Total pages in book: 194
Estimated words: 187754 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 939(@200wpm)___ 751(@250wpm)___ 626(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 187754 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 939(@200wpm)___ 751(@250wpm)___ 626(@300wpm)
“Seth.” Hearing my name, I drag my burning gaze away from my heartless obsession and see Thorin and Khalil watching me warily. “Do you need a nap?” Khalil warns me on the low.
“No.” My jaw tightens as I turn my head, looking away from them…and her.
Aurelia’s watching me curiously now. She looks confused, but if we do keep her, she won’t be for much longer. I’ll have to share her with Bane and Zeke as well as these two assholes, whom I hate the most.
“Getting you down won’t be possible until spring,” Khalil bullshits her. I clench my teeth but force myself to remain silent. I’m all for trapping her here with us, but I know all too well what it’s like to be controlled with lies. It sucks. “The mountain is too volatile this time of year. We can keep you alive until then, but—”
“Spring?” Aurelia sputters. “That’s weeks away! I can’t stay here with some creeps in a hovel until then. You could be murderers.” Definitely so. “Serial killers.” Not enough motivation. “Rapists.” Not yet. “No, you need to do better. I have to get out of here. I have a life. I don’t belong here.”
I swear this spoiled, gorgeous, infuriating fucking girl…
“You’re welcome to leave anytime you want,” I lie. “But you won’t get far. Not dressed like that and not without knowing where you’re going.”
“I got this far,” she shoots back.
I can’t argue with her there.
Unless…
She’s not one of Isaac’s, that’s for fucking sure. Aurelia’s no sheep. She’s too headstrong.
But there are some missing parts of her story that could hit us between the eyes later.
While it’s not impossible that she survived that crash, she did with barely more than a few scratches. And then she crossed the Cold Peaks and all of its unforgiving wilds to find us. If Aurelia is who she says, then this pampered princess couldn’t have done it alone.
“And you probably almost died, right?” Khalil points out. “A few times, I’m willing to bet. The only access road into town is already closed off for the season, which means the only way down is on foot or by air, sweetheart.”
“Okay? And?”
Thorin rolls his eyes. “You made a mistake coming this far south. You were closer to town where you crashed. It’s too far to hike in this weather, Aurelia. You’ll die from exposure before you even make it halfway.”
“That’s if the wolves don’t get you first,” I add with no pleasure.
Okay, maybe a little. Anything that binds her to us gives me a sickening amount of gratification. The tighter her shackles become, the more euphoria I feel.
Aurelia’s brown complexion turns a sickly gray at the mention of wolves. She actually looks like she’s going to cry for a moment, but then something happens that feels uncomfortably familiar.
Aurelia rallies, and then her woe is gone in a blink. She’s poised and looking nothing more than put off once more, but the mask doesn’t quite fit.
Yeah, this girl is definitely off her rocker. It’s breathtaking.
“Fine,” she agrees with her nose back in the air. I watch her look around the room and can see the gears turning in her head. “I’ll take this room. I saw the others, and this is the least objectionable.”
My stomach turns as I wonder if the carnage Bane and I left of Zeke’s room is still there.
Thorin cocks his head to the side. “We haven’t decided you can stay yet.”
“But you said—”
“That you need to earn your keep,” Khalil interjects. “Starting now.”
“Fine. So what do you want? Picture?”
“Will you be naked in them?”
“Only in your wildest dreams, pervert.” An uncertain pause follows, and then she asks, “Money?”
“We’re in the middle of nowhere, and unlike you, that’s on purpose,” Thorin points out. “Does it look like we care about money?”
The string of tension between us grows taut, and then Aurelia snaps. “Well, that was a fun game, but I’m over it now, so tell me what the fuck you want already.”
Stepping up to the plate, I ask, “Can you cook?”
Aurelia perks up. “I make an amazing cocktail.”
Thorin sighs like he’s exhausted with her already. “Clean?”
“You’re joking, right? That’s what the help is for.”
“Hunt?” Khalil inquires with a grunt.
“Sorry. Cassie does the fetching.” Aurelia’s lips flatten, and then she grumbles, “At least she did until she went and got herself killed.” No one bothers to ask who Cassie is as her gaze falls on the scarf Khalil absently left on the bed. She reaches for it and pulls it into her lap, where she cradles it.
“Well, what can you do?” Khalil asks impatiently.
That infuriating nose of hers goes back in the air again. “I told you already. I sing.”
“What do you sing, Aurelia?”
“Seriously, you don’t know who I am? Princess of Pop? Empress of R&B?” She huffs when we all give her blank looks. “The girl with the golden voice?”