Total pages in book: 168
Estimated words: 160578 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 803(@200wpm)___ 642(@250wpm)___ 535(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160578 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 803(@200wpm)___ 642(@250wpm)___ 535(@300wpm)
“Like you’ve seen every bad thing in this world.”
He pauses a moment as if contemplating his next words. He is only a couple years older than me, but right now, I feel years younger. Smaller. He probably won’t answer.
With a lazy step forward, the room around us becomes smaller. I bend my head to look up at him. Does he expect me to flinch? To scream? Run? I should. He’s so close I may pass out.
The bite of his next words leave teeth marks on my neck. “What makes you think I’m not everything bad in this world?” He doesn’t give me a chance to answer as he continues down the stairs. “Mouth shut, Lunatic. Or I’ll sew it closed.”
It feels like sandpaper when I swallow, but I do just that, and I follow behind him as he walks back downstairs. The room is darker than I remember from the last time I was here, and the sound of laughter and chatter has my feet skipping a step. Is he throwing a party?
Priest turns over his shoulder. “Your clumsy feet won’t do you well here, Madness. Keep up.”
Sweat forms in the palms of my hands. I slow further, until I’m back in the main lobby.
Without the cloak of darkness, it’s not the pool that steals the show. It’s the endless bed of water on the other side of the cliff.
“Luna.”
Priest and four others stand in a line near the front door. It’s open, allowing the natural daylight to enter. Each of them displaying a range of expressions from sad, lost to scared.
I look away when guilt claws up my spine.
“What’s this?” I ask Priest, gesturing to them with a flick of my eyes.
“I asked you if you’d killed someone.”
“You did ask me that, yes.”
My answer must annoy him because his eyes squint for a moment, before he’s back to
being the unreadable god that he is.
He rests against the wall, the muscles in his jaw flexing. Truly terrifying how much he
resembles his father.
“By the end of today, you will have.” He says the words as if he’s talking about the
weather.
I look back at the four people. “I don’t want to.”
He glares at me. “I don’t care.”
Needles prickle over my body, as I tiptoe closer to each one. They’re all different. Various height, weight, and level of fear.
I stop in front of the boy with blue eyes and blonde hair. The kind you expect to see
anywhere but here.
“Who are they?” The question is for Priest, but I don’t glance away from the boy.
“That doesn’t matter.”
I turn slightly over my shoulder, but not enough to be facing him. “Are they at least bad?”
Silence. With one final look at Priest, they turn and disappear into the daylight. That same cold familiarity snaps through me when his hand lands over my ribs. Even through the thick material of the dress I’m wearing, my body recognizes him as if he created it himself.
A rock forms in my throat. Every passing minute that he’s touching me feels like a
lifetime.
“You’re asking the wrong questions, Madness.” His fingers bite into my hips, forcing me against him. “Open your eyes.”
My chest rises and falls. Every breath I take is a reminder that at any moment, he could take it away from me, but I do as I’m told. Dark clouds form around the sun as the smell of damp asphalt thickens the air. Thunder rolls through the sky as the first drops of rain explode against the patio.
“We’re going to play a game.”
I keep myself focused on the trees in front of me. “I don’t like games.”
“You’ll love this one…”
I lick my lips. “You don’t know me enough to know what I like.”
“You sure about that, Madness?” His deep voice sends violent shudders through my body.
I don’t reply, the weight of my stance heavy on my feet.
“Ever played hide-and-seek?”
“Are you being serious?” I try to turn, but the hand that’s on my hip shifts lower to just above my thigh.
“You’re going to hide, and I’m going to find you, but you don’t want me to find you.”
I can’t help the thoughts that keep popping up in my head, that this is all some sort of
twisted way of teaching me. What, I don’t know.
“I’m pretty sure I’m going to want you to find me.”
His fingers dig deeper into my thigh as he spins me around and shoves me up against the wall that’s beside the door. He’s even taller than the last time. Now a whole foot than me. He cages me in by resting his hands against the wall, keeping his knee pressed against my leg. The shallow flutters of my heart grow thicker the longer we’re locked together. Shadows contour his sharp cheekbones, drawing attention to lips far too soft for a man with a face carved from stone.
“If I find you, I’ll either kill or fuck you.” The size of him shields us from any prying eyes, feeding the tension between us.