Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 50512 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 253(@200wpm)___ 202(@250wpm)___ 168(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50512 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 253(@200wpm)___ 202(@250wpm)___ 168(@300wpm)
Heat spirals in a teasing tendril as I continue to gaze at him. I’ve always been surprised at my body’s reaction to him—that hot, heady thrill that shoots through me any time he’s near. He’s Samuel’s identical twin in every way, and yet, they couldn’t be more different to me.
I linger on his hair. He used to have longer strands framing his face, but now it’s shorn on the sides. He’d cut it shortly after I’d awoken from a nightmare and mistook him for Samuel. The thought allows the memory to wash me away from the present…
I thrash against the thick comforter, shoving it off as I snap out of the nightmare. Swinging my legs over the side of the bed, I’m itching to move, to seek fresh air—
Samuel sits in an armchair next to my bed. Everything inside me freezes, turning to ice as a scream rips from my throat.
“No!” I shout, scrambling back against the bed.
Samuel’s eyes snap open, and he’s on his feet in an instant. That preternatural speed has him in front of me in a blink.
“No more,” I beg, tears streaking down my cheeks. “Please. No more. I can’t.” Samuel has spent so many nights torturing me. I can’t hold on another minute. “I want to die. Just kill me, Samuel.”
“You’re safe,” he says. “I’m not him. Aurora, I’m not him.” Saint’s voice cuts through the panic filling my veins.
I study his features a bit harder, my mind not trusting what it sees. His hands are raised, and there’s a softness to his eyes that Samuel’s never had. Plus, I know his voice. I’d know his voice anywhere. There’s a tone and pitch that calls to me in a drastically different way than his brother’s.
I sigh, but the tears don’t stop. “I’m sorry. It was a nightmare. I didn’t mean to call you that.”
But I’d believed he was Samuel. I did. For a moment, it’s all I could think. That I’d never really been rescued, and the past weeks had been a cruel trick he played on me to break my mind even more.
Saint stares at me for a few moments, then nods, and stomps toward my bathroom. After a second, I follow him because he left the door open. He’s holding a pair of dull scissors, chopping away at his hair.
Warmth and gratitude spread through me, chasing away the icy terror clinging to me from the nightmare.
“You don’t have to do that—”
“I want to,” he says. “I never want you to think I’m him again.”
More tears spill over my lashes. “You could never be him.”
“Aurora?” Saint’s voice draws me back to the table, and I blink away the memory. I look around the room, shocked that everyone else has finished eating and left.
“I zoned out again.” It’s easier to admit it to him. He knows how powerful my mind is when it wants to take me away. Something I’m guessing is a survival mechanism I won’t be able to fully shake without intensive therapy. Ajax’s mate, Grace, suggested that to me a few weeks ago, assuring me my spells of disassociation were a normal trauma response. My shoulders drop. At least this memory hadn’t been the worst of them.
He studies my face for a few moments, then his eyes fall to my neck, and he visibly swallows. “The residence’s blood supply has been tainted.”
“Oh?” I shake my head. “That’s awful.” So many awful things happened the past week. The attack Samuel led. The bloodmad vampires he’d snuck into the residence. The horrific screaming. Samuel’s hand around my neck as he dangled me from the roof. Death trying to claim me once again and Saint not allowing it. Valor, Lachlan’s mate and Lyric’s best friend, almost dying and then her transition after. Thankfully, she’s okay, but now this?
“Didn’t the Sons destroy the supply once before?” I ask, trying desperately to remember who told me that. Olivia, I think. “The king had a company that managed the reserve?”
“Onyx Industries,” Saint answers. “They’d built up a three-year reserve in case of emergencies. The Sons destroyed it before we were awakened. Alek had slowly been building it back up as well as restocking the royal reserves here.” He sighs. “Samuel and his people managed to poison both.”
I rub my hand self-consciously over my neck. I hate that I hadn’t been strong enough to fight Samuel off. To put an end to the destruction—the hate and evil—he’s delivered at every turn. If I’d been like Olivia, the princess’s bodyguard, or like Talia, Zachariah’s huntress mate, I would’ve been able to fight. But I’ve been too busy trying to find the missing pieces of myself to learn how to fight back. That needs to change.
“You fed yesterday,” he continues. “But we’ll have to figure out a new solution for you soon.”