Total pages in book: 187
Estimated words: 184867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 924(@200wpm)___ 739(@250wpm)___ 616(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 184867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 924(@200wpm)___ 739(@250wpm)___ 616(@300wpm)
Kai’s jaw tightens. “Whatever. He wants you to come to the casino.”
Ares snorts. “Of course, he does. That’s what you came to tell me, busboy?” He grunts. “Get out of my fucking house.”
“Ares …” Kai growls.
“GET. OUT.” Ares points at the door.
“Fine,” Kai says through gritted teeth as he walks back to the front door. “Don’t say I didn’t fucking try.”
Before he pushes down the handle, he looks up, and when his dark eyes settle on mine, I panic and pull away, hiding behind the door.
“Shit,” I mutter. “He saw me.”
When I hear the front door close, I peek again. With clenched teeth, Ares picks up the glass and chucks it at the front door, roaring out loud.
I swiftly move back into Caleb’s room, and he follows me inside, shutting the door.
“Someone’s not happy Ares and I killed that Ferry guy …” I say.
“That would be Mr. Torres,” Caleb replies. “His father.”
My eyes widen as I look up at Caleb. “Wait … Torres? But that would make Kai his—”
“Younger brother.”
CALEB
When she shivers, I pull her back toward the bed. “Forget about it. C’mon. Lie with me. You must be tired.”
She’s way too frazzled by the murder to be thinking about any of Ares’s personal issues with his family.
I hold out my hands until she takes them, and I guide her back onto my bed and throw the covers on us. She tentatively lies down, her body rigid as I snuggle up against her and warm her with my body. She feels cold as ice, so I wrap my arms around her and blow hot air on her neck.
“Kai Torres … his brother?” she mutters, like she’s confused as hell. “But they looked like they hated each other.”
“Ares does what Ares always does, push people away. It’s what he’s good at.”
“But with his own family?”
“Especially his own family,” I reply.
She shivers again, so I pull her tighter.
“I don’t want to feel anything anymore,” she murmurs. “And it’s all because of him.”
I sigh, wishing I could take it all away, but I can’t. I got so caught up in my own need to punish her for my growing desire that I didn’t take into account how it would irrevocably change her.
“Why do you look up to him?” she asks.
“Ares loves me as I am.”
“But he enjoys hurting people,” she says through gritted teeth. “He hurts you too, doesn’t he?”
“I live on the edge, always dancing with death for as long as I can remember. Ares was there, picking me up from that ledge, stepping on it together with me without fear.” I curl my fingers through her hair. “He’s not afraid of those dark parts inside me. He owns them and turns them into strength. Desire. Hope.”
“Hope?” she repeats.
“Hope for a better life. One where we can both live without prejudice over who we are and what we like.”
“But who would judge him?” she says. “He thinks he’s a god. No one can touch him.”
“There is someone …”
Shit. I really shouldn’t say that.
I shake my head. “Never mind. Doesn’t matter.”
She yawns. “I’m so tired. I know I should shower, but …”
“Sleep first,” I say, placing a kiss against the back of her neck when she slowly starts to doze off. “I’ll watch over you.”
Crystal
My eyes burst open, and I sit up straight in a bed that isn’t mine.
I don’t even remember falling asleep. How long was I out for? It must’ve been hours.
I check the bed, but it’s empty apart from me, while I could’ve sworn Caleb was right beside me.
Where has he gone off to?
I crawl out of bed, ignoring the fact I’m still wearing that same bloodied dress and my skin is still caked in someone else’s blood. I’m too preoccupied with finding Caleb. He wouldn’t just leave me all by myself in his room without cause.
I open the door and look out across the hallway, but all I see is other students walking about. Nothing particularly alarming is going on. Some take a swift glance at me before walking farther, as though they don’t even want to acknowledge I exist for fear of Ares’s wrath.
I make my way across the hall to Ares’s room. The light is on, and the noise inside draws me closer.
My heart beats in my throat as I push open the door slightly and peer inside.
He’s bent over on a wooden chair, and Caleb pushes a wet sponge underneath his black shirt, revealing a small part of his skin. My breath hitches in my throat at the sight of all the blood. The bottom half of his muscular back is covered in cuts and slices. Fresh ones.
I take a step back in shock, bumping into something soft and harsh at the same time … something oddly familiar.
“I wouldn’t go farther if I were you.”
Blaine’s familiar voice makes my whole body erupt into goose bumps.