Total pages in book: 230
Estimated words: 217798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1089(@200wpm)___ 871(@250wpm)___ 726(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 217798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1089(@200wpm)___ 871(@250wpm)___ 726(@300wpm)
Ivy dropped her forehead to her hands. I didn’t see her, though. I saw the five faces. I remembered their faces. I would always remember their faces.
“You’re going to be okay. The doc says it’s a freaking miracle, but you’re going to be okay,” she said. “They’ll probably keep you for a couple more days, but then you can come home with me, if you want. Tink said you can take his bedroom—”
“I… I couldn’t stop them.”
“What?” Ivy lifted her head. Her eyes were glassy.
“I… I couldn’t fight them off.”
She slowly shook her head. “Bri, you were hunted down and—”
“I couldn’t stop them!” The shout tore at my raw throat, but I didn’t care. “They killed my mother and I couldn’t stop them!”
“No.” Ivy rose, leaning over the head of the bed so her face was right in mine. “I know what you’re thinking. Trust me, I know. This is not your fault. I would’ve been screwed if I was caught off guard and surrounded like that.”
I didn’t think that was the case. Ivy would’ve fought tooth and nail. She wouldn’t have panicked and flailed. She wouldn’t have let them get her on her back, the number one thing they taught you to never let happen in training. Ivy might’ve struggled, but she would’ve prevailed.
“What they did to your mom and you is on them.” Ivy placed the tips of her fingers against my cheek. The touch was light, as if she knew if she pressed too hard, it would hurt. “There was nothing you could’ve done, Bri. Nothing. You survived. That’s all that matters. And it’s going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay.”
As I stared at her, remembering what I’d said to Mom, and knowing that it had been a lie, I knew that this also wasn’t true. That wasn’t all that mattered and it wasn’t going to be okay.
Things were never going to be okay.
CHAPTER 3
Two years later….
The heavy, rhythmic beat thumped from the speakers above and flowed over the packed floor. Gleaming bodies twisted and churned under the flashing overhead lights, lost to the music and the press of flesh against flesh. The scent of perfume, cologne, and sweat turned my stomach as I lifted my hands, scooping the long strands of hair off my damp neck.
Tonight I was a wild redhead with bright, red lips.
Last night I’d been a raven-haired seductress with smokey eyes.
The past weekend I was a naïve blonde in pigtails with flushed, peachy cheeks.
Each time I was someone different, but I was always the perfect victim, and every night ended the same.
I swayed my hips to the beat, to the hard, warm body behind me as I scanned the dance floor, searching.
Hands moved over the silvery sequins of my dress, slipping over my stomach. He hauled me against him, pressing his front to my back.
He was really into this.
A lot.
Those questing hands dragged down my hips, inching closer to my outer thighs. Letting go of the hair, I caught his wrists and tossed a reckless grin over my shoulder. “Behave.”
The nameless man gave me a toothy smile. He was cute, definitely younger than me by a good decade and some change. Probably in college at Loyola or Tulane, which meant two things. He’d choke if he knew I was pushing thirty-one and this was the last place he should be. A tiny part of me wanted to warn him, to tell him to find his fun and pleasure anyplace but the club Flux.
But I wasn’t here for him.
Holding onto his wrists, I let my head fall back against his chest as my gaze flickered over the dance floor and the horseshoe-shaped bar at the front. I couldn’t see into the shadowy alcoves surrounding the floor or upstairs, on the second floor VIP area.
That’s where I needed to be, because I knew he was up there.
A squat, broad man blocked the staircase. Behind him was a red rope. Entry to the second floor was by invite only, and those up there didn’t come down here. They sent scouts instead, scouts that were trained to find a certain type of human.
And I was the living embodiment of that type and tonight was the night.
“Hey,” the man said into my ear.
I kept searching. “Yeah?”
“What’s your name? I’m Dale.” He tried to move his hands again, but I kept them on my hips.
“Sally,” I lied as a tall, slender woman at the bar pushed away and turned to the dance floor, a vibrant, too-bright purple drink in her hand. Nightshade. She lifted the drink to her lips as she stared out over the floor.
I’d found who I was searching for, and I saw her for what she really looked like.
“You wanna get out of here, Sally?” Dale asked, his lips brushing the side of my neck. “I know a place we can go to.”