Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 140780 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140780 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
But...they’d saved my life.
They’d been dragged into my mess and if they called the police, Marcus would kill them.
Swinging my legs over the edge of the bed, I swallowed against the rush of lightheadedness. Whisper came to my side, offering his aid like he’d done so many times in the past. Resting a hand on his shoulder blades, I used him as a crutch as I hid my discomfort and stood.
Rook darted forward, going to my other side. Her slim, small fingers latched onto my bare forearm, holding onto me rather than giving me someone to hold onto.
She didn’t push me back down again. Didn’t try to convince me I was too weak. Instead, she gave me an encouraging smile and tugged me toward the door. “You can stand which is great. Can you walk?”
“He shouldn’t be walking anywhere,” one of the doctors huffed. “He should be in bed. Asleep.”
Rook ignored him, pulling me faster. “If you can manage to walk, then perhaps you can climb down the drainpipe and we can sneak out.” She glanced at the night sky outside the window. “It’s dark out and everyone saw you unconscious. I doubt they’ll be expecting you to escape tonight, so...let’s go.”
Whisper padded toward the door without any further encouragement, and I let her drag me. I let her think I would obey before slamming on the brakes next to the desk where I assumed they’d stitched me up, thanks to the bloody towels.
Prying her fingers off me, I turned to face the doctors again. “To put your minds at rest...as long as Marcus believes he can trust you, he won’t kill you. Not because he’s kind but because you’ve proven yourselves valuable in keeping me alive. You can go about your life as normal. Your families won’t be hurt because he’ll keep you in mind next time he needs you. However...the moment you even think about dialling an emergency number, you won’t live to see morning. Your bodies will vanish into a very well-used incinerator. Your families will never know where you’ve gone, and they might even become collateral damage to his temper.”
The doctors shared a horrified look. “Then...what do you suggest we do?”
Leaning against the desk—trying to look nonchalant but really needing the support—I crossed my arms and shrugged. “I suggest you play by his rules and forget you ever saw us. Pretend we never existed.”
Rook sucked in a sharp breath. “Lucien...what are you doing?”
“But...won’t you be taken back to wherever you’re being held?” the older doctor asked, his silvering hair catching the chandelier. “Aren’t we just condemning you to whatever you’re trying to escape from?”
“Not if you do me one last favour.”
“What’s the favour?” Harry asked suspiciously.
I couldn’t stop my hand going to the vitalsync core, exposing my plan—
“You can’t,” Rook gasped. “There’s no way they can do that here. You’ll die.”
Our eyes locked and the room dropped away.
It was just her.
And me.
And that damned electrifying awareness.
“Don’t.” Rook shook her head, tears welling. “You can’t ask them to do this.”
My fingers found Whisper’s ear out of habit, seeking comfort as a question I wasn’t going to ask spilled free. “You didn’t leave when you had the chance.” I shook my head, still unable to believe that a girl who’d meant nothing to me seven weeks ago had somehow become the most important person in my life. “I was unconscious and you didn’t run away.”
“Do you truly think I’m the sort of person who would do that?” Hurt flashed in her stare.
“You told Marcus that you weren’t pregnant—”
“To keep you alive! If I hadn’t, he might’ve taken your life right there.”
“He might.” I nodded. “But that was the gamble I was prepared to take. By revealing you’re not carrying an Ashfall, you’ve just given up the only protection I could give you.”
The doctors shuffled on the spot, awkward at being our unwanted audience but...fuck it.
I needed to say this because Rook was right. I might die tonight, and I didn’t want to have regrets.
“Leave.” I clutched Whisper’s ear, making the poor panther flinch.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” I hated the sudden tightness in my chest at the thought of never seeing her again. “Go.”
I’d used her to get this far.
She was the first and only to help me.
The least I could do was set her free.
“Go with the doctors once they’ve finished.” I narrowed my eyes. “The guards won’t question it and by the time Marcus figures it out, it will be too late. You’ll be gone.”
“Do you really think I’d leave you?” Her face turned white.
“Do you really want to stay?”
“Of course I don’t.”
I froze as her words punched me in the heart. Words I’d expected yet—
“I want to leave with every fibre of my being,” she continued. “But...I want to leave with you.”
I froze.
Why?
Why was she willing to put her life on the line for me?