Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 61101 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 306(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61101 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 306(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
“Why?”
This time, she pulls away slightly, and I allow her, but only so I can look into her eyes. I can feel she’s tense. She knows something is up, and every muscle in her body has gone rigid.
I’m reluctant to tell her. I thought about doing the job myself, but that would be robbing her of the chance to do what she needs, to heal.
I got to see my father die. I watched as the monster took his final breath, and it gave me and my brother some sense of closure. Rayne deserves the same.
They say evil doesn’t stay dead. I thought it was just a tale of fiction, but having read Falcon’s email only moments ago, I know it’s a fact. My father might be dead, but his legacy lives on. We’ve known about Bane for some time, but now a new evil has emerged from the shadows. The thing is, Bane may think he’s running things, but I have a feeling there’s more to the story than meets the eye.
“Dante?” My name on Rayne’s lips sounds like a symphony. I want nothing more than to hear her screaming it in pleasure. But for now, she needs to know the truth. “Who is it?”
I look into those pretty eyes. They’ve stolen my soul and turned the darkness into some form of light and goodness.
I can’t stall anymore, so I answer, “It’s your mother.”
7
RAYNE
When I was a little girl, the only thing I focused on was survival. Early on, it became apparent to me I had no other choice. As I grew up, my only thoughts were to keep breathing. I knew if I stopped it would mean the monsters would win. I knew I couldn’t give up because there was something more important for me to do—I needed to find my brother.
I was ripped from the arms of my sweet brother, River. He watched as they took me away. We were far too young to have gone through trauma like that, but there was nothing we could do to stop it. When the men came for me, I didn’t understand, but I soon learned the reason why.
Facing the things people only encounter in horror movies or those true crime documentaries broke me. After the first month, I was a shell of the child I’d been. A darkness engulfed me, and I allowed it to swallow me whole. There was no fighting it, because I couldn’t face the light of day, knowing what I’d become.
That is, until I was rescued, years later.
When I first laid eyes on Dante Savage in Thanos’s cells, I had no thoughts of a future. The idea of seeing my next birthday was laughable, but now the possibility of a forever seems within reach.
Glancing up from where I’ve been focused on my computer screen for the past hour, I find Dante watching me.
I’m not sure what it is about him, but it’s as if his eyes are like magnets, and they attract my attention whenever he looks at me. Bright blue orbs, shimmering with concern. I don’t blame him for being wary at times. I might have escaped the clutches of the men who stole me, sold me, and used me as a plaything, but the memories are never far from my mind.
“We need to plan,” Dante says before I have time to ask him why he’s looking at me.
We’ve been working nonstop for months, trying to find Malcolm Savage’s contacts. Each time we discover one of their hiding spots, we go in for the kill. The only thing keeping me going right now is finding my mother.
“We do, but there isn’t much to go on, and even if we discover her location, she’s going to be heavily guarded,” I tell him as Harper walks in and settles on the sofa.
When Dante told me they’d discovered my mother is responsible for trafficking in the States, I wasn’t surprised. I knew all along she was a vile human.
It was years into my torture when I learned my mother was involved in trafficking rings all around the world. She’s one of many women who work in the trade, and I can’t understand why. A maternal instinct should be to keep your child and all other children safe. But there isn’t an ounce of love in her heart. If she even has one.
“I think we should fly down to Thailand, where she was last seen, and question anyone she’s come into contact with. If she’s on vacation, she might not be as alert as she should be, and she won’t see us coming,” Harper suggests.
“There’s no way she’ll be on her own. Even on vacation, she’ll have guards watching her every move,” I tell her.
As much as I want to end this, the idea of coming face-to-face with the woman who sold me into Hell, who handed me over to the devil, is making me feel queasy.