Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 67140 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 336(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67140 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 336(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
It soothes the beast.
A match flares, and St. James hands me my cigar.
Now that he’s piqued my curiosity, the bastard’s going to make me beg. “So what is it? My gift?”
“I spoke to Damien.” He means the Devil. Head of Fraternitas. “He and I agreed you deserve a reward for the sacrifices you’ve made.”
He’s referring to the last six months that I spent on a mission for Fraternitas. The one that left my hands stained in so much blood I’ll never be able to scrub them clean. “Everything I do, I do for the brotherhood. To uphold my vow.”
“We know that. You’ve proven your loyalty many times. And thus, you’ve earned a reward.” He flicks ash over the side of the rail.
Somewhere beneath us, an alarm sounds. I tense as a door under the deck bangs open.
A figure races out onto the lawn. A woman, bare-legged, wearing a white dress that glows in the moonlight.
My whole body is on high alert, my muscles tightening, ready to give chase.
My twin and I have excellent night vision. It’s one of the reasons we’re so deadly in the dark. My gift allows me to pick out the details of the runner. She’s got a wealth of curly hair tumbling down her back, and her pale legs flash as she pelts across the lawn, away from the Lodge.
I track her until she disappears into the tree line, every instinct in me telling me to run after her.
St. James smokes his cigar, watching me with amusement. I’m gripping the railing hard enough to get splinters.
“Who is she?” I growl.
“A waitress. She typically works at Inferno, but I assigned her other duties tonight.” Godsdamn St. James. He noticed me watching the redhead and lured both of us here. He has something planned.
“What duties?”
“She’s yours for the night. If you can catch her.” His gray eyes glitter in the moonlight. St. James likes edge play. That’s why he owns multiple BDSM clubs, including the Lodge.
And if he knows everything, he knows there’s nothing I like better than a wild, primal hunt.
“She signed a contract and everything and is being well paid to run from you in the woods. She gets a bonus if she eludes you past midnight. More if she makes it until dawn.” He gives me a satisfied look, the closest thing he has to a smile. “I doubt it’ll take you that long to hunt her down.”
“You mean…” The beast is roaring in my chest. My chest is swelling, my lungs preparing to pump like bellows and get me ready to run after her. My prey.
“Welcome to the Hunt. You have free rein of the property until dawn. And when you catch her, she’s all yours.” He pulls out a black mask—a simple hood with eye holes and a white skull painted on the front. It’s what I wear for ritual executions. He hands it to me and nods to the stairs to the left of us that lead down to the lawn. “I told her you’d give her a ten-minute head start.”
Elodie
I dash between the trees, racing with my arms outstretched to push through the branches, but briars scratch at my bare limbs and face.
A full moon shines brightly overhead, helping me see my way through this thicket, but I know it also illuminates the dress I’m wearing. The white is the opposite of camouflage. I might as well be spotlit on a stage.
The jerk who hired me made me put on this white dress. Luckily, it’s the end of summer, and the nights aren’t that cold. But I’m barefoot, too. It’s obvious I’m supposed to fulfill some specific fantasy. This is the Hunt, and I’m the poor, helpless prey. Half-naked, dressed like a virgin, and ready for sacrifice.
Whatever. As long as I get paid.
Waitressing isn’t enough to get me and my sister out of the mess her ex created. I need the thousand dollars Mr. St. James offered me to take this gig. He also dangled a bonus if I avoid getting caught before midnight. He wants me incentivized to give the patron a real hunt.
If I last until midnight, I get ten thousand dollars. But if I make it until morning, he’ll give me a hundred thousand in unmarked bills.
That’s the goal. A thousand dollars will help our problems. Ten thousand will fix them.
One hundred thousand will change our lives. I have to keep from getting caught.
I strip off the white dress as I run. I rip it into pieces and hang one strip on a low branch, where it hovers in the air, suspended like a ghost.
I weave through the towering oaks, leaving scraps of my dress on the branches of the smaller elms and holly trees. Red herrings to throw the hunter off my scent.
But now I’m naked. And my pale skin is a beacon in the night.