Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 129681 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 519(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129681 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 519(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
A reason to give.
A purpose other than the one that she had to get away from there.
Whatever the cost.
“Did you see what you made me do?”
He gestured to Talia’s body slumped in the middle of the room where her best friend had bled out. Agony clutched Salem’s spirit. Horror and guilt and hate.
How could he?
She squeezed her eyes closed as if she could block it.
“Such a shame.” He tipped her chin up higher. The tip pierced her skin the barest fraction.
She suppressed a scream, though her body still shuddered.
“I thought you were smarter than that, no?”
A whimper got free.
He clicked his tongue, and she shrieked when he suddenly took her by the hair and yanked her to standing. He hauled her to the middle of the room and forced her to look down where Talia lay. He was behind her when he hauled her back against his chest, the knife at her throat. “I warned you not to waste my time with ridiculous antics. I was worried…searching everywhere for you…for two days, Salem. How could you put me through that?”
“I’m sorry.” It rocked from her throat.
“You’re lucky I believe in second chances, Salem. You get one,” he warned in her ear.
Then he gripped her by the chin and dragged the knife up her jaw.
Blinding pain seared through her being as he cut deep into her flesh.
Her head spun and the world canted to the side.
Blackness flickered at the edges of her sight.
Still, she heard the warning before passing out on the floor. “It’s the last one you get. I suggest you don’t forget it.”
TWENTY-NINE
JUD
I’d often wondered the day the demon was born.
If who I’d become had purely been a circumstance of my upbringing. If it was due to my mother’s fear when we’d been little boys, the way she’d tried to shield and protect, all while her cries would seep through the walls at night, fill my ears, and make me be the one who wanted to shield and protect her. The way she’d promised she’d find a way out, that everything would be better, until the day all four of us had to stand and watch as she’d been brutally mowed down.
If it’d manifested that day into abounding rage and eternal hate.
Possibly it’d bloomed in my blood the day I was conceived, and the wickedness of my father had been passed on to me.
Or maybe it had already been a piece of my soul, grabbing a free ride when I’d been plucked from Hell to walk this Earth.
I was betting on the latter right then.
Because fury had taken up residence at the base of my throat. Wrath was the only thing I could taste. Bitter venom on my tongue because God knew, the vengeance itching at my hands was sharp as a blade.
I didn’t think I’d ever felt more helpless than I had yesterday afternoon.
That straight-up fear that had hit me so hard I might as well have run flat into a brick wall when I’d seen the blacked-out BMW about six houses down from Salem’s.
In an instant, my spirit had seized as awareness smacked me in the face. A swell of depravity in the atmosphere, a crash of evil blistering through the rays of late afternoon light.
I’d grabbed Juni. Held her tight.
I’d known, right then, that I’d do whatever it took to protect her.
That I wouldn’t let go.
The car had been gone in a split, fucker taking off before I could get a chance to catch a glimpse of who was inside, my focus all wrapped up in making sure that Juni was okay.
But right now, it was Salem I was dying to wrap up and hold. Promise her it would be okay. Honestly, I was shocked she’d shown at work today. Hell, if I were being honest, I was shocked she’d stayed.
The entire day today, I’d watched her riding a razor-sharp edge, wearing those heels and a modest black floral dress, girl so apprehensive it was alive in every step she took.
Anxious.
Agitated.
Afraid.
Nah.
She wasn’t okay.
Could feel it.
The energy that whipped and thrashed and howled.
Bashing against the walls and trembling along the floors.
A warning that shook me to the core.
My girl was getting ready to run.
It had taken forever to get her calmed down yesterday afternoon. With the commotion out front, Darius had come running, demanding to know what the hell I’d done.
Had wanted to clock the asshole in the face.
I knew it only came from worry, though. Knew the same fears that lived inside Salem lived inside him. He’d uprooted his life and moved here to a place where Salem would be safe. Even if he hated me, he wanted the same thing for her that I did.
Her freedom.
Her joy.
Her peace.
So, I’d sucked it up and allowed him to help us get her back to the house. I’d hovered and worried, sharing glances with Trent, both of us on edge.