Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 160041 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 800(@200wpm)___ 640(@250wpm)___ 533(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160041 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 800(@200wpm)___ 640(@250wpm)___ 533(@300wpm)
The cut in my abdomen goes deep. Gnarly. I groan in pain.
A vicious smirk slowly spreads on his face, and it’s the most beautiful thing in the world, but I still can’t let him win this fight.
I grab his baton and knock it into his crotch to distract him long enough to shove him away. I make a run for it, but he grabs my arm and smacks my back against the wall so harshly it knocks all the air out of my lungs. He thrusts a knife right beside my arm, cutting into my flesh, and I yelp in pain.
“Oh no, you don’t!” he growls.
Fuck, I didn’t think he had it in him to actually attack me, but I guess I was wrong.
His fingers lock underneath my balaclava, and he tears it clean off.
It’s silent for a few seconds, while we both stare like we’re seeing each other for the very first time.
His lips part.
He’s seen me.
Oh fuck.
Atreus
My lips part. “It’s you.”
The words come out in a single bated breath as I’m completely stunned.
It’s her.
The woman from Spine Ridge University.
Sunny Reed.
Daughter of Nathan Reed and Lana Rivera. Niece of Dean Rivera.
She’s the woman I found in the woods covered in blood.
I took her to the emergency room, and now she’s here in a balaclava rummaging through my office.
Stalking me.
Her eyes suddenly narrow.
She’s out for blood.
Pure, unadulterated rage takes over as she growls out loud and swipes her leg sideways, knocking me off-balance with her boot, before she rips the knife out of the drywall and slams it into my jacket, pinning me to the desk.
“Hey!” I bark as she bolts toward the window.
I rip my jacket to shreds to release myself, but the second I take one step, she’s already jumped right onto the small balcony and flitters down with a rope, which detaches halfway to the ground.
I stick my head out the window just as she falls onto her back and groans. Her eyes find mine in the dark, unwavering, filled with hatred and … longing.
I swallow back the lump in my throat, my cock throbbing as hard as my heart.
She swiftly crawls off the ground and runs out of the alley.
“Shit,” I mutter to myself, and I slam my hands onto the window before I spin around and bolt out of my office door. I race down the hallway and down the stairs, marching out the door so I can look around.
But she’s nowhere to be seen.
A few leaves gently drift across the street as the chilly wind takes over, and I’m left with an overwhelming sense of calm.
The calm before the storm that I’m about to unleash.
CHAPTER 26
Xavier
“So how has school been?” my mother asks, awkwardly staring at me while sipping from her cup of coffee.
“I can’t complain,” I reply.
“I love it at Spine Ridge,” Melody, my half sister, says. “It’s so grand, and I can explore so much.” She giggles.
“Someone’s happy they finally get to join the big boys,” my half brother Silas says.
“I’ve been waiting so long,” Melody replies.
“I still don’t think it was the greatest idea,” her dad, Alistair, says, and he rubs her back. “But I’m glad you’re happy, Mel.”
“She’ll survive,” Silas muses as he leans back in his seat.
“Have you killed any more people these past few days?” Silas’s dad, Felix, suddenly asks, and I nearly choke on my coffee.
Silas’s eyes instantly connect with mine. “No. Not for a few months, actually.”
“Wow, I’m impressed.” Aspen snorts.
“Well…” my mom mutters. “If it wasn’t you, then who’s been bringing bodies to old Otto over at the scrapyard?”
I spit out my coffee.
Across the table.
Right into my mother’s face.
She glares at me with her cup still firmly in her hands, and my face turns beet red. “I’m so, so sorry.”
Silas bursts out laughing, pointing at our mother. “Look at your face!”
My dad suddenly waltzes in and throws the pizza boxes he got on the table. “Dinnertime!”
Everyone stares at him like it’s the most inopportune time for him to barge in, and he squawks, “What?”
But then he notices my mom covered in coffee, and his eyes widen. “Yikes.”
“I’ll go grab a towel.” I quickly get up and walk to the kitchen, but halfway there, my phone buzzes. I pull it from my pocket and check the messages.
Sunny: Where are u?
My eyes widen, my heart instantly going a million miles an hour. She’s never texted me before.
Me: At my parents’ house for dinner. What’s going on? Something happen to you?
I bite my lip waiting for a reply, but it never comes. Not even a couple of dots. Strange.
I fetch the towel and turn on the faucet to dip it under the water, then bring it back to the dining room, but my mom has already started wiping her face with some napkins.
“Sorry, Mom,” I mutter as I hand it to her.