Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 58532 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 293(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58532 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 293(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
But when I pull back, I study him. “Are you really sure this is okay?”
Because this isn’t small. The elites want us all dead. So I know that moving around this close to Boston isn’t without danger.
Kane brushes his thumb along my cheek. “Go get dressed, Blair.” He kisses my forehead again. “We don’t have much time.”
I grin and spin on my heels, and he manages to sneak a butt smack in before I get to the door.
“Move it, baby!”
“Rude!” I squeal and run toward the door.
“Hey, Blair?”
“Yeah?”
“If you take longer than ten minutes, I’m coming upstairs.” And the heated, playful, downright obscene look in his eyes says he means it.
Which I can’t deny is tempting as hell, but…I get to see my family today.
“I’m going! I’m going! Keep your pants on!” I laugh and run inside.
Technically, it took me fifteen minutes to get ready, but that’s because I actually have clothes that fit me now. Yesterday, I demanded Kane get me things—additional makeup, hair and skin products, new clothes. You know, normal human girl stuff.
He only acted annoyed for a good thirty seconds, but then he simply found a way to make all my materialistic dreams come true, and he came back to the cabin with bags in his hands filled with all the things I wanted.
I might not be Old Blair anymore, but I still have priorities, you know?
We couldn’t travel by car—that’d be too easy to track—so we traveled by foot the whole way with me on Kane’s back and Cal following closely behind. Now, we’re just outside of Boston in a quiet little park in a quiet little suburb you wouldn’t even know existed if someone didn’t tell you about it.
Just as we reach the tree line, Kane sets me on my feet. But when I try to hold his hand, he shakes his head. “I’ll be here,” he says. “You go.”
I scrunch up my nose and search his face closely.
“If you need me, I’ll be right here.”
“Are you sure?”
He doesn’t need to answer me—I can feel his intention. I can feel his response.
He wants to give me space—but not too much space. He wants to protect me and watch over me and keep me safe. But he also wants to give me room to see my family and feel out the conversation and how they react.
We don’t have certainty about what they know or don’t know. I have no idea if my dad knows the truth about the elites or if my mom understands what a Choosing Ceremony actually stands for.
I have so many questions, and I need so many answers. But mostly, I just want to see them. I want to hug them. And I want them to see that I’m okay.
But before I try to look for them, I walk back to Kane and stand up on my tippy-toes to press a kiss to his lips. “I love you.”
“I love you too, baby.”
And then, I turn back on my heel and walk toward the park.
It doesn’t take me long to find them; my mom and dad stand beside a wooden park bench that Bonnie’s parked her cute butt on. She’s staring down at her phone, but my parents are very much looking around the park.
It takes them another ten seconds before they spot me.
But then they do.
“Blair!” my mom calls toward me, waving both hands in the air as a giant smile consumes her face.
Bonnie looks up from her phone, and a huge, relieved smile spreads across her lips. And my dad’s reaction is very much the same.
I quickly close the distance between us, and my mom doesn’t hesitate to pull me into a tight hug. “Oh my God, I’ve missed you,” she says just as my dad wraps his arms around both of us.
“Good to see you, sweetheart,” he says.
“God, my family is truly embarrassing,” Bonnie mutters, but then, on a snort, she doesn’t hesitate to add herself to our hug.
I laugh through the sudden sting of tears. “I missed you guys.”
“Are you okay?” My mom pulls back to study my face. “And…oh my…what are you wearing?” she asks, her gaze moving down my simple T-shirt and jeans and sneakers.
“Yes, I’m okay,” I answer. “And I’ve been going a little more casual these days.”
She pinches her mouth into a firm line, but she doesn’t say anything else about my wardrobe. Honestly, it’s a surprise. “Damien told us you got to New York safely, but you’ve been impossible to reach,” she says in a rush. “I had to call Holland to give me updates. He said everything was good but Damien has been keeping you very busy. Lots of traveling to very fancy places.” She smiles, and my stomach drops. “I can’t wait to hear all about it.”
I had no idea how this was going to go, and Cal has been able to get enough information during his surveillance trips for me to know my parents appeared in the dark. I honestly thought I was prepared, but it’s a whole different story when I have to face their naïveté head on.