Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 125121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
The truth of that would hit me soon. I would rage and cry and mourn having let down my sister. I wanted it to come, because I hated what I felt right then.
“Numb.”
“What now?” I whispered to my namesake. “How do I find one rotten, evil Royal in a sea of spoiled garbage?
“How did you find them Winter? I know you minded your business, were kind to everyone you came across, and didn’t get sucked into drama. Still, you found out something that scared the Phantom. What could it have been? Regalia is full of secrets that people would kill to keep. How do I find the one that took you?”
My phone vibrated against my hip. I sighed in irritation. I’d been getting calls from a blocked number non-stop for hours. Ever since it went wide that I was selling Saylor’s texts, people have been stopping me and asking how I did it and if there were more. These requests came with an obscene price tag.
For those who couldn’t roam around campus searching for me, they tracked down my number instead. It was disturbing how many middle-aged men begged me to get them access to a college girl’s text messages.
My phone went off again.
“Ugh. Give it a rest.”
If only Wilder was here. He’d know how to stop—
I bolted up. Wilder? What if it was him calling? Blocking his number is exactly what he’d do.
I scrambled to pick it up. “Hello? Wilder, is that you?”
“No, I’m afraid not.”
My hopeful smile melted off my face. “Who is this?”
“Can’t you guess? Who else would call you using a digitally altered voice?” said the machine I was speaking to.
Male or female—I couldn’t tell. The noise coming from my speaker sounded like words run through a garbage disposal.
“Levi.”
“Hmm. That is a fair guess, but no. I’m much closer to home,” they said. “I heard you call me the Phantom.”
My limbs turned to lead.
“Cute.”
“Who is this?” I rasped. “If you have the nerve to call me, then you have it to use your real voice. Who is this!”
“Relax. We’ll get to that.” I couldn’t be certain, but they sounded... amused.
My nails pierced half-moons into my palm. When I found this bastard, I’d show them something funny.
“First, I wanted to thank you for taking care of Scott, Thasher, and Thompkins for me. I had to take care of Natale and Hill myself in the end, but even so, we made a good team.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I wanted them dead as much as you did. You’re supposed to do the date, accept your reward, and move on. Instead, those bastards tracked me down and have been blackmailing me ever since. You arriving on campus with all that hate in your heart was the best thing that could’ve happened.”
“Oh my— That’s why you didn’t come after me too. You wanted me around to clean up your loose ends. Then why the hell did you try to frame me for Giovanni’s murder?”
“No choice. No one told him to go shooting his coke-dusted mouth off. I had to act fast. The next thing I knew, I was standing beside two unconscious people. Taking the stun gun without me would’ve proved a third person was there, so I had to put it in your hand. The cops figured it out anyway but they’re clueless and so are you. No harm done.”
“No harm, huh?” My voice scraped from my throat. “There’s been plenty of harm, you fucking monster. Why did you d-do it? Why did you kill my sister!”
“That’s another topic we’ll get to,” they replied. “You want to know who I am. Find out what started all this. The truth is you never had to try this hard, Sinclair. I’m more than happy to tell you. Honestly, I was getting impatient waiting for you to finish all those shits off, so we could finally talk. There’s just one more thing you have to do for me first.”
Fury strangled me. “Do for you? I haven’t done anything for you, and I’m not starting now! Fuck’s sake, you’re sick. Even with that fake voice I can hear you’re enjoying this.”
“Of course I am. That’s what happens when you’re so close to getting everything you want. I bet Owen, Levi, Wesley, and the others thought you were sick too when you stood over them, smirking away over their last goodbye.”
My lips peeled back from my teeth. “Don’t ever compare me to you.”
“Why not? We’re more alike than you think. I’m willing to do whatever it takes for revenge, and so are you. There’s only one more thing you have to do to be in the same room as the person who took your precious sister from you. Are you really going to turn me down?”
“You’re going to ask me to do something I can’t. Cross a line that not even in my darkest moment I would cross,” I said. “I might as well tell you fuck no now.”