Total pages in book: 331
Estimated words: 315585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1578(@200wpm)___ 1262(@250wpm)___ 1052(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 315585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1578(@200wpm)___ 1262(@250wpm)___ 1052(@300wpm)
“I’m sorry,” I whisper to the one I can’t save. We’re both doomed. A fate that will only destroy us in the end. “I can’t…” My voice trails off as my throat tightens.
“Who the fuck are you talking to? Your father said you were crazy.” He’s finally speaking to me, but I ignore him.
I won’t give my father what he wants. I refuse to allow him to win. Not this time. Not like this.
The turn approaches, and I fist my hands on my lap. This is it. It’s my only chance. “Now or never,” I whisper.
“What are you—”
I reach over, grab the wheel, and jerk on it, making sure we don’t make the curve.
Life is shit, and nothing ever turns out how you plan. My life was already worthless, but my father proved to me that it could only get worse from there. I expected to die that night. Instead, it became my first attempt at suicide.
I’ve seen a lot of dead bodies. I’ve heard grown men plead for their lives, knowing it wouldn’t do them any good.
I’ve always thought about death.
How will I die? It’s going to happen eventually. No one lives forever. It’s the one thing that money can’t buy you. Maybe a little more time, but death is inevitable. It comes to collect for all the sins you’ve committed. And I’m not innocent. So why didn’t it take me then? What did I ever do to deserve to survive that night? At least the bastard driving died. And it felt good to know that I rid the world of one more Lord.
Of course, my father found me. When I woke up, I was in a hospital bed, and I remember feeling numb. The one face I never wanted to see again was in mine, yelling at me. He knew I’d done it on purpose, and he used that against me. Told me how pathetic I was. How he’d make sure that I’d live forever. I wanted to laugh because that’s not possible. No one is invincible. Even the ones with the founders’ enhancement still die.
“You’re useless, Eve.” He gripped my face, digging his fingers into my bruised cheeks. “You’re a danger to yourself, Eve.” I wanted to fight him, but my arms were tied to the hospital bed. “I have to protect you from yourself.” I wanted to laugh. He had never protected me before, but all of a sudden, I meant something to him.
Things got worse before they got better. It’s taken me a long time to heal and accept who I was. Thankfully, the past few years have actually been quiet. Until now. The Lords have put Kashton back in my life. They did it on purpose. Now I just need to know why.
What have I done? What did I do wrong? Are they mad at me? I’ve kept up my end of the deal.
I stay low and keep to myself. I still have no friends. Literally.
It doesn’t bother me. I’ve always been a loner. Not like I had a choice in how I lived my life.
But just because I’ve seen death all of my life doesn’t mean that when someone innocent dies, it doesn’t affect me. As coldhearted as I tell myself I am, I know that I’m not.
“When did you notice the body?” the man asks me as he writes in his notebook.
I cross my arms over my chest to protect myself from the night breeze. “However long it took you to get here.”
The homicide detective nods. “We’ll have to have you come to the station. So we can get a statement.”
“You mean interrogate me,” I correct him, and he finally glances up from his notebook. “You’re getting my statement now.”
“It’s standard procedure, miss.”
I shrug it off. They can run my fingerprints and swab the inside of my cheek. They can take a fucking blood sample. It won’t matter. I don’t exist. They won’t find anything.
He continues to ask me questions and writes things down as I watch the crime scene investigators look over the woman’s body that was dumped in the middle of the cemetery behind the cathedral. They’re gagging at the smell and how mutilated she is.
From what I can tell, she looks young. I could be wrong. I’ve seen enough bodies to know that she’s been dead for a while now. Her body decomposed. Probably left out for days in the sun at another location before she was dumped here.
It’s a threat. Even I can see that. No one is ever here. Someone wanted me to find her, but the question is, what did they want me to do with her? I know it wasn’t to call the cops. If this is a test, I’ve already failed.
Did they want me to bury her? Set her on fire? She deserved more than that. Her story isn’t going to end like that. She went through hell while she was alive and deserves some peace.