Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 88849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
As I turned to leave, I took the canvas and lifted it to place on the floor. When I did this and stepped back, something in the bottom corner caught my eye. One of my hands in the painting was half-turned, as if I was about to reach out to the light. The other hung down on my other side, in the darkness. The end of it was dripping in blood. Something horrible was going to happen. I didn’t know what, or how it would happen, but I’d have a hand in it. Literally.
Shivers went down my spine. I couldn’t shake them even after I left the school and called Kellan to pick me up. When he arrived, the shivers only got worse. I was almost trembling as I got into the car and struggled to buckle my seatbelt.
Kellan spoke roughly, “You don’t really need that.”
Oh yeah. My now numb fingers let it fall back.
He added, “One of these days you’ll forget you’re not human.”
“I’m part human.” I was sure of that.
He didn’t respond, and the silence grew between us. I felt like I was being suffocated again. Kellan had this effect on me. As we drove, neither of us spoke. I was slightly fearful he’d ask what I had painted, but then again, I wasn’t sure if he really knew. All I knew was that I didn’t want to tell him. For some reason, I wanted it kept private to myself. But then again, until this evening, everything I had done had been kept private. I had been in fear of Kellan finding anything out about me, of this—I wasn’t sure either. Maybe it was because his demon was so powerful. Maybe I still didn’t completely trust Kellan. Had I ever trusted him? Was I sure that I could trust him now?
“I can feel your thoughts. They’re irritating me,” Kellan growled in the darkness.
Glancing over, his side profile seemed attentive to the road, but I knew it was a lie. Everything in his body was tuned toward me. The human eye could be deceived so easily. I commented lightly, “I’m surprised you can’t read thoughts.”
“I can’t read yours. I can read others.”
“Like Leah’s?” My heart skipped a beat when I asked. That situation had been bothering me since I first learned about her stepfather. And I couldn’t help to wonder if he’d still gone over there—or what had he done?
Kellan didn’t respond for a moment. When he did, his voice was rough. “Why don’t you ask what you really want to know?”
“Fine.” I took a breath. “Did you kill him?”
“I didn’t even go over there.”
His answer came so swift, too swift. “What do you mean?”
“I was going over there, but I felt something was wrong with you. I didn’t go because of that. I changed course.”
“You came for me?”
“You know I did. Why are you acting like this?”
“Like what?”
“Like…” Then he turned and watched me intently. “Like you’re trying to figure me out. What is it? What do you want to know?”
Never had Kellan been so upfront with me. It blew my breath away for a moment. “Just like that? Anything I ask you, you’re just going to answer?”
“I can see it’s bothering you, so yes. Within reason, I’ll answer whatever you ask of me.”
“Why?” The question blurted from me, so quickly. He’d always been closed off, gone his separate way. Even Vespar and Gus didn’t feel they really knew him.
“Because I can feel how important it is for you. That’s why. You need more reason?” Annoyance flashed in his voice. “You only get a few questions. Pick wisely.”
“You said I could ask you anything.”
“I lied. You get three, three questions and I will be completely honest. I changed my mind.”
I didn’t think twice about one. “Am I actually a Braden?”
“As far as I’m concerned you are.”
I nearly growled. “You didn’t answer my question.”
He shrugged, still driving. “I’ll answer as best I can. I won’t keep anything from you that I think you’d want to know.”
“How can I not be a demon and still be your sister?”
A grin flirted at the corner of his mouth. “Is that your second question?”
I balled my hand into a fist and snapped, “I want to hit you. It’s the same question. Answer it. You told me you would.”
Kellan sighed, fighting back a grin. “Fine. Are you a Braden? Yes. Are we all Bradens? Yes. We all grew up together.”
He still didn’t answer my question. Somehow, his answer was a riddle, and I couldn’t decipher it in that moment.
“What’s your second question?”
Oh no. I’d just caught on to his game. “I’m not going to ask right now.”
“What?” He threw me a look from the corner of his eyes, surprised.
“I get three. I asked one. I need time to think of the last two. There was no time restriction on the questions.”