Total pages in book: 218
Estimated words: 209489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1047(@200wpm)___ 838(@250wpm)___ 698(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 209489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1047(@200wpm)___ 838(@250wpm)___ 698(@300wpm)
Good morning to me too.
I squeezed my eyes closed so that I wouldn’t roll them and tried again. “What time did you wake up?” I asked, too tired to remember it was a waste of time asking him anything.
He didn’t even bother glancing my way as he answered, his voice flat and either bored or irritated, probably both. “I haven’t slept.”
I eyed him. He’d stayed up all night? I glanced at the screen, and it took me a second to recognize that I’d watched the movie he had on.
Except I’d watched it with subtitles, and there wasn’t any captioning now.
“Do you speak Japanese?” I blurted out in surprise.
“I speak… several languages,” he replied, shocking me with just that. “I’m ready for breakfast.”
He spoke several languages, excuse me. I spoke three fluently, another really well—well enough to teach students who spoke it; it just didn’t come to me as naturally yet—and two others were a work in progress. Some people took dance classes; I had taken language classes. Whatever was offered, wherever we were, I’d taken with my grandpa. For fun. At one point, my grandpa had done nothing but speak to me in Portuguese for almost a year. Just in case we ever went to Brazil. After college, he’d spent a few years there before moving back to Costa Rica, where he’d met my grandma.
But I kept my mouth shut on that.
Because I was too focused on the fact that he thought I looked like a maid. Could he use the word “please” every once in a while? I tried to keep my nose from scrunching up and forced myself to clench my teeth so that I wouldn’t open my mouth and say something I regretted.
He’s a member of the Trinity, Gracie.
R-e-s-p-e-c-t and all that.
I could feed him. He already seemed to be doing a little better, which meant hopefully he’d be out of here soon. I could survive him and his fucking attitude a little while longer.
I kept on telling myself that as I walked out and headed toward the kitchen. I was only a little down the hall when I heard him get up and follow, shuffling and letting out these tiny groans that didn’t sound much better than they had days ago. He took a seat at the table while I ducked into the refrigerator to see what I could make. I usually fasted a few more hours, but I could eat now so that I wouldn’t have to waste more time later cooking again.
I opened the packet of bacon I’d pulled out of the fridge, put it on the skillet, and turned it on low. Then I asked, “Are you done sleeping for days at a time?”
He surprised me by actually answering. “Not yet.”
What did that mean? I said “hmm” as I picked up the egg carton and thought about asking him how he liked them.
Then I decided he probably wouldn’t give me that classified information either, so there was no point in even asking. I’d scramble them and make them sunny side up and eat whatever he didn’t. Problem solved.
I’d barely cracked a couple into a bowl when my stomach clenched and my skin buzzed simultaneously, and he said, so rough it put every other one of his tones to shame, “I think someone is at your gate.”
The thing was, I wasn’t expecting anyone. I hadn’t ordered anything either.
I turned toward The Defender and watched his shoulders tense as his nostrils flared. His gaze was fixed on the wall that was in the same direction the driveway was, and he was frowning.
The buzzing on my skin got stronger. Was that him doing it?
“What?” I asked him, confused.
He frowned even harder at the wall, his eyes narrowing even more. “Who is it?”
Was he serious? “I don’t know. I don’t have cameras.” I’d thought about it, but they’d be too far away to reach my Wi-Fi.
Did that mean he couldn’t see through walls?
His expression didn’t change at all, but I could tell he was angry when he finally flicked his gaze over in my direction. “Who were you on the phone with yesterday?” he demanded.
There was no way I could have hidden the surprised expression that took over my features. He knew I’d been on the phone, but he hadn’t heard through the receiver? The Trinity were supposed to have good hearing; they had rescued people buried under rubble.
“I didn’t call anyone. I just checked my voice mail,” I told him slowly, getting more and more irritated by the second. This shit was getting old real fast. What the hell must I have done in another lifetime to deserve it?
He narrowed his eyes, annoying me that much more.
I took a deep breath through my nose and tried to pick my words carefully. “All I did was listen to old voice mails from my grandparents. I was sad.” He’d made me sad. “No one knows you’re here. Look at my phone.” It wasn’t like he hadn’t figured out the security code.