Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 108709 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108709 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Fuck.
Fresh tears stream down my face, and at this point, I don’t know where the hell they keep coming from. I just need to know that Stone is alright.
The moment he stormed out of that warehouse and found me in the arms of some gang member with a gun up against my temple, I expected a lot of things. I thought he would fight. I thought he’d find a way to save us both while leaving a trail of bodies in our wake. But the second he looked at me—truly looked at me—he dropped to his knees, and my soul shattered.
He wasn’t prepared to risk my life for his revenge, but he sure as fuck would give up his to save mine, and that’s exactly what he did when he submitted to them.
One of the men walked up to him and knocked him out with the butt of his gun. We were dragged away as though our lives didn’t even matter, as though we were nothing more than pawns to use in someone else’s sick game.
They brought us here, to an old Chinese restaurant that looks as though it has long been out of business. I was brought into the kitchen, shoved down on the ground, bound, and left. And this is exactly where I’ve stayed ever since. Nobody has come to check on me, nobody has even glanced my way. Don’t get me wrong, I prefer it this way, I just wish I knew what was coming. I don’t like the anticipation of not knowing what they’re going to do to me. Are they going to kill Stone and then use me as their little toy? Or will they just put a bullet in my head the moment they’re done with him?
Fuck.
I bury my face against my knees and silently cry.
I can’t believe we’re here again.
The last time I was face-to-face with the Bone Reapers, my whole world changed. And now that I’m only just getting it back, I can feel it slipping away just as fast as it came.
I can’t lose this again. I can’t lose Stone, but if he were already dead, surely I would feel it, right? I would know it deep in my soul. I have to believe that he’s okay because I don’t want to do this life without him, even if it means living a life on the run.
As I think about the last time the Bone Reapers had me in their vile clutches, more pieces of the puzzle come back to me. Suddenly, I remember Ash coming to me, telling me about some ridiculous party he wanted to go to. But at that stage, I was already weary of him. He’d been gone for two years, only coming back when he needed something the Bone Reapers couldn’t give him.
He’d told me how much fun it was going to be and then used Stone against me, telling me I was boring because I didn’t know how to have fun, just like Stone. And fuck, I’d fallen right into his trap.
Stone was supposed to be working that night. He worked a lot back then. Always factory jobs or manual labor where he could be paid cash under the table, and shit, that cash put me through school and kept clothes on my back. He did everything for me, and as a kid, I think I took that for granted. He deserves so much more, and if we somehow make it out of here, I’m going to make sure that he gets everything he deserves. How could I not after the life he painstakingly provided for me?
Ash waited until almost midnight before deciding it was time to head out to the party, and by that point, I was already tired. I didn’t want to go, but I had put up a fight with Stone. I told him I wasn’t a kid, and after arguing with him for hours during the day, I was too stubborn to submit and stay home. So I let Ash drag me away.
I should have known better. I should have trusted Stone, but the second we walked out into the darkness and turned the corner, I found a car waiting for us, surrounded by Ash’s friends. I’d turned to him, ready to ask what the hell was going on, but something changed in his eyes, and I realized I’d been fooled.
“Sorry, princess,” he said. His tone was so chilling that even now it sends a shiver down my spine. “You’re all mine now.”
Fear turned my blood to ice, and I didn’t even get the chance to scream before the boy I considered a brother knocked me out cold and robbed me of the life I held with Stone.
Fuck.
The tears flow faster. It was all my fault. I should have trusted Stone like he begged me to, but I was a stupid kid. I wanted to prove something, and it cost me the whole fucking world. It cost me Stone, and because of it, he turned into a monster. He slaughtered men in cold blood and lost a piece of himself. All because of my stupidity, he spent seven long years behind bars.