Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 40113 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 201(@200wpm)___ 160(@250wpm)___ 134(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40113 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 201(@200wpm)___ 160(@250wpm)___ 134(@300wpm)
If it wasn’t for all the money I could squeeze out of them for good causes, I’d throw in the towel.
Think of the kids, Giselle. Think of the kids.
I smile. “Is there anything else I can do for you, Patricia?” You catch more bees with honey and all that…
Patricia lifts her nose in the air and sniffs. “Not at the moment. Just make sure those lazy servers get the desserts out on time. At the breast-cancer benefit we had to wait almost twenty minutes for the last course. Twenty minutes!”
“I’m on top of it.” I smile reassuringly.
Patricia just glares at me. “You better be. You know there are plenty of people on the committee vying for your job.”
What the hell?
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I’m usually so good at not engaging with BS like this but today I just can’t. Normally I can laugh witches like Patricia off because then I can go spend time with Ana and Juliet and feel sane again.
But now they’re so busy with their own new lives and their babies and I’m still just…me. Stuck back here in the boring normal world with the Patricia’s and the Peggy’s. Because this is my life. And it always will be.
“You think you’re so much better than us just because your father is a rich investment banker?”
“Step-father,” I correct through gritted teeth but she ignores me.
“Well my husband is a state senator. I deserve to be the head of this committee.”
I can only stare at her, open-mouthed. “But you don’t give a shit about inner-city kids.”
She gasps. “Language. The other women and I have been talking and we really don’t think you’re the best fit for this position anymore. Your behavior today only proves it.”
“Are you kidding me? You’re kicking me out?”
She leans in, her little piggy eyes cruel. “And don’t go crying to daddy, either. If you try it, it will only make you more of a laughingstock. Try to have a little respect and bow out gracefully.”
She’s only pulling this because she knows I’m not like her. I won’t make drama. But still, inside, I want to punch her. I want to punch her so badly.
My hand fists and my muscles bunch with the desire.
But I’m my mother’s daughter, so instead of giving into my desire, I turn on my heel and stalk from the room.
I shove out the back door and don’t stop until I’m at the door of my car. I yank it open and sit inside, slamming the door shut behind me. Only there do I give into my anger, pounding my steering wheel with all my fury.
“Stupid, ugly witch! You’re going to drive that charity into the ground and what will the kids do then?” I close my eyes and scream out all my frustration.
And then my car door is pulled open from the outside.
What the—?
My eyes shoot open, expecting to see Patricia or one of the other society witches, but then I let out a surprised screech.
Because it’s not Patricia.
It’s an alien and it’s not one I know.
He’s tall, a towering seven feet, and his skin— It’s a mottled combination of pale human skin with patches of dark burnished purple scales, like they attempted the transformation on him but it didn’t take. And I mean it really, really didn’t take.
His face is like a phantom of the opera mask, half human, half alien, with a nose that couldn’t decide and is halfway between ours and theirs.
“Who are you?” I whisper. “Did Shak send you?”
He sneers. “No, my bastard half-brother didn’t send me. I am First and you are coming with me. I will mate you, produce offspring, and retake my place as King.”
Oh sh—
But before I can make a run for it, First snatches me up around the waist, extends huge purple wings, and leaps into the air with me.