this brother of yours? Does anybody else know about him?”
“We’re not talking about him right now.”
“I’m just curious.” No, it’s more than that. We were supposed to have something real, something true, something meant to last. Yet he couldn’t tell me he has a brother? I didn’t rank high enough to hear about him? It’s the bitterness of feeling like I didn’t matter enough that makes me ask, “Where is he? Does he live nearby?”