Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 129676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 519(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 519(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Two, six, two.
Two, six, two.
Two, six, two.
My eyes traveled up to the crowd. Teachers, professors, and family members of the contestants. The only person who came to see me was Andrin.
He sat in the front row and narrowed his eyes at me menacingly, fingers pressed together, elbows on his armrests. He didn’t need to say a word for me to understand everything that dripped from his scowl.
If you don’t win this competition, I am going to ruin you.
But what was left to ruin?
I was all alone in this godforsaken world. I had no friends. No family. Nothing to live for.
Recently, I’d been fantasizing about dying. The only thing stopping me was the technique of it.
I allowed myself time to research the idea. Which death would be the least painful?
Life was an ugly period of time in one’s existence. But it wasn’t going anywhere. I could off myself in a week, two, or even a few years.
Beads of sweat slithered down my spine and forehead.
Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock.
The numbers on the page blurred into stains, splotching under the drip-drip-drips of my sweat.
Before I knew it, the clocks began to buzz, and the other contestants handed over their score sheets.
My page was blank. I hadn’t solved one equation.
The drive back to the academy was silent. Andrin was no doubt plotting the best way to hurt me. I was already numb to his physical abuse.
He dropped me off by shoving me out of my seat. I hit gravel, tiny stones digging into my knees, slipping between my teeth.
I spent a sleepless night wondering when the other shoe would drop.
I’d learned my lesson since Ares. I no longer welcomed pets into my room. Instead, I went into the woods in the dead of the night and met my pet there.
His name was Zeus. He was a fox.
Completely blind and helpless.
Vulnerable, like me.
I brought him food and fresh water and made makeshift toys for him.
I never let Zeus follow me, always outsmarting him and slipping away before he could sense where I was going.
Yet when the sun slid up the sky the next morning and I stepped out of the dormitory, there he was, my Zeus, his throat slit, on the steps of the house. His expression was surprised, his neck almost completely dislocated from the rest of his body.
But his eyes. They were still so kind. So hopeful. More trusting than I ever could be.
Because Andrin had taught me a brutal lesson.
Everything I’d ever love was destined to die.
I pulled the lever to open the panic room and started running. Tate’s steps boomed behind me. I charged out the main door and gained speed, headed toward the car. Then I remembered I placed the keys on the counter when I walked inside.
Bollocks.
Turning around and trying to retrieve them was the surest way to get caught.
Tate had murdered someone. That man was clearly dead. Why did he kill him? How many had he killed before? Somehow, I knew this wasn’t his first tango. He was too calm, too precise, too comfortable in his own skin when I caught him.
One thing was for sure—I wasn’t going to let him catch me.
I decided to disappear inside the woodlands adjacent to his property. The gated community boasted a natural reservoir that stretched for acres across a cliff.
A few advantages worked for me. Darkness fell with no natural or artificial light outside, so the night could cloak me. The grass was fresh and damp beneath my feet, so my footsteps were soundless. And I was a very good runner. Years of training diligently meant I could outrun most men I knew.
I bolted deep into the woods, putting more distance between Tate’s house and me. I kept my arms outstretched to avoid colliding with objects. It was pitch-black.
I knew I managed to lose him due to the absence of noise coming from behind me. I whipped my head over my shoulder to make sure. There was no one behind me. The forest was cold and thickly threaded with trees. My feet sank into the muddy ground, slowing me down. My muscles were sore. I needed to find my way out of these woods at some point, and I had no idea where they started or ended.
And then I heard them.
The unmistakable howling of hungry…wolves? No. There weren’t any wolves in New York.
Hyenas laughed from the shadows, the sound of them seeping into my ears like they were a hairsbreadth away.
I stumbled to a stop, surveying my surroundings as best I could. My skin was ice-cold, but my body was hot and slick with sweat. From beyond a thick tree trunk, I caught a glimpse of two eyes glowing in the dark. They danced like fireflies.
The eyes moved in my direction.
Slowly. Nearer. Closer.
Lungs burning, muscles quivering, I careened sharply to the right before they could tear me to shreds.