Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 151097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 504(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 504(@300wpm)
COBY
I stared at the photo of Hunter and Ocean on their movie date and saved it to my phone before making it my wallpaper. If a picture said a thousand words, this one only needed to say three.
Hunter was in.
Nervous butterflies fluttered in my stomach at the thought of sharing my soulmate with the man who owned my heart. I was so excited, I found myself slipping out of bed before my alarm could go off.
Waking up early on Christmas morning was my ritual, but I’d never been this restless. I was eager to see if what Hunter had secretly conveyed in her text was real or imagined. I needed to know that I hadn’t read too much into it—that it wasn’t just wishful thinking.
They must have left the penthouse after I fell asleep last night. It seemed like an odd time for a date, but nothing about Ocean was conventional, so I didn’t question it too much.
After connecting my phone to the speakers and opening my Christmas playlist, I sang along to the carols as I started a new group chat.
Coming home soon?
Hunter was the first to respond.
Mine: Otw. Ocean’s driving, so he can’t respond.
K. I’ll get breakfast started. :)
Mine: French toast, pls! And none of that vegan crap.
Lmao - I got u.
The bubbles appeared before I could back out of the thread, so I waited. They disappeared again, only to reappear seconds later. This went on a few more times, so I darkened my screen and went into the kitchen to get started.
Setting my phone on the counter, I gathered the ingredients for vegan French toast. Hunter claimed she could tell the difference, but she never did.
I was whisking the cornstarch and soy milk together when my phone chimed moments later. I glanced at the text on the locked screen, but it wasn’t from Hunter.
It had come from an unknown number.
Unknown: Just thought you should know who you’re marrying…
Wondering if an old girlfriend of Ocean’s had somehow gotten hold of my number, I snatched up my phone and opened the text without hesitation.
The last thing I expected to pop up a second later was a picture of my brother. The camera had been zoomed in, so only his face was visible, but I knew it was him. I could see the familiar faint scar near his hairline from when he fell out of a tree when he was six. His eyes were open and staring back at me, but something was off. They seemed dull. Lifeless.
Roshaun was staring at the camera, but there was no awareness.
Noticing the white target symbol in the upper left-hand corner, I tapped it, and the photo came to life, showing me what had happened two seconds before the picture was taken.
A gloved hand speckled with crimson.
My brother’s braids trapped in its grasp.
Roshaun’s mouth twisted and forever frozen mid-scream.
His neck was nothing more than mangled flesh, blood, and tissue.
In the background, I could see the rest of him wearing the clothes I last saw him in. His body was slumped against the wall in the background.
Headless.
The photo reverted to a close-up of his eyes, forehead, and nose, but it was too late.
I was already screaming.
My wails joined the jaunty Christmas carol blasting through the suite and mocking my pain.
And then my phone chimed again, and another text came through.
Unknown: Merry Christmas.
Dropping the phone, I darted over to the kitchen sink. I heard someone running up behind me, but I was too busy spilling my guts inside to care who.
“Coby?” Kellan called out. “I heard you scream. What happened?”
An image of my brother’s mutilated body flashed in my mind, and my throat jumped. This time, when I heaved, nothing came out.
Roshaun was gone.
My legs gave out, and I collapsed to the ground, another wail tearing from me when my gaze landed on my phone and Roshaun’s lifeless eyes staring back at me just before the screen went dark.
I crawled across the cold tile and picked it up with shaking hands.
This couldn’t be real.
It had to be a trick.
A cruel fucking joke.
“Please, God.”
“Coby, tell me what’s going on, or I’m calling Ocean,” Kellan warned.
Ignoring him, I unlocked my phone and dialed my brother’s number.
It rang and rang and rang, but he didn’t answer. Breathing became impossible as I tried three more times in vain.
“Coby…”
“C-c-can you p-p-please take me to my brother?” I begged Kellan once I accepted the fact that Roshaun wasn’t going to answer. “I th-think he’s in tr-trouble. Please.”
Kellan shook his head, his green eyes filled with pity. “You know I can’t do that. Tell me what happened. Maybe I can help without getting killed. Start from the beginning.”
I couldn’t because it all led back to Ocean.
Ocean had killed my brother.
“Oh, God.” I held my stomach with one hand and my mouth with the other when it felt like I’d throw up again.