Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 125121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
“Maybe you should go after her. Make sure she’s okay.”
“You’re right,” she said, taking off. “Thanks, Luna. We’ll talk later.”
I waved her off, dropping the sympathetic moon eyes the minute she was out of sight. “I’m hungry.” I skipped inside. “I think I will have that scone.”
Chapter Nine
I weaved through the desks, making for mine near the back of my psychology class. What happened to Everleigh that morning was on everyone’s lips.
“Can you believe it?”
“I heard so many people flooded the site that it crashed. Sucks because I never got a chance to book an appointment with the Book Lady.”
That set off a round of laughs in the huddled group of girls behind me.
“Another Royal princess taken down. Someone really has a hard-on for them lately.”
“Good. How many times have those girls called us sluts, bitches, or trash because we stood there existing? That’s if they acknowledged our existence at all. It’s about time they got a taste of their own medicine.”
“But who do you think is doing it?” Bethany asked. “Could it be that club I heard about? The truth or dare club? Or something like that?”
My ears perked up.
“Oooh, I heard about that too,” said Debra. “I dare you to make those stuck-up bitches cry. If that’s what they’re about, I’m in.”
I drew away from their conversation to answer my phone. It vibrated with a message from Wilder.
Wilder: ThreesTease sent this to you for a prompt payment of two thousand dollars.
I quickly tapped the screen, letting the video play. Wesley came on the screen in all his hideous glory. Yes, by society’s definition, he was a mess of classic good looks and a body most guys would die for. But when I looked at him, I gagged.
Wesley scurried across the quad, twitching and looking over his shoulder every two steps. Puffy, bloodshot eyes told the story of how he slept the night before. I was pretty sure the pig was still there, rotting away on his pillow. Wesley for sure didn’t get rid of it when he woke up on the floor, grabbed a pair of pants, and bolted.
He wore said pants in the video. They hung low on his waist, revealing he ditched the piss-stained boxers between his dorm and the quad, but didn’t find a shirt or comb on the way.
He’s done with dorm life. I bet he’s running home to Mommy.
Wesley threw open his car door. His shout blared through my speakers, startling everyone around me. He flew back and hit the opposite car, setting off the alarm. Turning tail, Wesley ran.
He ran and ran through the parking lot, tearing for the main road. The video ended there but I didn’t need to see more. I dared another member to put another severed head on Wesley’s front seat. The final head would be exactly where Wesley was going—on his pillow-top bed in Hill Manor.
Wesley would learn there was nowhere he could go to hide from me.
Me: Pay the man. He does excellent work.
Of course I didn’t tell anybody to kill an innocent animal. I wasn’t that far gone. I sent them to the butcher shop on Crest Avenue. The creatures were already gone. There was no saving them. But they could be used to force an evil little shit into doing the right thing, and telling me who hired him to drive my sister to suicide.
I leaned back, letting the cackles over Everleigh and the whispers about secret clubs wash over me.
It felt good being the one with the power.
I’m coming for you, Phantom. Go ahead and watch your back, because I’m coming from the front.
THE NEXT MORNING, I watched Wesley’s bodyguard scan the area before opening the door for him.
I wasn’t surprised Wesley hired a bodyguard. I was surprised it took him so long.
Mr. Sunglasses and Muscles changes nothing. Today Wesley gets broken. Today he tells me the name of the Phantom. Or tomorrow the next shot doesn’t miss.
I was done playing games. I always thought truth or dare was for little kids anyway.
“Do you think he’s there already?” Impatience climbed as Wesley crossed the quad. “We’re running out of time. It has to be now.”
“Rafael said you’d know when,” Wilder replied.
Lucien agreed. “The sign will be unmistakable—”
Loud, baying barks broke the morning calm. A handsome black blur streaked across the grass, heading straight for Mr. Sunglasses and Muscles. Cato was only too happy to help me with Wesley’s final taste of revenge... because he didn’t have to wear the muzzle.
The bodyguard turned toward the sound, then scrambled for his weapon. He lifted the stun gun an inch when Cato leaped, tackling him to the ground. I winced before it happened.
“Aggh!”
Cato sank his teeth in the man’s neck, tearing through flesh and veins. Inhuman screams ripped through the peaceful morning.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Wesley whirled around and ran at Cato. “Stop! Get off him!”