Total pages in book: 174
Estimated words: 172061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 860(@200wpm)___ 688(@250wpm)___ 574(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 172061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 860(@200wpm)___ 688(@250wpm)___ 574(@300wpm)
Howls of hopelessness. Wails of belief.
We finally busted a hole into the attic.
“Fuck, yes,” Otto rumbled, and he tore harder, jumping down and ramming the sharp end of the crowbar into the sheetrock that made the ceiling. The surface bowed, and I grunted, “Let me get it.”
Otto climbed out, and I took his place. It was a tight fit, my body rubbing against the frayed edges of the opening.
I took the sledgehammer handle by both hands and raised it directly upright in front of me and slammed it down.
It fractured, crumbling below me. Dust and smoke swallowed me as I fell through.
A hard grunt left me as my back slammed into the edge of the island before I toppled to the floor to the sounds of shouts and screams and the roaring of flames.
But I was in, and I wasn’t going to stop until they all were safe.
FIFTY-FOUR
DAISY
I watched in horror as the tiny flicker at the base of the curtain smoldered as the fabric seemed to slowly melt.
Ethan watched it, too, his back to me, as if it were the single thing that ushered in the vengeance he’d come for, my mind still grappling with the few details I had. Trying to discern what had driven this disaster.
Ethan and my sister working together?
My sister who for years I’d assumed dead, though months ago, she’d reached out.
The bare spark seemed to smolder for an eternity, our breaths held, terror palpable as my sisters whimpered, their spirits shouting with their ferocity, no doubt each of them trying to figure out a way to get us out of this.
The toxic scent of scorched chemicals touched my nose as the small flame that ate up the curtain suddenly lashed over the wood frame of the window. Flames licking out. I knew it wouldn’t be long before the entire wall erupted.
Soon the entire house.
I had to move.
I hesitated for one beat, unsure of my strength, of my resilience, if I was brave enough. And I knew it was time I stepped beyond the silence.
I would no longer cower or cave. I wouldn’t let anything happen to Cash or my children, and I was going to give it my all to fight for these women who had become my family.
Desperation shuddering through my veins, I picked up a chair and lifted it over my head, a shout of abomination and hope ripping out of me as I ran across the floor in Ethan’s direction.
I didn’t care that Hadley still held a gun across the room. If she’d come to end me? Then so be it. This was the only chance I had.
Ethan started to whirl around at the same moment the chair made contact with the side of his head. Wood smashed against his skull, and the wood splintered with the impact.
His head rocked back, and I could see where the flesh had opened up. Blood poured out of the gash.
He only roared, swinging wide to hit me across the cheek with the back of his hand.
I stumbled backward and slammed my lower spine into the island.
Pain burst, streaking out as I gasped.
“Ethan, no!” Hadley shouted from the other side of the room.
Ethan didn’t slow. He raised another hand, striking me across the opposite cheek. “You stupid bitch. For years I waited for you to go after him, lead me to him, but you were too weak and pathetic to ever do it, weren’t you? So fucking pitiful. I actually started to feel sorry for you, did you know that?”
He laughed a hollow sound. “Began to think you might actually be mine, even though I’d catch you with that faraway look on your face, and I’d know. I’d know where your heart and mind really were. But I accepted it. Figured when I finally caught up to him, I’d make him pay for what he did to you, too.”
My head whirled with the words he threw at me.
“Then you betrayed me. As if all those years I gave you meant nothing.”
Anger surged through my being. “All the years you gave me? You mean all the years you demeaned me? Made me feel foolish or lesser than? Ignored my needs and my feelings and my thoughts? You only wanted a perfectly behaved wife to act as a cover for what you really did.”
He shrugged a shoulder as the flames behind him continued to grow, getting so close to touching the ceiling as smoke filled the room. “I guess I figured if you weren’t useful for what I originally wanted you for, I had to get creative as I bided my time.”
Disgust churned through my guts. Hatred hot. As hot as the flames that glowed against my face.
“So you’re plan is to kill me and all these women to get back at Cash? While you stand here in the middle of the flames with me?” I could barely force it out, wanting to drop to my knees at the thought. But I had to remain strong. Make him focus on me so the rest would have the chance to get out. “I guess it won’t be a complete loss.”