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)
Answering what was on her mind, I confirmed what she already predicted, “He pledged his alliance to marry her.”
If your soul could actually leave your body for a few seconds, then that was what just happened to Hennessy. I swear I saw it rise right out of her chest and float above us.
Trying to give her whatever reassurance I could, I explained, “You and I are the same.”
“If that were true, I would know about my family’s past.”
“It was designed that way.”
She frowned.
“Your father made sure of it. He did it to protect you.”
“Protect me from your family?”
“No,” I stated. “Protect you from the Brotherhood.”
“My mother knows?”
“The only ones who don’t know are you and my sister, I mean, she knows some, but not all. At first, it was the only reason I agreed to watch you.”
“And now?”
“You’re the reason I can’t stop obsessing over you. Their plan backfired because, baby, to watch you, to learn about you, your every movement, your every gesture, your smile, your laugh, the way you dance, the way you cook, how you talk to nature, how you can read people so easily, your beliefs, your knowledge, your beauty…” I caressed the side of her face, leaving my blood there too.
Maybe in a way, this was my ritual for her.
“Your kindness, the way you love, your innocence, your sass, your determination, your wit, your smart-ass fucking mouth, your strength, your courage, the power you have over wild animals and my fucking dick, everything about you… is to love you, Hennessy Belladonna.”
Her eyes filled with fresh tears. “That’s the most beautiful thing anyone has ever said to me.”
“If I had a soul, I’d hand it to you. Do you understand that?”
She nodded. “I understand everything.”
“Good.”
“Deja?” She swallowed hard, my eyes hardening. She knew she wouldn’t get anything else out of me after that. Changing the subject, she questioned, “How long have you been stalking me?”
Unable to resist, I leaned forward, kissing and licking those tears off her face too. “Since the second you stepped onto American soil.”
“That’s four months, Onyx. You’ve been lying—”
“I never lied to you.”
“What do you call what you’re doing right now? You think any of this is normal?”
“Since when have you ever been normal, Hennessy? You talk to nature like it talks back to you.”
“It does.” Without missing a beat, she added, “And you can hear it, or this wouldn’t be your escape too.” She gestured to the firepit.
“I come here to stop the voices, Hennessy.”
“Does it work?”
“It did until you woke them from the dead.”
“Is that what your aunt meant by the woods are witnesses?”
“Just as much as you are. Now do you understand that?”
“Yes.”
“Good,” I repeated.
If I had the power to freeze time, I’d have done it right then and there, but magic like that didn’t exist. If it did, what played out next would’ve never happened to begin with.
In an instant, my whole world flipped upside down as I knew it would eventually. Preparing for it wasn’t enough, no, not even close.
Sacrifice was never something I enjoyed watching. Especially when the victim didn’t earn it, which in most cases, they didn’t. Except none of that mattered.
There were rules to follow, and I just broke all of them, putting our lives at risk to share some of the truth she deserved to know.
I hung us on the cross that night under the full moon. You reaped what you sowed, and I understood that the moment I shouted, “Run!” to Hennessy.
But I was too late. The consequences of my betrayal caught up to us. I grabbed her hand, yanking her up with me and hauling ass, straight out of hell. The demons always caught up with me, particularly when I was dragging an angel with me.
We didn’t make it out of those woods, not when we ran into Caspian…
* * *
Hanging from a tree.
Chapter
Thirty-Six
Hennessy: Welcome to the Blood Oath Brotherhood. We’ve been expecting you.
I screamed bloody murder when I saw Caspian’s limp body hanging from my favorite tree. It was the same one I climbed the first time I’d set foot onto this property. I’d used it time and time again, wanting to know what the carved date meant.
“No!” I shouted, instantly going to help him.
His hands were tied to a branch with his mask still on his face. The Brotherhood crest had been burned into his chest, right over his heart. He was wearing only his boxer shorts. They humiliated him. He’d been whipped to a bloody pulp. It wasn’t just his back like with Onyx. It was all over his body, from his arms to his legs to all over his chest.
“What the fuck?” I exclaimed, immediately stripping off his mask to see if he was alive.
His face was the only thing that hadn’t been marred.
“Padre nuestro, que estas en los cielos,” I broke out into prayer. It was the only power I held, crying out.