Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 105803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
I catch him by surprise, drag him off her, and run my blade over his throat, opening his neck before he can even make a noise. Blood rains down on the cobblestones and his limp body falls sideways and splashes into his own blood.
The girl barely moves. Her breath is shallow, and her eyes are now closed.
I check the man’s pockets and find what I suspected would be there. Bags of synthetic phantasia and rolls of dirty money. I tuck them into the breast pocket of my cut before lifting the girl into my arms and moving her somewhere safer. Somewhere where there is more light.
I call the ambulance and sit with her until I hear the approaching siren, then disappear into the darkness. But I don’t leave, I stay in the shadows and watch as the EMTs check her out before loading her into the back of the ambulance.
She will live to see another day, but she will probably succumb to her needs again by this time tomorrow night.
At least the man who dealt her the drugs won’t be around to sell it to her. A smile plays on my lips thinking of the dead Psycho lying in a pool of blood in the alley. He probably won’t be found until morning. The Psychos will suspect we’re involved. But the piece of shit was in the bowels of the town. Anyone could be responsible.
They won’t risk revenge without proof.
I find my bike and climb on.
Bringing it to life, I take off and head for home.
And Belle.
CHAPTER 34
BELLE
I’m falling. The sensation of weightlessness is all around me and sucking me toward the ocean below. I’m trapped, and I know I’m going to die. I bang on the glass but it doesn’t break. My hands are too little…
My eyes flick open, and I sit up with a rush. Gasping, I suck in the early morning air until I feel my heartbeat ease and my senses come back to me.
Another nightmare. The one that’s been plaguing me since I got here.
I glance around me. It’s still dark outside, and it takes me a moment for my eyes to adjust in the darkness, and when they do, I see Beast’s massive silhouette in front of one of the arched windows. He’s staring out into the silvery morning. His shoulders are tense.
I rub my eyes. “Beast?”
He turns around, and I watch him walk toward the bed.
“I didn’t mean to wake you,” he says.
“You didn’t. I was having a bad dream.” I push my hair over my shoulder. “Where have you been?”
He sits down on the bed and his expression tells me something is very wrong. His eyes seem darker. More devoid of light.
He looks haunted.
I reach out and touch his hand. “Are you okay?”
It’s in my nature to reach out to someone who has obviously seen something terrible. I’ve seen trauma. And trauma is written all over his face.
Oh, he thinks he hides it with his gruff biker exterior.
But his eyes don’t lie.
“Go back to sleep, little one.”
“I’m wide awake now, and just so you know, I’m a good listener.”
There is a hint of softness in his eyes. “This is nothing you need to worry yourself about.”
But I’m curious and can’t help but push for a little bit more information.
“Get some sleep. In the morning, we get married.”
“Married?” I lift an eyebrow. “Why the rush?”
“Because tomorrow we go to war.”
CHAPTER 35
BEAST
“This fucking ends now.”
I pound my fist against the table, and the vibration rattles up my arm.
I’ve just told my club brothers about the death house. About the three dead college kids. About the crystal-blue eyes staring lifelessly out at nothing.
About the Psycho I left dead in an alleyway.
A heaviness hangs in the air. The atmosphere is thick with rage and a thirst for action.
When I rode through the shadowy streets this morning, I didn’t have proof it was the Psychos bringing the fake phantasia into St. Bon. The stuff I found on the Psycho I killed isn’t enough. I needed more.
But when I arrived back at the clubhouse, Bram handed me some new intelligence he’d uncovered throughout the night, and now I know exactly what our next step needs to be.
Unfortunately, there is only a small window of time to take it. Meaning, I have to wait until all the pieces are in place.
Venom twists and turns inside of me. I want this fucking done now.
I clench my fingers around the gavel and slam it down to bring a close to Church.
I should call off the wedding.
But once we take action, we can expect retaliation.
And if war is coming, then I want Belle by my side as my old lady.
Right where I can protect her.
CHAPTER 36
BELLE
Somehow I managed to fall asleep after Beast dropped the wedding bomb on me last night. Now, it’s late morning, and I’m feeling disorientated and groggy as I wake up from a deep, dreamless sleep.