Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 111520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 558(@200wpm)___ 446(@250wpm)___ 372(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 558(@200wpm)___ 446(@250wpm)___ 372(@300wpm)
“Your English is excellent,” Vaughn said.
I knew he’d meant the words as a compliment, but a chill snaked down my spine. The next thing I knew my name was being called from far away.
“Aleks, sweetheart, just focus on my voice.”
I felt my skin grow warm. First on my cheek, then my arms. Someone was rubbing my upper arms but not in a bad way.
“Aleks, open your eyes.”
When had I closed my eyes?
I did as he said and forced my lids open. Bright light was everywhere, but it wasn’t anything more than the sunlight filtering through the car like before.
Only now the car wasn’t moving.
And Vaughn didn’t have his hands on the wheel. They were on me, rubbing my arms. My shirt sleeves had ridden up on my forearms and every once in a while he’d give my muscles there a gentle squeeze.
“Breathe, baby,” Vaughn whispered.
I automatically sucked in a breath, then another. My brain began to feel less fuzzy. As my mind started to focus, I realized we were sitting on the side of the road, but not on the interstate anymore. We were on the shoulder of an off-ramp.
“What… what happened?” I asked.
“Here, drink this,” Vaughn said as he handed me a bottle of water. It was warm, but it gave me something to focus on as I tried to get my bearings.
My fingers were shaking as I tried to put the cap back on the bottle, so Vaughn took it from me and closed it, then set the bottle in the cup holder between us.
“What happened?” I asked.
“Aleks, have you ever lost time before?”
“What? I don’t know what that means,” I said.
“Have you ever blacked out and woken up minutes or hours later or in a different place… after you left Chicago?”
“No, I—” I began, but then fell silent. Then I was nodding. “A few times,” I whispered. “After I began living with Magnus and Dante… they, um, they’d find me asleep in strange places sometimes.”
“What places?”
I shook my head because I didn’t want to say.
“What places?” Vaughn gently repeated. He was still rubbing my arms. My entire body started to get warm.
“My closet mostly. Sometimes the basement.”
I could feel his eyes on me but refused to look up. “I don’t know about the other…”
“The losing time?” Vaughn asked.
I nodded. “I guess sometimes I’d feel confused for no reason… like I couldn’t remember how I’d gotten someplace or what I’d been doing.”
“We were talking about how well you speak English,” Vaughn said.
“I remember,” I said.
“Do you remember anything after that?”
Fear began to engulf me as I realized I couldn’t. “No,” I said softly. “No, I just… we were talking and you said that and then you were calling my name and telling me to open my eyes.” I looked up at him in confusion. “What happened? Did I pass out or something?”
The entire car shifted when a huge semi flew past as it got off the interstate. I jumped and felt my breathing tick up.
“Aleks, look at me,” Vaughn demanded. My brain instantly responded to the command and I did as he said. “I’m going to get us to someplace quieter so we can talk. I want you to hold my hand and not let go,” he said. He quickly put the car in gear, then curled his fingers around mine. I unashamedly clung to him. “I want you to tell me a funny story about when you and Dante were kids and I want you to keep your eyes on me the whole time, okay?”
I couldn’t breathe well, but I managed a nod. The car began moving but Vaughn had to give my hand a squeeze. “Aleks,” he said softly.
Right, the story.
“When I was seven and Dante was fifteen, our grandmother was cooking dobradinha… it’s, um, part of the cow’s stomach,” I began. “Anyway, Dante and I both hate dobradinha but Mama always made us eat it. Our Vó used to take her wedding ring off when she was cooking it, so Dante came up with this plan. He told me to pretend to color a picture of our Vó—”
“Vó? Does that mean grandmother?” Vaughn asked.
“Yes. Grandfather looks almost the same when you spell it, but it is pronounced Vô.”
Vaughn nodded in understanding. “Anyway, Dante told me to pretend to color her por… por…”
“Portrait?” Vaughn offered.
“Right, portrait,” I said awkwardly because I’d known that word but wasn’t sure why I was having so much trouble matching it to my thoughts. Vaughn gave my hand another gentle squeeze and I couldn’t help but look down. His thumb was rubbing over mine and while it was both relaxing and soothing at the same time, there was something happening in my belly… a tenseness I didn’t understand. I wasn’t exactly nervous. It was more like I was waiting for something… but I didn’t know what exactly.