Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 132582 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132582 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
“He’s freezing cold, Maeve.”
“Juniper, go for your brothers,” Maeve commands, and Juniper doesn’t hesitate to flee the room.
“What do we do?” I’m panicking now.
“Did you see anything when you spaced out on the balcony?” she asks.
“I—I saw Caz. I was in this room, but…it wasn’t Caz. It was like something darker had taken over him.”
Maeve’s eyes widen with shock. “What could that possibly mean?”
“I don’t know.”
Alora rushes into the room in a flurry, her gold gown catching the light. “I just got IDs on the men who attacked Beatrix.” She hands a small stack of cards to Maeve, who takes them and rapidly flips through them with a frown.
“I don’t know any of these men,” Maeve mutters.
“What happened to Caz?” Alora asks, walking deeper into the room.
I let go of Caz to look over Maeve’s shoulder as she shuffles through the cards, and at first none of them are familiar. But then…
“Wait!” I step around her, taking one of the cards out of her hands. On the card is a man, handsome, with a strong jawline, a wide smile, and shoulder-length brown hair.
I know this man. He carried me, gave me verdeberries. And right beside his photo is a name that confirms it.
“This is Alexi,” I say, pointing at his picture. “H—he lives in Whisper Grove.” But why would he attack Beatrix? He had to have been the one Caz said was familiar, despite how mutilated his face was.
As the questions haunt me, Caz lets out a pained groan that catches all of our attention, and when I look back, his body is upright and floating in the air.
Eighty-One
CAZ
When I stir awake, there’s a chill in the air. I open my eyes, realizing there are two major things wrong.
One: I was in one of Alora’s chambers, and I had a fire going. Now, whether it’s still going or not, there should be heat in my room, but there isn’t.
Two: I don’t remember falling asleep. In fact, I hardly ever sleep, which tells me something is seriously wrong.
I snatch my gun from beneath the pillow and turn over in the bed, but when I look up, there are trees above me, tall, with branches that seem to stretch for miles. Their ends are spiky, snow capping the thicker branches.
When I breathe, tufts of my breath linger, and I sit up on the bed, looking around me. I’m in a forest—a cold, dark, empty forest. Nothing is here but me and the bed from Alora’s. I’m shirtless, and when I look down, black veins are spread over my body, long and disorderly.
Then there’s a deep, wicked laugh that I hear in the hollows of my mind. I climb off the bed, my gun already aimed, but at what, I’m not sure.
“Who’s there?” I call. I spin around when I hear leaves rustle behind me, a twig snapping.
“Show yourself,” I demand.
“The Council has told you the truth. They’re leading you to Selah. This is not a good thing for me.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You awake Selah, and you slip out of my grasp. I’ve worked much too hard to let that happen.”
I clench my jaw, trying to find the voice. I can’t find it. It seems to be everywhere, echoing all around me. Then I feel something hit me from behind. A blur of black swoops past as I land on the ground, and then it’s gone.
“You’re a coward,” I grumble.
“Am I the coward, or are you? Hiding behind your guns. Pleading with a hunk of metal to take your life. Let me guess, you’ve had a taste of your mate and don’t feel that way anymore. Now you feel like you must live for her, forever and ever. How romantic.”
I push to a stand again, dirt wedging between my fingers and toes. “Stop hiding and show yourself!”
“If I do that, there will be no turning back.”
A branch snaps. The wings of a bird flap. I spin around when I hear another snap, pointing my gun ahead. A dark figure walks through a line of trees. At first, I can’t see it well. It’s too dark, too far, but the closer it gets, the temperature drops around me, and the colder I become.
When it steps into the light, my eyes widen because I can’t believe it. I lower my gun, staring at the figure that smiles back at me, speechless. It wears a sly smile, it’s eyes dark like coals. It’s shirtless, just like me. In fact, it is me…
Only its skin is gray. And when it smiles, it’s teeth are sharp, like daggers. Black veins canvas his body, just like mine, and when he cocks his head, my heart drops.
“You want to kill yourself so badly, well go ahead then,” the other me says.
It steps closer, and I lift my gun in the air again. “One more step and I’ll blow your fucking head off.”