Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 176345 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 882(@200wpm)___ 705(@250wpm)___ 588(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 176345 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 882(@200wpm)___ 705(@250wpm)___ 588(@300wpm)
She raises her brow, her lips parting.
BANG!
A loud explosion down below, coupled with the whole house shaking, makes us all look at the door, and whatever she wanted to say disappears along with our safety.
Because if I heard that right …
“The Phantom building is under attack,” Nathan says, and he immediately bolts off.
We follow suit as he opens the door, but come to a halt in front of the big banister overlooking the hallway down below.
Because none other than Felix fucking Rivera is standing in the door opening … and he’s got his gun pointed right at my face.
“WHERE IS SHE?”
LANA
I can’t even focus on what’s going on because when I hear my brother’s voice, I’m completely overcome by shock.
“GIVE ME MY FUCKING SISTER!” his voice blasts through the hallway.
But before I can shout his name, the gunfire erupts.
“Milo! Get back in there!” Nathan roars at him.
Nathan and Kai each duck and roll to a different side of the two main staircases while Milo crawls back into the room and closes the door.
“Lana, Felix is worried about you!” Dylan’s voice calls. “Can you please come out here? Thanks, girl!” But his chipper voice does nothing to calm my nerves.
I can see Kai’s face twisting with rage the second he hears his voice, and he jumps down the stairs where Dylan’s standing and engages with him. “You motherfucker, I’ve been waiting for a chance to kill you.”
Dylan laughs.
BANG!
The bullet narrowly avoids his head.
“Oh, I remember you,” Dylan muses. “How’s the eye?”
Kai roars and shoots all the bullets left in his gun, missing all of the shots because of his rage, and then he charges at him with his knife.
“Fucking Skull & Serpents in our fucking house? No fucking way, you’re gonna die today!” Ezra yells as he shoots at both Dylan and Felix.
Alistair jumps out from behind a pillar and shoots him in the arm, and Ezra groans as he slumps against the banister near the stairs. “Don’t fucking shoot at my friends,” Alistair growls.
Gunshots fill the hall from left and right as more Phantoms emerge from their rooms, ready to kill whoever set foot in their domain. And I’m in the middle of it all.
What the fuck do I do?
I have to put a stop to this.
“I’LL KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU!” Felix yells.
“Felix!” I shout, but he can’t hear me over the gunshots ricocheting off the walls and floors.
A bullet flies into the door through which Milo just fled, and when I look around to see who shot at him, it’s none other than Penelope Ricci, my brother’s girlfriend. Or rather, all of their fucking girlfriends.
“Penelope?” I yell.
When her eyes connect with mine, she mouths, “Oops,” but she continues shooting at the other Phantoms like she’s hell-bent on making them pay for something they didn’t actually do.
Paintings on the walls are left with holes as I run down the steps on my bare feet, wearing only a towel. Behind me, Phantoms shoot at Skull & Serpent guys and vice versa, none of them giving a shit who gets hurt. It’s like an all-out war in the Phantom house.
Nathan rushes down the stairs and heads into Milo’s room, yelling at one of his Phantoms to protect the door at all costs before he leaves again and focuses on the intruders.
“Motherfucker.” He storms toward Felix to face him head-on.
Felix tries to shoot him, but his gun empties swiftly, and he chucks it aside, only to pull out a knife instead.
“I’ve been waiting for this,” Nathan growls.
“Well, come and get it, then!” Felix shouts back. “You touch my sister, you deserve to fucking die!”
“Nathan, don’t!” Kai yells from the top of the stairs, but Nathan’s too consumed by hatred to listen.
So I rush down the last few steps in my towel. Nathan almost has his knife in Felix’s shoulder when I bolt between them and spread my arms. “STOP!”
“Lana?” His eyes widen. “You’re here … in a fucking towel?”
“I was showering,” I reply, incensed. “Pull back your guys.”
“Fuck no, those Phantoms fucking stole you, and now they’re gonna pay for it!” Felix barks, and he tries to shove me aside, but I stand my ground and push him back.
“They didn’t steal shit. I came here out of my own accord,” I retort.
He blinks a couple of times, his face contorting with confusion. “What the—”
“Come on and kill me then, motherfucker!” Nathan roars from behind me. “Or I swear to God, I’ll chop off all your remaining fingers for daring to take one of mine!”
Felix’s nostrils flare. “You motherf—”
“STOP!” I yell at Felix, and then I direct my attention at all of them, including Kai, Dylan, Alistair, and Ezra. “Stop! All of you!”
Dylan’s got Kai by the collar, with his knife pointed at his leftover eye while Kai’s knife is pointed at Dylan’s heart. Both of them are unwilling to let go, but they both focus on me.