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)
My cheeks flush from the memory, so I swiftly walk away through the hallways of this old, poorly lit mansion. I swipe my card along all the doors, but none of them open, and I wonder why.
Odd. Does this key only open my door?
I sneak downstairs and look around to make sure I’m alone before I rush to the front door and swipe it, but of course that won’t work either.
I back away, but when I hear voices in the kitchen, I panic and run back upstairs.
I hide behind a sensual woman’s statue as two Tartarus boys walk past me, clutching a bag of chips and drinks as they make their way to a room in the back of the middle hallway, where there’s a theater room complete with red seats and an actual movie screen.
Damn. If I wasn’t being kept as a prisoner, I’d almost want to check it out.
I sneak away, but when I hear more ruckus from both ends of the hallway, I panic and head into the first open room I find, locking myself inside.
The room is completely covered in royal green, and I gawk my eyes out at all the priceless artwork in this room. Blaine sure has expensive taste, that’s for sure. I touch a statue, and it almost seems too perfect to be real, so beautifully sculpted it’s as if I’m touching the hand of God himself.
Suddenly, two hands land on my shoulders, and a cold draft hits my face.
“Don’t be scared. It’s me.” Blaine’s soothing voice almost lulls me into a relaxed state.
Almost.
“I promise I won’t hurt you,” he whispers into my ear.
My hand slowly dips down into my pocket to clutch my knife. “I can’t promise the same.”
I swiftly pull it out, spin around on my heels, and point it at his neck. But I pause near his vein as he swallows, unwavering in his stance as he hovers over me.
He’s a born fighter, an expert at the katana, so he should’ve dodged that perfectly.
Why doesn’t he move?
“You gave me that key card, didn’t you?” I ask, my eyes trailing down his naked pecs all the way down his thick red robes.
“To find me,” he says.
“Why?” That’s the only thing I manage to whisper before my throat clamps up.
“I know you won’t hurt me,” he says, his voice cracking too. “Even though you want to.”
“You let them use me,” I grit.
His eyes are hard to look at, but he doesn’t look away. “I warned you they would come for you.”
“You made me believe you’d protect me,” I say. “But when it came to it, you bent to his will and did exactly what he wanted. I trusted you.” The anger twists my voice.
“Darling—”
“No. Don’t darling me. You’re the one who taught me how to fight. Why? Why wouldn’t you fight back against him?”
“I tried to warn you … I am bound to Ares,” he says, cupping my face. “If I could, I would take your place in an instant if it would ease the burden.”
“You were there too, licking me … fucking Caleb.” A blush creeps onto my cheeks from the mere memory, and I can’t shake it off. “I didn’t think you’d actually do it.”
“Ares’s punishments are always debasing. It’s one of the few things he actually enjoys.”
I wince. “That’s messed up.”
He chuckles even though I have a literal knife to his throat right now. “You could put it like that … But aren’t we all?”
“You all, not me,” I say.
A coy smile tips up his lips. “Oh, is that why you were so wet for all of us? Because you weren’t just as messed up?”
My eyes widen, and rage takes over as I push the knife farther into his neck, making him bleed, and I lick my lips at the sight of his blood dripping down.
I haven’t come this close to death since my father …
This close to losing control.
And something about that scares me so much that my hand begins to shake.
Because I don’t want to hurt him.
“Is this all I am to you all now? A prisoner?”
He sighs. “That’s what he wants, yes.”
I shake my head. “After I already gave him what he wants, he still takes more and more.”
“Ares will never have enough of you now that he has you.”
“Why?”
“Well, your mother started dating Caleb’s father, and he doesn’t like that, so Ares—”
“I know that. I know he doesn’t want me to become family. But why does Ares care? All he seems to want to do is punish Caleb for touching me.”
He swallows, almost as if he has to restrain himself not to say too much. “Ares … has anger and trust issues. Caleb is the only one he confides in. And now that you’ve beguiled them …”
“I’m a threat,” I mutter, thinking it through. “You’re bound to Ares. So then why did you give me this knife?”