Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 66503 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66503 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
“Aurora.”
The sound of his voice almost makes me drop the pole.
Lex.
The lock on the door slowly turns.
A tear forms in my eye, but I push it back and brace for impact.
CLICK!
The door unlocks. Someone lowers the handle.
My heart beats a million miles an hour.
The door slowly opens.
And the bruised-up face that appears behind gives me pure chills.
“Shouldn’t have come to this clinic, Aurora,” he says with a low voice. “This is the one place that serves only criminals.”
“No wonder they wouldn’t help …” I mutter. My eyes flutter from guard to guard, wondering which one will attack me first.
But Lex raises his hand, and all his guards stop pointing their guns at me. “I’ll handle this,” he tells them, then he turns to face me. “So nice to see you again.” A wicked smile grows on his face.
“Stay back!” I growl, shoving the pole forward like it’s a lance.
He laughs. “You’ve gotten feisty. Come now, put it down.”
“Leave me alone!” I retort, still whipping the pole around.
“You know why I can’t,” he says. “You’re the only connection to your father.”
“He’s not here,” I say through gritted teeth.
“I know that,” he replies, his voice lowering in tone. “So you’re the next best thing I can take.”
“You’ve destroyed everything I’ve ever cared about!” I yell in pain. “When will it ever be enough?”
He chuckles. “Everything? Hardly. Your father is still alive. So are you.”
“You killed him. You killed Beast,” I blurt out, unable to keep my feelings in check.
He frowns, but then a vicious smile slowly spreads on his face. “You seem to care an awful lot about that monster of mine …”
He takes a step forward.
“You know, when I heard they found you, I immediately came here. Lucky for you, I was only a few blocks away. Just returning in my car from a visit to this very clinic.”
Oh God. Oh God.
He was right. I shouldn’t have ever come here.
“Stay away!” I yell, lunging forward with my makeshift weapon.
He dodges the attack like it comes easy to him, so I hit him again and again, nearly missing the last time.
“You’ve gotten braver,” he says. “But not brave enough.”
Suddenly, he manages to grab ahold of the pole and pushes it aside so violently I lose control.
He snatches it out of my hand and throws it aside.
“You thought I needed my guards to take you?” he says. “Wrong.” Every step he takes forward, I take backward. “I know how to handle a girl.”
“I would rather die than have your hands on me!” I squeal.
He chuckles. “Oh, you will die … but not until after I have what I want.”
The darkness in his voice makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
I bump into the window and turn my head to look down.
Nowhere else to go.
What do I do?
I can’t end up in his hands. I won’t.
“Don’t even think about it,” Lex growls.
I don’t think. Not even twice.
I push open the window and throw myself through it.
A sudden hand gripping my arm has me floundering halfway out the window. With a thrashing heart and a ragged breath, I’m looking at the concrete, floating between a certain death and a life not worth living.
“Don’t,” Lex growls. “Don’t throw it all away, idiot.”
“Please, let go of me,” I beg. “Just let me die in peace.”
Lex pulls me back in and sets me down on my feet. But not without forcefully grabbing my arm and placing a hand on my cheek. “This is what you’d choose?”
“What other choice do I have?” I say, fighting the tears.
A vicious smile slowly spreads on his face. “Your poor papa would be so distraught to see his only daughter throw herself out a window.”
“My father never cared about me, only his reputation and money. He called me a monster,” I say through gritted teeth, forcing the tears to stay at bay. “I have no one. No one at all. I have nothing left to lose.”
Lex tilts his head. “Oh, you’re wrong, little girl … oh so very wrong.” He leans in. “Don’t you want to know the truth?”
“What truth?” I mutter as he slides aside my hair.
One tiny whisper… three words … tilt my world on its axis.
“He is alive.”
CHAPTER 7
Beast
Hours ago
Nightmares become me as I roll around in agony, blistering flames surrounding me everywhere. It’s so hot I can barely breathe, and it feels like I’ve been run over by a truck.
When I open my eyes, all I see is death.
God.
I’ve ended up in Satan’s fire.
I groan in pain as I try to move, but my arms are locked in place, tied up to something.
Have I truly died and gone to hell?
I surely belong there after all the torture I’ve dished out and all the lives I’ve taken.
Is it supposed to hurt?
And why am I exhausted?
I blink a couple of times, but all it does is make me more nauseous.