Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 117(@200wpm)___ 93(@250wpm)___ 78(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 117(@200wpm)___ 93(@250wpm)___ 78(@300wpm)
"You think the sheriff was involved?"
I hear the incredulity in his voice.
"No, I…" I shrug helplessly, lifting my gaze to his again. "I don't know who it was. It could have been anyone, but if you were in my shoes, would you take that chance?"
His grim expression tells me he wouldn't.
"Let's go then, starlight. We'll figure it out once we get you out of here."
I take a breath and place my hand in his.
My legs shake as Constantine leads me out of the bedroom and into the hallway. My hands tremble too. I'm a ball of anxiety, terrified Victor will pop out at any moment and snatch freedom from my hands before I even taste it.
Right up until I see his body sprawled across the hallway floor, anyway. Red splatters all over the wall, and the pool of liquid around him confirms Constantine's story. Victor Carmona is dead.
"Close your eyes, starlight. Don't look."
Except…I think I want to see. At least until we draw closer, and I realize red isn't the only thing splattered all over the walls. I press my face into Constantine's shoulder, hiding my eyes like the coward I am then.
"Had I known he had you locked up here, I would have made him suffer more," Constantine says, his voice dark, deadly. And so close to my ear I feel his breath against the side of my neck.
I shiver, gooseflesh rising on my arms. I'm not afraid, though. His heat sinks deep, warming places deep inside of me. Desire sparks like a flame igniting deep in my abdomen. Is it wrong that I like the way his scruff brushes my earlobe? Or the way he fits against me?
I don't know. Maybe I'm so starved for human touch and affection that this man seems like a good source for both. But I press my body closer to his anyway, wanting—needing—to be as close to him as possible.
"I've got you."
I keep my eyes closed as he leads me down the hall toward freedom. I don't want to see the rest of the carnage he left in his wake. It's enough to know the man who reached into my neatly ordered world and plucked me out of it is dead. The others don't matter.
"Careful, starlight." Constantine grabs me, hauling me into him as the floor disappears beneath my feet between one breath and the next. "We've got a staircase to navigate."
"Starlight." I peel my eyes open to look up at him. "Why do you keep calling me that?"
"And a softness came from the starlight and filled me full to the bone," he murmurs faintly, reaching out to touch my face with gentle fingers.
My lips part, a soft sigh escaping. I sway toward him, transfixed by the awed look in his eyes, as if he's found the key to heaven. As if it's me.
A hitman who knows Yeats and speaks it as if he's speaking to my soul?
Who is this man?
Mine.
"Come on. We need to go." He runs his knuckles down my cheek and then pulls back to help me down the stairs. We don't talk again until we're at the front door. The series of padlocks on it have a growl rumbling in his chest.
"He let me out of my room to shower sometimes," I explain. "I kept trying to run away."
"Fucking prick."
He abandons the front door and leads me into the kitchen. "Close your eyes again. There's another one out back. Guess they thought he'd be enough to catch you if you got out."
"Stupid short legs," I mumble under my breath. At least, I think I say it under my breath, but Constantine chuckles, so I guess he hears me.
He pulls the door open. I don't close my eyes. I inhale the sight of the night sky like a starving man. The wind blows cool against my face. Fresh air billows in, the first I've had in months. It feels like…freedom.
Tears sting my eyes.
I take a tentative step outside, holding my breath. When no one tries to stop me, I take another step.
"You're free, starlight," Constantine whispers.
I've held it together with duct tape and sheer force of will since Victor and Tao kidnapped me, but hearing those words sends my defenses toppling. My knees buckle, relief and exhaustion and a thousand different emotions hitting me like a tidal wave.
I plummet toward the ground, sobbing. I don't land, though. Before I can, Constantine is there, sweeping me up into his arms.
"Shh, baby," he breathes against my ear, pressing my face into his shoulder as he sets out across the yard with me in his arms. "No one will ever hurt you again. I'll kill anyone who tries."
Chapter Three
Constantine
Aurora's tears eviscerate me. They burn like acid, setting my blood to boiling. By the time I get her to the SUV, I'm ready to crawl into hell myself just to pay Victor Carmona back for every single one she shed. He won't die easy this time.