Total pages in book: 187
Estimated words: 184867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 924(@200wpm)___ 739(@250wpm)___ 616(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 184867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 924(@200wpm)___ 739(@250wpm)___ 616(@300wpm)
I push her away and look at her face, searching for the answers, but the look in her eyes is restless. As though her mind has already wandered off somewhere else.
Her eyes, glazed over, deeply connected with Ares’s, the air thick with poison.
A cloud has been hanging over us since we first saw her.
One that’s about to split open and rain down hell.
Crystal
I’ve given my body to the devil and stepped through the dark gates of hell with him. I did all he asked and more. And now I want what he promised me.
I push Caleb aside so I can focus on Ares. “It’s done. I did what you asked … I won.”
Ares tilts his head, the smug grin on his face growing deeper and deeper. “You won, little rose … And now you want to be relinquished of your deal with us.”
I swallow away all the feelings of lust I had seconds ago as Ares leans forward in his chair until he’s a mere inch away from my face just to say, “What would you do if I said I lied?”
“What?” I mutter in disbelief.
Ares’s hand supports his face as he leans down with his elbow on the armrest. “There was no deal. I wasn’t ever going to kill your mother to begin with. I never kill innocent people.”
Innocent people?
“Never?” I parrot as the darkness begins to take hold.
I steady myself against the table as my world shifts on its axis.
Break.
Break.
Break.
It’s all he’s wanted me to do … break me.
Break the glass that surrounds my heart.
Shatter the facade.
Show them what truly hides underneath.
Fine.
I’ll give him what he fucking wishes for.
Ares
The small smile instantly evaporates from her face like it was never even real.
That’s it.
That’s the face I was looking for.
Suddenly, she jumps off the table and rushes at her dress, fishing out the knife she’s so desperately clung to all this time, and within two steps, she lunges at me.
“Crystal, no!” Caleb growls, grasping her arm.
Right before the knife punctures my neck.
“What the—” Caleb mutters, shock riddling his face. “What the fuck are you doing?”
But all I can do is look up at the face of the girl who’s haunted my nightmares for years.
“She’s finally doing what she’s wanted to do since the first time she saw me.” I lean into the blade. “Kill me.”
“You fucking liar!” she spews.
Caleb wraps his arm around her flailing body to keep her away from me. “Crystal, stop!”
“Let go of me,” she grits at him, thrashing around. “He’s a fucking liar! Not killing innocents? Bullshit! What about the men who tried to enter the Tartarus property?” she rebukes.
Those men were anything but innocent.
“They were from the Bones Brotherhood. The same underground organization Wayne Ferry belonged to,” I reply, staying still against her blade. “And they were going to try to drug girls at my party to capture them.”
She winces, confused. “What?”
“You think shady shit doesn’t happen on this campus?” I laugh. “You don’t even know the half of it.”
“Fuck that. You’re still a goddamn liar,” she retorts, shoving the blade into my skin.
“Why do you suddenly want to kill him?” Caleb asks. “Just because of this deal we made?”
I tap my fingers against the chair. “No. It was never about that, was it, Crystal? But we both knew that already.”
“What is he talking about, Crystal?” Blaine asks.
I laugh. “I’m surprised she hasn’t told you. After all the training you gave her.”
His eyes widen.
“Didn’t think you sneaking off wouldn’t alert me?” I growl at him. “You’ve been teaching her how to fight behind my back.”
“I did what she asked me to do,” Blaine responds. “You were hunting her, and I couldn’t say no.” He turns his attention to Crystal. “I taught her how to defend herself.”
Crystal slowly begins to laugh, the menacing sound behind it catching everyone off guard.
“Don’t you see the truth?” I tell him. “She was manipulating both of you.”
“What?” Caleb mutters, his grip on her slowly waning. “What does he mean, Crystal? Tell me.”
“Your mother dating his father wasn’t by accident.” My eyes narrow as hers lose every hint of happiness. “You orchestrated it.”
She’s laughing uncontrollably now. “That’s right, I did. I fucking did. I dropped my fucking drink so she would get some tissues and talk to your dad and butter him up.”
Caleb lets go of her and steps back, bumping into the table. “You told me you had nothing to do with it …”
“You call me a liar, but you’re the only one who’s lied,” I say, eyeing her before I focus on Caleb. “It wasn’t about you or your father,” I tell him, leaning back against the chair as she aims the knife at me. “She needed to find a way to get closer to me.”
Blaine steps in the second she tries to stab me, grasping her wrist midair. “Don’t. Don’t do it.”