Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 108563 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108563 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
“No, no, no,” Siren frets, unsheathing a blade from her thigh holster, then just as The Texan Reaper gets close enough to reach out for Shadow, Siren launches the blade with everything she’s got.
The blade sinks heavily into the back of his shoulder, and he roars in agony, but it’s not enough to take him out. His hand closes around Shadow’s forearm, and he violently yanks her back, whipping her around so that her small back is pressed against his massive chest. He whirls them both around, looks us dead in the eyes, and rears his arm back, his blade glistening in the moonlight.
Siren lets out a bloodcurdling scream just as The Texan Reaper whips his hand forward, aiming right for Shadow’s throat, but she throws herself down and twists, her arm shooting up like lightning and squeezing the trigger of Siren’s favorite gun.
BANG! BANG!
The bullets plunge right through the bottom of The Texan Reaper’s chin and through the back of his skull, and I watch with wide eyes as his heavy body instantly crumbles to the ground.
The final contender of the games has been eliminated.
28
SIREN
The sun is only just kissing the horizon as the three of us drive in silence back to the place we’ve called home for the past two weeks. The lake is calm with the soft glow of the early morning fog resting on top, and the air in Blue Springs somehow seems sweeter.
I haven’t been able to get my thoughts in line since the moment Shadow appeared in the doorway of that funhouse. Sacrificing herself for us . . . It was a feeling I never want to experience again in my life.
I’ve never been so scared or felt so helpless, and when she pulled that gun and took the final shot, finishing these games for good, the relief was bittersweet. We made it through together, and yet the whiplash of emotions has left me feeling rattled, and I don’t think I’m going to be okay with it for a while. I need time. I need space to breathe, to simply look at Shadow and see that she’s in one piece, and more than that, I need to figure out a way to erase the memories of Shadow on that burning cart and being pulled into The Texan Reaper’s chest.
Reaper pulls into the familiar driveway, and as the three of us clamber out of the car and make our way inside, Reaper waits for me, dropping his hand to the small of my back. The touch is everything, and as we walk through the door together, it’s just a little easier to breathe, but I know this moment of peace will be short-lived.
It’s the morning of day twenty-nine, and we have until the stroke before midnight tomorrow night to figure out how the hell we’re going to get out of here in one piece.
There’s no winning for us.
Option one is to give our lives and allow Shadow the chance to get out of here without a target on her back. Give her a chance to live a proper life away from the assholes who raised her. A chance to have some kind of childhood. She could go find Mila, and the two of them would be unstoppable together. Or, option two, the three of us could break out of here together and live a short life on the run with a bounty on our heads that we couldn’t possibly escape.
I don’t exactly love our options.
Making our way inside, I start pulling weapons off me, needing to lighten the load, and honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if I ended up naked right here in the living room, simply needing a break from all the death that seems to be resting right on my shoulders.
Reaper continues to the kitchen when Shadow turns and heads for her bedroom. “Hold up,” Reaper says. “You’re not going anywhere. We need to talk about this.”
Shadow pauses in the entrance of the hallway, slowly turning on her heel and arching her brow as she stares back at Reaper. “What’s there to talk about? We all survived, and now we can figure out what comes next.”
Reaper shakes his head and points to the stool under the kitchen counter. “Sit.”
“Shit,” she mutters under her breath before sparing me a quick glance. I can’t offer her anything except a slight shrug of my shoulders, having no idea where this is about to go, but what I do know is that I have more than a few things that need to be said. Realizing I’m backing Reaper in this, Shadow slowly begins making her way over to the kitchen stool, doing everything in her power to take her time, dragging her feet and refusing to meet Reaper’s harrowing stare.
He begins pacing through the kitchen and realizing he has no idea how to handle this, I simply sit on the arm of the couch and watch as he tries to figure it out. After all, he’s running this show. What kind of girlfriend—if that’s what I am—would I be if I didn’t let him spread his wings and figure it out for himself?