Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 78631 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78631 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
“Hey,” Dragon admonishes. “You go easy on her. She’s hurt.”
Teddy seems to understand, and he curls up next to me, his head on my chest.
I stroke his soft, clean head. “What a good boy,” I say. “Animals are amazing, Dragon. They know when you need them. Especially dogs. They have a sixth sense.”
He doesn’t answer, but there’s a far-off look in his eyes.
“Did you ever have a dog?” I ask.
He nods. “A long time ago. Her name was Cinnamon. She was my best friend. But she died before…”
Before his parents gave him away.
At least he didn’t have to leave his dog. Only his mother, father, and sister.
I ache for him. Physically ache, and I’m not talking about the residual pain in my ankle.
Teddy makes a sound kind of like a purr against me, and it vibrates through me, filling me with peace.
But Dragon is not at peace.
And I’m not either.
I won’t be until he is.
He grabs his phone. “I guess there’s no time like now.” He taps on it, and a minute later— “It’s done.”
“Good. Now what?”
“I’ll call Alayna. Tell her the cash has been sent, and she’ll hack into the app to find the address and name attached to the account.”
“So that was why you wanted the money.”
“Yeah, of course. You think I was just going to send that guy ten grand of your money on the fucking honor system? When he doesn’t even have my sister?”
“But he has your niece. Or does he? What if he was lying?”
“He may have been lying about her being my niece, but I talked to a little girl. Her name is Bridget. And she misses her mother. Her mother who told her, by the way, that she has an uncle named Dragon.”
“Oh my God.” I rub my forehead. “I feel like I’m trapped in a made-for-TV movie. Can this get any worse?”
“Oh, Diana,” he says, shaking his head. “Things can always get worse.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Dragon
Seventeen years earlier…
I settle down onto the thin mattress, thankful to have made it through the first day. Well, half a day.
Until our door opens.
And a low voice speaks.
“We came to initiate the new meat.”
The voice is gravelly, like rocks tumbling down a steep incline. A silhouette fills the doorway, tall and broad, its edges blurred by the gloom of the hallway beyond. Zach doesn’t say anything, just throws a glance my way, a silent warning.
I sit up straighter, clenching my fists around the threadbare blanket. I can’t see clearly who it is in the half-light. Zach’s bristling at the intrusion is enough.
“Initiate?” I croak out, trying hard to keep my voice steady.
A laugh from the shadows makes my blood run cold.
“Yeah,” another voice says, this one higher-pitched and with a dangerous lilt to it. “Everyone goes through it. Even your buddy Zach here.”
I see them clearly now—their faces marked by harsh lines and cruel smiles.
Neither Mike nor Zach say anything, and the others in our room stay in bed, their eyes shut tight. Are they asleep? I don’t know.
Already I know they’re in self-protection mode.
Whatever is going to happen to me, they’ve already been through it. And they sure as hell don’t want to go through it again, so they’re keeping out of it.
“What do you want?” I demand, making my voice sound like my father’s used to when he was mad as hell at me for banging my drum too loud in the garage.
God, my dad. I try not to think about him. I last saw him five years ago in that courtroom when he and Mom gave me up. I was only eight.
I’m thirteen now. A man in some cultures.
But looking at these two big guys in my doorway, I know I’m no man. I’m a kid.
I got into some fights at the other group home. Sometimes I got my ass kicked. Other times I did the ass kicking. Nothing worse than a fat lip or a black eye ever happened to me, but there’s an evil gleam in the eyes of these guys.
I learned early on at the other place never to show fear.
I need to put that into practice right about now.
“Pipe down, boy,” one of them responds. His voice is a low growl, and his eyes, almost hidden in the shadows, glint with an unpleasant amusement. “We just want to give you the grand welcome.”
“Is that so?” I force a laugh out of my throat. It sounds harsher than I intend it to, but I can’t afford to show vulnerability. Not here. Not now. I harden my gaze as I look at them.
“Yeah, you better listen to Tully,” another one says with a humorless smirk. He’s smaller than the first one but still bigger than I am by a mile. “It’s a simple initiation. Nothing you can’t handle.”
He and Tully approach me slowly, each step echoing ominously in the room. They move like wild animals stalking prey. I’ve seen that on TV at the old home on Animal Planet.