Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 53529 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 268(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53529 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 268(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
“You think they’d shoot you?”
“What do they care if I’m dead or alive? They just want to pick me apart and figure out what makes me tick.”
“As any evil empire would,” I say dryly.
“Unfortunately, I’m not bulletproof. At least, I don’t think I am, and it’s not something I can easily test.”
“So what can I do to help?”
“Go inside? Start filming and asking questions? I just need a distraction so I can get to River.”
“If the place is surrounded, they’re not going to let me anywhere close.”
“Are you sure?” Huff asks. “Because maybe as a member of the press, you could get in there easier than I could.”
I shake my head. Huff has no idea how much I want to help him, but I can’t see Kyle or his cronies letting me in. Then there’s the whole thing about risking my cameraman’s life along with my own.
“I’m sorry, Huff, but if we storm in there with cameras, at best we’ll be arrested. At worst, we’ll be shot. Likely, Kyle will detain us on bogus charges.”
I instantly see the look of frustration on Huff’s handsome face, his strong jaw working.
“Why are you starting to look like a ripe tomato again?” I ask.
“It’s a side effect. When my emotions get too intense, my body starts to heat up, and I lose control.”
“You mean you kill people?”
“Fuck no,” he snaps. “I mean I want to. I want to get violent, but I always stop myself.”
“Is it hard to do?”
“Just mind over matter. I have to practice meditation and breathing a lot.”
Interesting. “Well, I’m sorry, but I don’t know how to help you with River.”
He bows his head. “Yeah, I think this point goes to Kyle. I gotta give him what he wants.”
“Which is?”
“The formula. Morris’s vial.”
Is he crazy? “Absolutely not, Huff! You can’t ever give him what he wants, no matter the cost.”
“What am I supposed to do? Leave River in there? If I don’t see her soon, she’ll die.”
Huff means if he doesn’t fuck her, she’ll flatline. What a messed-up relationship.
So my choices are: (A) let Huff hand over the vial to get River back and watch humanity implode. (B) Let his childhood sweetheart flatline. Or (C) try to storm the hospital and end up in a government gulag with my cameraman.
“Huff?”
“Yes?”
“Where’s the vial?” I ask.
“Why?” he asks defensively.
“Because I vote for option D.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Huff
“Are you out of your fucking mind, Luna? I am not injecting you with the formula.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’ll probably kill you.”
“A risk I’m willing to take,” she argues.
“Why?” I ask.
“Who wouldn’t want to travel anywhere in the world with a mere thought? Or be able to lift cars?”
“Your heart will explode if you don’t get the dose correct. Look at Morris. He made the stuff, and he couldn’t even get it right.”
“Yes, but he was taking that other concoction, too. Who’s to say that’s not what overloaded his system?”
She’s crazy. “Exactly! Who can say? And let’s pretend for a second that the initial dose doesn’t kill you. To keep you alive, we’ll have to give you more and gradually reduce the dosage so your heart doesn’t explode. We don’t know if we have enough for that.”
“We also don’t know if it’s more than enough.”
Huh? “Luna, the stuff in that vial isn’t even the same juice I used to come down.”
“That’s my point. The other formula was much, much weaker than what you were exposed to.”
“Yes, but—”
“So then, theoretically, this vial is closer to what you had. Super-concentrated. We’ll have more than enough. We just need to make sure the dose I get is extremely small. Start from there.”
“No, Luna. Just, no.” I’m not going to play a part in killing her.
“Huff, it’s not your choice.”
But it is. It’s my choice whether or not to give it to her. “Why do you even want this? You’ll be pursued the rest of your life. You might even become illegal soon.”
“Why do you want it, Huff? Because you said if there was a cure, you weren’t sure you’d take it.”
“Well…well…because it’s better than going back to who I was.”
“And maybe I’ll feel the same,” she argues.
“You’re successful, ambitious, brave, and beautiful. You’re nothing like I was.” I instantly recoil. I do think she’s all those things, but I don’t want her getting the wrong impression. I love River. I always will. It means absolutely nothing if I find Luna incredibly attractive.
I exhale slowly. “Luna, you don’t understand. I was…weak and afraid, and no one respected me. I didn’t even respect myself. And the moment I tried to stand up for someone I loved, someone was there to knock me down. I don’t want to return to being that guy everyone shits on. I can do good being like this.”
“So why wouldn’t I want the same, Huff?”
“Because it comes with a steep price. Look at where River is. Look at what Kyle did to my parents and to you.”