Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 65210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 326(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 326(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
I shut the water off and leaned against the sink, closing my eyes and breathing a set rhythm to calm myself.
One deep breath in. One long and slow breath out.
After I felt more like myself, I dried my hands off and faced my reflection. My dark hair seemed haphazard around my face, as if the wind had kicked it up and tangled the strands. My school cardigan, with the emblem stitched into the right breast pocket, taunted me. I looked down and stared at the section of white around the edge of the crest.
It was a droplet of Trevor’s blood.
I grabbed toilet paper and ran it under the faucet, then scrubbed and scrubbed at that droplet. But all it did was smear and tinge it pink.
I closed my eyes and breathed in and out.
One long breath in. One long breath out.
Another in. Another out.
“Bruno,” I said and opened my eyes, staring at myself in the mirror. I looked… calm.
“Yeah?”
I knew he hadn’t moved from where he was at. He’d probably called Hades too, seeing me on the verge of freaking out.
“Can you get me a glass of water?” I was still looking at my reflection, knowing what I had to do. It was what I needed to do.
I could sense he hadn’t moved yet, but then he told me he’d be right back and I heard his retreating footsteps. I was as silent as I could be as I opened the door, shut it again, and headed up the stairs and down the hall. I had one destination in mind—the one place I’d been told not to go.
I felt like I was committing some cardinal sin, that I was breaking the law, and any moment I’d be caught. But I didn’t stop. I weaved around the corners, moved swiftly down the hallways.
Bruno would be heading back to the bathroom right about now, but it didn’t matter because I was already standing on the other side of the closed door with my hand gripping the handle.
I expected it to be locked, but when I turned it and the door opened, surprise flickered through me.
The room was dark, the curtains drawn so not even the sunlight pierced inside. The scent that invaded my nose reminded me of a hospital. It smelled sterile, like bleach had been used to clean out the scent of death.
I could hear a whirring sound from an IV pole, and a beep beep beep that came from a heart monitor. I looked around, taking in the single dresser across from the four-poster bed, and a small closet tucked in a corner. The room was small, far tinier than any other room in the house I’d seen so far.
The IV pole was on one side of the bed, and I followed the tubing to a wrinkled hand. Then I dragged my gaze up a thin chest until I was staring into the face of a man I hadn’t seen in so long.
Michael Cronus had never been a true grandfather in any sense of the word. I rarely saw him, but I’d known he’d been sick. I’d heard my parents discussing his declining health.
He lay on the far side of the bed, oxygen tubing placed in his nose, his focus trained on me. His chest rose and fell slowly, as if he struggled, the sound coming from him a wheeze.
His mouth moved as if he were trying to say something to me. I could see the twitching of his finger, like he wanted me to come closer. And I did that.
I stepped farther into the room and shivered. Why did it feel so much colder here? Horrid images of my grandfather and father beating Hades moved through my mind. It choked me up.
Michael had been so icy my entire life. He’d never given me a warm smile, never told me he loved me. I didn’t spend time with him—not that I wanted to—but because he’d been so disinterested in me as a granddaughter that I wasn’t even on his radar.
And I was his flesh and blood.
The things he’d done to Hades… my body instantly reacted, bile rising in my throat. I could have thrown up.
I moved closer, the hatred growing inside of me. I was shocked at how dark my thoughts were going.
He lay there unmoving, his milky white eyes trained on me as I stared at his decaying form.
“I know what you did,” I whispered. It didn’t make a difference whether he knew I was aware of the abuse or not, but the words had already spilled out. “I know what a piece of shit you are, you bastard. I know you feel no remorse. You’re evil and lived your life as such. You’ll die soon. All alone with nobody caring what happens to you.” My throat grew tighter, and I gasped for air.