Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 90268 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90268 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
We locked eyes. I felt like her validation was all I needed to know that it wasn’t just in my mind and that I was being hunted.
“When I saw the Graves Academy, I ran there first.”
“And?”
“I ran into the building that Luna warned me against.”
She stood, pacing a little, although she made it appear as if she were simply putting away her first-aid kit. I was already standing where she left me when she walked back into her bedroom.
I blurted, “He was already there waiting for me.”
We locked eyes again, and she sucked in her bottom lip. “Who?”
“He wore a black cloak with a mask. I couldn’t see him at all. At least not his facial features or skin.”
Her eyebrows pinched together for a second, nodding to my wound. “Is that his handiwork?”
I shook my head. “No, I told you, I got that at the museum trying to break in. This was already done, but that didn’t stop him from what he did once he had his hands on me.”
She cocked her head to the side with intrigue and worry.
“He sliced his hand open with a dagger, Deja, like it was nothing. He left it behind, along with his belt, which of course I took both belongings with me.”
Her stare went wide.
“He smeared our blood together.”
She jerked back, surprised. “Did he say anything to you when he did that? Did he say anything at all?”
“Nothing, or maybe he did, and I just didn’t hear him. I’m not entirely sure. I was scared, but also… I don’t know… hot…”
“Hot?” she repeated. “Like aroused?”
“My body reacted to him, and now I can’t stop thinking about him.”
“Who is him?” she carefully questioned.
I spoke with conviction, “Your brother.”
I blinked, and she demanded out of nowhere, “You need to go!”
“What?” I countered, confused.
“You heard me! You have to leave!” She pushed me out of her bedroom suite. “Go home, Hennessy!”
“What? Why? What’s going on? Why are you kicking me out?”
She opened the door, shoving me out of there too. “You got to go before—”
“Too late,” Onyx’s voice stirred down the hall, right at us.
He was leaning against the far-left wall with his hands in the pockets of his hoodie.
“Deja,” he rasped in an eerie tone, “you know you’re not allowed to bring home strays.”
Her composure changed into something I couldn’t quite place.
“I’m your neighbor,” I reminded.
He nodded to my freshly covered wound. “Deja bandage you up? That’s brave.”
She scoffed, rolling her eyes at him, crossing her arms over her chest. “I’ll remember that the next time you ask me to stitch you up.”
“Are you two having a slumber party?” He gestured back and forth between us. “Aren’t you a little old for that?”
Deja answered for me, “She was just leaving.”
Without missing a beat, he simply stated, “She shouldn’t be here in the first place.”
On the same cue, she bit out, “She’s my friend.”
“Deja doesn’t have friends.” His gaze shifted to me. “She has alliances. Is that what you are?”
“Onyx, stop it!” she ordered. “You’re being an asshole.”
I couldn’t help myself. “What else is new?”
He stepped toward me with his hands still in his pockets.
I stood my ground, being straightforward. “You were following me tonight.”
He regarded me for a second, cocking his head. “Was I?”
“Don’t!”
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t pretend that wasn’t you tonight. I know it was.”
He mused, “You seem convinced of that.”
“I saw you.”
“Did you?”
“Stop it!” I stomped my foot. “I’m serious, I know it was you.” My stomach tightened. “You’re really going to stand there and try to deny it?”
“I’ve barely said a word.”
“Exactly! You watched me!”
“You certainly seem convinced.”
“I am!”
“Then why ask me any questions at all?”
“Because I want you to admit it to me!”
“Do you?”
I checkmated him, calling his bluff. “Show me your hands.”
His expression remained neutral. “My hands?”
“Yes! Show them to me if it wasn’t you.”
“Hmm…” he slowly hummed in a desolate tone.
After a moment, he casually slid his hands out of the pockets of his hoodie. Palms up, he showed them to us.
My composure stammered, lost and puzzled more than I was.
Not one wound.
No blood.
No stitching.
Nothing.
I frowned, feeling utterly defeated.
Grinning, he asked, “Are you finished now?”
I didn’t say a word.
He placed his hands back into the pockets. “You look disappointed.”
“I know you’re hiding something.”
“You don’t know anything.”
“Why are you doing this to me?”
“Doing what exactly?”
“This! All you do is bait me.”
“Hennessy,” Deja intervened. “I think you should just go home. It’s late, and you’re tired, and you’re not making any sense.”
My gaze shifted to her. “I thought you said you were my friend?”
“I am, and this is why you should go home.”
I searched her face, looking for answers she refused to submit. Instead, all I found was submission.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
Her lips parted. No words came out. Her silence was enough of an answer for me.
I humorlessly laughed. “You’re unbelievable. You’re as bad as your brother. It shouldn’t surprise me, though. You’re family after all.”