Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 107652 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107652 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Stopping in the middle of the crowd, he slowly turned on bare feet, eyeing each of us. Up close, his skin seemed even more perfect. His gaze even more shrewd. His thick, black hair long enough to touch his collar, the ends flicking upward with a hint of a rebellious curl.
My heart pounded against my ribs, fast and fierce.
I swayed a little as my vision greyed again. It took all my strength to remain standing as he suddenly turned to face a girl I hadn’t spoken to and smirked that violent little smile. “You.” He cocked his head, his voice as effortless and seductive as the panther’s purr. “Why are you here?”
The girl swallowed hard, her white freckled skin going bright red. Her hands wrung together, her chest heaving beneath the pretty floral dress she’d chosen to wear into this den.
“Me?” She forced a giggle. “I’m here to serve you, Mr. Ashfall. To—”
She never got to finish as his hands lashed out, wrapped around her throat, and snapped her neck.
She dropped to the ground like a pile of discarded bones.
The panther sniffed her corpse, its whiskers bristling.
Screams rang, piercingly loud in the echoey ballroom.
Chaos broke out as the women who’d been brought here under false advertising, bolted toward the double doors and vanished into the palace. The women who’d been groomed to come here and had a mission didn’t follow. Fighting against instinct to flee, they elegantly dropped to their knees, surrendering to his murderous whims.
The screaming stopped as one by one, the girls balled their hands on their thighs and huddled like garden statues.
And me?
My body completely forsook me.
I couldn’t run like I wanted.
I couldn’t scream like I needed.
I barely stayed conscious enough to sink to the floor, landing heavily on my left hip, my bare legs sticking to the cold marble below.
My vision sputtered in and out as my headache made the room flex.
My fingers fumbled for my raindrop pendant, clutching it tight as Lucien Ashfall set his sights on his next victim and toed her with his bare foot. “You.” He smiled tightly, cruelly. “Why are you here?”
“I’m here...” The stunning blonde, dressed in a navy maxi-dress, trembled. The clack of her teeth echoed as she glanced at the dead woman and tears glossed her eyes. “I...I’m here—” She swallowed hard.
Lucien smiled.
Ducking to his haunches in front of her, he whispered softly, seductively, “Only the truth will save you.”
She nodded, stuttering with nervousness. “I-I work for Brimstone Industries. Y-Your company. I...I’ve seen pictures of you and...and I’ve always imagined meeting you.”
“Is that so?” He smiled wider, his fingers tracing the side of her face and tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “Why?”
“Why?” She gulped. “Because...because you’re so handsome and...”
“You thought you could be the first to entice me into your bed?”
Wait...the first?
I rubbed my temples, trying to claw through the stress. Did that mean he was a virgin? The deeper into this world I fell, the worse my questions became.
Why was he so black-hearted that he could dispatch a stranger with his bare hands?
Why did he have a panther as a pet and wore all black as if he was a ruling underworld emperor?
Why had no one come to arrest him for killing someone?
“No, I mean...” The girl struggled for something, someone, to help her. No one made eye contact with her. No one dared. Including me.
“What do you mean then?” Lucien asked quietly. “Perhaps you’re not here to sleep with me but to end me instead?”
“No. I would never. I—”
A battle-cry cut her off as another woman launched to her feet, yanked a dagger from a sheath beneath her skirt, and flung herself at him.
The blade twinkled in the lowlights.
Lucien rose effortlessly to his feet and sidestepped, just as she slashed her knife through the air where he’d been.
Smirking, he backed up a little. “Impatient to begin I see.”
“I’ll fucking gut you, you psychotic asshole!” She charged at him, her arm sweeping upward to plunge into his chest.
And he didn’t move.
He stood his ground. He held her eyes and I swear his chest puffed up as if begging the dagger to sink deep—
But the panther pounced on her, knocking her sideways and pinning her flat on her back.
She screeched as she tried to stab the beast, but was too late.
Its giant jaws latched around her throat and with a savage shake, it ended her with a wet crunch and a sickening gurgle.
The women who’d chosen to stay all flattened themselves over their knees, no longer submitting but committing full self-flagellation by bowing for their lives.
Nausea drenched me in ice-cold sweat.
I glanced behind me to the exit.
I begged my legs to stand and run.
If only I wasn’t so pathetic.
If only I’d fled with the other women who’d come here by accident.
Then I wouldn’t have to see. Wouldn’t have to be at this monster’s mercy.