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)
He’s right. I just don’t know if he’s reminding himself, or warning me.
“How’s that gavel feel?” I change the subject. We’re all fatigued, and right now if I think too much, I’ll snap.
Shadows form beneath the hollow contours of his cheeks. “Like I’ve always had it.”
“Okay, well, I’d love to chill all night, but I’m fucking tired.” River claps her hands and scoops up the stray keys on the table.
The silence from them both was discernible tonight, until the elevator doors close around Stella’s burst of laughter at something River says. The bond between the three of them would be terrifying, if we didn’t know that it only meant they were always safe so long as they were together.
Before my wayward thoughts go rogue, my legs carry me to the floor-to-ceiling glass walls that flaunt the freckled lights of Riverside. A single light flickers on from the Castle, stealing my attention. All it takes is one, when that one means so much.
With one hand on the glass, and the other holding the tumbler to my mouth, I follow the shadow of her silhouette. “Whatever she’s hiding aside, there’s something we didn’t tell them either.”
“The Hunt,” Vaden agrees from somewhere behind me.
“We keeping it that way?” I ask them both, unable to move.
Priest’s silence is the calm before the storm. “Halen is smart, logical. She’s a lot like Dad, but she also hides a side that she refuses to allow people to see. She’s been my sister all her life, so she has always felt as if she has to make up for what I lack. It’s a guise. One I’ve always let her have.”
My body turns rigid. Everything is spot on. I’d felt the thunder of her dark side over the years, but I was yet to taste its rain.
What makes people like her and Bishop incalculable, is that it’s not their humanity that’s a guise, it’s the reason why they’re lethal. A monster is still a monster, no matter how sharp its teeth are.
“Is that a yes, or no?” My finger taps against the glass wall. Moments later, her bedroom light is out.
Vaden’s eyes burn the back of my head. “That’s a no. I’m sure they’ll find out sooner or later, so it can be later rather than sooner. And anyway, they’ll be too busy with college.”
“Yes, they will be, especially since I planted the idea in Mom’s head about the old EKC frat house that hasn’t been used for fifty or so years.” I swallow the remainder of whiskey. “I’m sure that’ll keep them all nice and busy.”
My mouth curves, but I don’t bother turning to face him. I can’t take my eyes off her, even if she’s not in the room. “Luna was there tonight.”
“Hmmm. And that’s been a while, hasn’t it?” Vaden teases Priest from the same spot on the table. “What happened between the two of you all those years ago? You never talk about it.”
I catch Priest’s reflection in the window, but it’s obvious he’s going to ignore my question.
His body lowers down onto the same chair. “Halen?”
One of these days, that scale is going to tip inside of him. “Let me handle it.”
The front door swings open before my feet have touched the marble steps. In a haze of beige and black, Halen rushes out in a designer hoodie and yoga pants.
“Where are you going?” The suspicion in my tone travels down the tight curves of her body, and before I can say another word, she moves to the side.
Her shoulder brushes mine, and instinct has my hand flying out to stop her. “You gonna tell me where you’re going?”
Every time her eyes meet mine, she strips away the shadows of who I am. The parts of myself that I have hidden, because she’s not ready to see the carnality of the creature that’s been craving her since it felt the weight of her body in its lap.
“No. I’m not.” She yanks her arm out of my grip. It’s not until she’s at the door of her GTR that her head curves over her shoulder. “Maybe I’m going to see a boy.”
Jealousy coils in my gut but I bite it down with a snarl. “Yeah? What’s his name? I just wanna talk…”
She clucks her tongue tauntingly before disappearing through the driver's side door, the loud RB engine purring into the darkness like a cat in heat. Circle backlights fade as she drives farther away, and my hand digs into my pocket to fish out my phone.
The photo staring back at me weaves memories like a connoisseur. Aspen. Would have been our junior year of high school and the first time back there since we were young. Boys in the back, girls sitting in the snow at the front, all holding our boards.
I tap on the locator app and the little green dot dances its way through the map of Riverside. The torching embers of the sunrise couldn’t hide my grin as my tongue dampens my bottom lip and I lower down onto one of the steps.