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)
Memories of her in the window seat—curled up in a patch of sunlight, dozing when she thought I wasn’t watching. Images of her moving around my space—her gaze flicking to study me every couple of minutes as if she was highly aware of me, just like I was highly aware of her.
I’d pretended to read a book—hiding how ridiculously addicted I’d become to watching her move about my quarters, her cooling presence muting my pain so I could breathe again.
If Marcus truly was hurting her, then...she’d never share this space with me again.
I’d return to being alone and hurting and—
Safe from being manipulated.
Gritting my teeth, I nodded.
“He won’t kill her. This is just a test. A little experiment to see if he can use her against me.” My voice dropped like stones. “A little pain will be fine. The minute he realises he can’t use her against me, he’ll leave her alone.”
Fury grew hotter, sharper—
“She’s not my responsibility.”
Ferocious rage seized my muscles—
“Not my problem.”
Flames erupted in my blood—
“Fuck.”
Chapter Forty-Six
“I TOLD YOU! I TRULY DON’T HAVE any more!”
Evelyn dug the tip of the dagger into my chest for the fourth time. Each time she raised the knife and acted as if she’d plunge it deep into my heart, she paused, laughed, and demanded I tell her where Lucien’s blood was.
“I don’t believe you,” she hissed. “Tell me where it is, and I’ll make it quick.”
“I have told you! I’ve told you as many times as you’ve asked!” My vision flickered as my migraine became unbearable. “Why do you even want it? It’s not like it will do you any good in here!”
“You don’t get to ask questions,” she hissed. “Tell me who the fuck you are! Why has he accepted you and none of us? Who are you?”
“I’m no one. Literally no one. So let me go and—”
“Bullshit,” Lydia snarled from above me, her fingernails drawing blood around my wrists. “You’re working for someone. You have to be. Why else is he just fucking you? What makes you so special?”
“He’s not. I’m not—”
“Stop lying!” Evelyn snarled. I gasped as she drove another fist into my side, directly over the previous injuries.
Lydia crouched over me, her face upside down. “Tell you what...we won’t kill you if you help us, how about that? Help us keep him company. We’ll look after him with you.”
“You’re trying to kill him,” I spat. “There’s no way I’ll let you get near him.”
“Did you hear that?” Lydia blinked at Evelyn. “She’s getting possessive. We definitely have to kill her.”
“Agreed.” Evelyn sighed. “Ah, well. I was getting bored anyway.” Double-fisting the knife, she raised it high. “I’m really going to kill you this time. Any last words?”
“Wait!”
“Goodbye—”
“I suggest you stop if you don’t want to die today,” a bored, cold baritone cut through the air. “However, even if you do...I can’t promise you’ll walk out of here alive.”
All three of us sucked in a breath, our eyes snapping to the doorway.
Lucien filled the entrance, lazy and nonchalant, leaning against the doorframe as if he had nothing better to do than interrupt a murder.
His gaze flicked to mine, his expression unreadable. Power hummed from him, low and electric, his long black coat pooling by his ankles. Whisper flanked him, fur bristling and eyes molten.
My heart leapt. My pulse skipped.
He looked...beautiful. Lethal and feral and not a single sign of the pain I knew he constantly suffered.
“Mr. Ashfall,” Evelyn simpered, still sitting on top of me with her dagger raised. “What are you doing here?”
Dropping his chin and watching us beneath hooded eyes, Lucien smiled softly.
Every moment we’d ever spent together—all the seconds I’d been drawn to him, threatened, commanded, and kissed by him—vanished as I stared at the man from the first day we met.
A callous, heartless, ridiculously terrifying predator who snapped necks and ordered his pet panther to slaughter people as easily as drinking tea.
An avalanche of stress crashed over me, adding pressure to my head. Hypersensitivity cracked every broken piece of me.
“You two. Come here.” His jaw clenched as he looked at me, but then his lips twitched into a seductive smile. “Now.” Crooking his finger, he summoned the two girls as if he truly was interested in what they had to offer.
A spike of unexplainable jealousy arrowed through me, adding to the rest of my messed-up feelings.
Lydia released me and scrambled off the bed, brushing down her peach dress and running her hands over her blonde hair. Evelyn chased after her, slinky and sultry in her black skin-tight leggings and long-sleeved top.
They crossed the carpet with sexy sways of their hips, fawning for his attention.
As they drew to a stop before him, Lucien’s gaze rose over their heads and locked onto mine. For a second, his frosty mask slipped and the fire in his eyes—the absolute inferno blazing inside him made me suck in a tattered breath.