Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 150546 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 753(@200wpm)___ 602(@250wpm)___ 502(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 150546 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 753(@200wpm)___ 602(@250wpm)___ 502(@300wpm)
The need to put him out of his misery outweighs the tension emanating from Priest. “Nah, as resourceful as they are, this wasn’t them. Why would they, it makes no sense to hit Perdita. They’d just rip Riverside apart.”
Vaden’s eyes darken. “They could try.”
“They’d start a war…” I look between both him and Priest. “It lacks the finesse of their style to be them.”
Stella sighs.
We all turn, my arms crossing in front of myself. “Spit it out, Stells.”
“Well, I don’t know… why would Katsia have one held captive and he didn’t run? Was the door unlocked? Was he locked in? Was he bound? How have you not asked these questions?”
We all fall silent.
Priest’s heavy strides eat the space between us and the office. He shoves the doors open and my stomach hits the floor. Empty. Everyone is gone.
My heart thrashes against my ribs. What the fuck?
I trip on my feet as I stumble backward.
“Well, fuck!” Stella waves out to the setting in front of her. “What did I say?”
Halen
The worst part about having an empire like the Elite Kings, is the enemies that come from it. You can’t have a kingdom without villains.
I tap on the three numbers on my phone and press it to my ear. It rings three times before someone picks up.
“Did you find him?”
The tears that roll down my cheeks shouldn’t be there. They should be dried up by now. “We’re driving to the helipad. Someone needs to meet me there.” The groans from the back seat become louder, but I ignore them.
“They tried to take Perdita!” My mouth slams closed before I allow my emotions to control me. “It doesn’t matter. I have this idiot in the back.”
Silence. “That wasn’t supposed to happen. What do you mean they tried to take it?”
I drop it down into second. “You think? And I mean as in they shot up the entire fucking place. Of course, we came out on top, but they tried to take it down.” The leather of the steering wheel complains when my grip tightens.
“The chopper will be there in a few minutes.” I hang up the call and direct the car down the first right turn that leads up Mount Esther, the highest point on Perdita.
“Should I thank you for saving me?” How Deacon can ask anything through his panting is beyond me. He coughs loudly, swiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
Trees zip past as the road swirls up higher in elevation. When the wired gate appears, I press on the accelerator to crash through it, skidding to a stop outside the helipad.
The driver's door swings open, and I reach inside the clove for my Glock, checking the chamber. Helicopter blades cut through the air above, and I slam the door closed before moving to the back.
He blinks between me and the gun in my hand, while clutching his stomach. “Do it. I know you’ve wanted to for a long time, Halen. It’ll fix everything, wouldn’t it?”
I grind my teeth. “Everything but that. And if I kill you now and leave you here, they’ll examine you and realize who you are. If I kill you and put you on the chopper, I’ll have too much explaining to do.”
His chuckle turns into a fit of coughs as blood spills down his chest. “I guess that could be a problem. For you.”
I take his hand with mine, shoving my gun into the back of my jeans. “Get up.”
“Aw. Come on. You gotta love me just a little.”
Hitching his arm over my shoulders, I kick the door closed and ignore him. The loud rotors of the chopper paddles through the air as the wind knocks us both around. The helicopter hadn’t quite landed when a voice calls out from behind me.
“I’ll cover you. Make something up so they don’t panic,” Katsia calls and the hatred I have for her wavers. I haven’t always hated her.
No. Just since I found out that she became important to War and vice versa.
I keep my back to her, dragging Deacon up the ramp as someone on the other side catches him. Headlights bounce off the trees below and anxiety prickles around my heart.
I quickly slide inside the lavish leather, with one last glance at Katsia before the door slams closed behind me. We lift off the ground with a sideways sweep, and I move Deacon over a smidge to sit beside him, peeking out the side window at Perdita down below. My throat swells when I swallow. All the emotions I had prepared myself to feel for years suddenly overwhelm me. It doesn’t matter how much I try to fight it.
Darkness fills the space around a flashing blue light in the middle of the cockpit.
The girl moves forward, tapping the light between us. When it clears, I come face-to-face with teal hair. “Are you new?”