Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 36036 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 180(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36036 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 180(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
“He’s not holding back, Maggie.”
Heart pounding, I shove Hans away, my eyes locking on Xander as he stands menacingly by the door. I don’t know how he sneaked in so quietly or why we didn’t hear a sound.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, my voice shaking.
Xander says nothing. He steps closer, and my eyes widen at the sight of him. He’s covered in blood, his mask drenched in crimson. He looks like a nightmare from a children's story. “I want to be here.”
I can barely form coherent words, but not from fear. It’s from curiosity. “What happened to you?”
I jolt when Xander throws something on the corner of the bed. I lean forward to inspect it, and horror grips me. It’s a severed hand.
“What the fuck is this?” Hans demands.
Xander shoves his bomber jacket off and places it on a hook on the wall. Then he strips off his gun holster before removing his shirt. “Your dad’s hand.”
Hans rises from the bed and moves to Xander. He doesn’t say a word as he falls to his knees. I watch in fascination as he lifts his hands to Xander’s belt.
Xander looks at me. “You want to watch this, Princess? Or would you like to leave?”
A strange mix of curiosity, lust, and shame overshadows my anger. And immense confusion. I don’t understand what made Hans fall to his knees. It’s almost as if he left one prison to become enslaved elsewhere. “He delivered your father’s hand. What are you doing?”
Xander bangs his fist against the wall. I fear he’ll alert Azadeh and the others to our sick games in this room. “This is who he is, Margarete. This is who he is. Maybe you should figure out who you are.”
Maybe it’s my curiosity that keeps me from demanding he leave. Perhaps my life of forced servitude to men doesn’t allow me to challenge the words spilling from his lips.
“Show me,” I whisper.
Hans’ head shoots up. I gaze into his eyes, unable to discern what I see in their depths. I know it’s not anger. Maybe, like me, he’s a conundrum filled with emotions he doesn’t have words to convey. Maybe, like me, he wants to see the possibilities of a world without limitations. To explore those paths, we were told they were unattainable abominations because they would cause our demise. But unlike me, Hans has already disregarded the subjugating lies that limited his natural animalistic tendencies. He’s gnawed off part of the leash. And now, I want to break it completely. I want to see exactly what kind of gluttonous spree he’ll partake in.
My gaze moves to the severed hand on the bed. The skin is pale from lack of blood. The ring is a reminder of who Gabriel was and what he represented.
I brush my fingers over the brand on my ribs.
Xander chuckles. “I burned his dick for the brand on your flesh.”
“Don’t you have remorse for taking a life?” I ask. “It’s a sin.”
Xander shakes his head. “Nah. I don’t feel bad about a single thing I did tonight. Not a single fucking thing. If Hell is real and I’ll burn for my actions, I’d still do it again. You see, angel, some men are so vile that the only way to defeat them is to ensure they’re buried six feet under.”
Hearing Xander’s icy words tossed like daggers should repulse me. He cheerfully pronounces his pride at taking a life as if he’s God. Yet even knowing that his actions are laced with sin, I find myself morbidly curious about him.
The Covenant preached that all women were inherently sinful. A hereditary gene passed down by Eve. Perhaps Eve was tired of being forced to live a life she didn’t want. Free will is a fallacy when you’re constantly told that choosing incorrectly has a devastating result. Famines come in many forms. Though they fed my belly, they starved another part of me. Now that I have a feast before me, I’m going to gorge until I’m full.
Xander is the Devil, and I want to burn in his hell.
Xander’s booming laugh breaks into my thoughts as he abandons Hans on the floor. “What’s it going to be, baby girl?” He steps toward me, leaning down, his muscular arms flexing as he places his palms on the edge of the bed. “Will you sin with me?”
I take a deep breath and respond with the truth. “Yes.”
CHAPTER 13
Hans
Maggie’s words linger in the air between us. That she took my revelation about my sexuality so well was astounding, but the words she just uttered seemed beyond the realm of possibility.
I walk up to her, cup her face, and force her eyes to mine.
“Why didn’t it upset you that he killed your father?”
Her question takes me off guard because she’s right. I wasn’t upset. I was relieved. That man was a monster. I might have shouldered the evils he dealt me, but when I saw the mark on Maggie, I wanted to slit his throat. I’m grateful to Xander for killing him; otherwise, I would’ve been forced to. “That man hurt you. I’ll never shed a tear when someone like that is taken from this earth. Baby, you don’t have to do this for me.”