Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 140940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 705(@200wpm)___ 564(@250wpm)___ 470(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 705(@200wpm)___ 564(@250wpm)___ 470(@300wpm)
“Well. . .now we know that even I have my limits when it comes to protecting Em.” Maxwell glanced at the jar. “You got the Eye?”
“You thought I would not?”
“More important.” Maxwell lifted his gaze to me. “Did anybody die?”
I frowned. “Let’s go see my mouse.”
“Hold up, man.” Maxwell took a hit of his joint and handed it to me. “You’re going to need this. Trust me.”
Thin whips of smoke left his nostrils.
I was about to knock the joint out of his hand, until I looked into his eyes. My nerves flared. Maxwell’s eyes mirrored the unease I felt pumping inside of my chest.
“For real, man.” Maxwell gestured to it. “Trust me.”
Against all logic, I took the joint. “Do you think Delphine is helping her?”
“All of this shit is out of my domain of common sense, man.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I’m just here for the ride, trying not to get bit by a vampire or something else.”
“I doubt vampires exist.”
“Yeah, but you still won’t see me walking in no fucking alley late at night in this city. One might pop out of the shadows.”
I brought the joint to my lips and inhaled deeply.
Maxwell watched me and then shook his head. “I forgot you like to slobber all over that shit.”
Smoke slipped against my throat and filled my lungs.
I took another hit.
“Damn, man.” Maxwell frowned. “Are you trying to fuck the joint or smoke it?”
I ignored him and smoked some more.
A wave of euphoria washed over me, a soothing balm to my frayed nerves. It was as if the smoke was a key, unlocking a door to a calmer, more detached part of myself. The world slowed down. The sounds of the night morphed into a distant symphony. My muscles relaxed. The tension in my shoulders eased.
All around me, smoke coiled, curled, and danced in eerie wisps.
Maxwell watched me. “You might as well keep that. She’s your woman now.”
I put the joint out and placed it in my pocket. The euphoric haze softening the edges of my reality. “Come on.”
Together, we entered.
It could have been the marijuana, but every step I took felt deliberate, as if I were walking not just into a house, but into the unknown parts of reality.
The wooden floor groaned beneath our feet. The sound echoed through the empty rooms.
Maxwell led the way, his posture rigid.
I followed, my senses heightened.
The sound of drumming and chanting lured me forward.
When we approached the basement door, Maxwell stopped and turned to me. “So. . .”
I quirked my brows. “What?”
Maxwell gazed around as if making sure the space was empty. “Listen, man. We’re going to be a little unconventional right now.”
“What are you talking about?”
Frowning, he sighed. “Hold my hand.”
I sneered. “I am not holding your fucking hand.”
“Yo, I’m not going down that motherfucker unless you hold my hand—”
“Why would I hold your hand—”
“Because I don’t want to end up in another vault room with naked bitches and riches.”
Rage boiled within me. “Stop smoking marijuana.”
He held out his hands. “It’s not the weed, man. This is real shit I’m talking about. I had a messed up experience in this house before when I came here with the Butcher.”
“A room full of bitches and riches?” I shoved him to the side. “Come on, before I push you down the steps and tell my mouse you slipped and fell.”
Maxwell crossed his arms over his chest and stepped back from the door. “I’m not going down there unless you hold my hand.”
“Are you serious?”
“Serious as a newly-shoveled grave.”
Together, we stood at the threshold of the dimly lit basement. The drumming grew louder, sending sinister vibrations up through the soles of my shoes.
I studied that dark abyss beyond the basement door. Chanting rose in the air and. . .something didn’t seem right about it all.
That set my nerves on edge.
A cold shiver crawled up my spine.
The shadows stretched and twisted into sinister shapes, as if mocking our hesitation.
It does look scary, but what is scary. . .to a lion?
Still, I couldn’t shake the unnerving sensation.
The doorway emanated a sense of wrongness that was impossible to ignore.
Maxwell’s breathing hitched. “You feel that shit too. Don’t you?”
I tensed. “I feel something. . .odd coming from there.”
“And your gut is saying turn around?”
It is.
“I love Em, but. . .” Maxwell took another step back. “You’re going to need to hold my hand.”
I frowned and studied the darkness before me.
It was fascinating, the way humans were wired to sense danger, even when it was not immediately visible.
Was it some ancient instinct, buried deep within our DNA, alerting us to the unseen, the hidden threats lurking just out of our sight?
As I stood there, staring into the darkness beyond the door, every primal alarm in my system screamed at me to run the other way.
And this sensation wasn’t based on anything I could see or hear.