Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 66503 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66503 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
“We have no time for this,” I say, as I rush toward the car.
“Beast!” she yells, following me. “I am not abandoning anyone!”
I throw the bags in the back of the car and start the engine. “Now hop in.”
“No,” she retorts. “If he was forced, I have to save him. I can’t just leave him there to die.”
I stare at her through the mirror. She looks blinded by rage. And it’s as though I’m looking at myself in the past.
“Get. In,” I say with a deadly tone.
I’m not warning her again.
She folds her arms. “You’re trying to kill the only family I have left.”
“Aurora …” I say through gritted teeth.
“No. You don’t want to take responsibility, but none of this would have happened if you hadn’t come to my house to kill him.”
There it is.
The one dagger she managed to find.
Driven like a stake right through the heart.
I burst out into a fiery rage. “You came to my house first with your father and killed my parents!”
Her eyes widen, and her lips part, but there are no more words.
All of them have been stolen by a single statement.
One I regret instantly.
But the damage is done already.
“You want to stay? Fine,” I bark, overcome by my anger taking control as I hit the gas. “Don’t fucking move an inch.”
And without saying another word, I drive off.
CHAPTER 20
Aurora
When the car disappears from view, I stumble back inside. But as the door closes behind me, I sink to the floor, crying my eyes out as I curl up into a ball.
I never thought anything could hurt more than watching my own father get tortured, but I was wrong.
I was so wrong.
I cry out all the tears I’ve kept buried all these years. Tears for my mother, tears for the pain my father caused, and tears for Beast, who ripped out my heart and crushed it with his bare hands.
And for a while, I just lie there, trying to make sense of this dread in my heart, wondering if I’ll ever see him again.
I know what I asked would be an impossible task, but to not even try feels like something Lex or my father would do. Something only a monster would think of. And I don’t want to be that kind of monster.
Even if my father betrayed our location, who knows what they did to him to make him give it away. He can’t have stumbled back into Lex’s hands … right?
My eyes open wide.
Lex.
His men are coming for me now. Who knows when they’ll be here, but it’ll be soon.
I push myself off the floor and look around.
I have to find something to defend myself. Put on something strong, something thick that can resist a bullet. But Beast packed all my clothes, so all I have left is a cutting board I found in the kitchen and a piece of rope used to tie the curtains.
I fish the same big butcher’s knife my father used on Beast from the kitchen and tuck it into my pocket.
It’s not much, but it’ll have to do. I’ll have to put my fears and worries aside and focus on trying to get myself to safety. Because if I know anything about Lex, it’s that he won’t stop until he finds me.
Even if I run now, he’ll probably still be on my tail.
And this time … I won’t have Beast to protect me.
Beast
I rush to the nearest store I can find that sells knives and stuff a few in my pocket, then bolt off. The alarm goes off, but by the time the owner runs out of the shop yelling his ass off, I’m already long gone.
I do the same in a different shop that sells building supplies like big chunks of rope. I swoop it all up and tuck it into a bag I kept empty, then run like hell to my car and drive off without paying.
I head into a store that sells groceries and take only the food and drinks I need, stuffing it all into another bag when no one is watching, then head out again.
The cops must have been called numerous times already, but I don’t care. I don’t have a home, and I go wherever I need to go. They won’t find me. I put on my cap and avoided all the cameras, which were easy to spot.
Even if they capture me on tape, finding me will be impossible, as no one will recognize me from anywhere. I haven’t been in the system since I was a little boy. I’m like a ghost that never existed.
A monster trained only to kill.
And I don’t steal without purpose or for money.
I steal to prepare.
When I have everything I need, I hop back into the car and race right back to the beach house. Adrenaline courses through my veins as I ignore the traffic lights and go as fast as I can, hoping, praying she’s still there.