Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 73423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 294(@250wpm)___ 245(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 294(@250wpm)___ 245(@300wpm)
Aurora’s face turns white as snow, and for a second there, I believe she might faint. “Why?”
My owner cocks his head. “You know why.”
He flicks his fingers, and the guards immediately spring into action, grabbing Aurora and hauling her into the mansion.
I follow suit, not letting her out of my sight.
“You’re keen to get to work,” my owner muses as he glances at me over his shoulder.
I merely respond with a grunt because my eyes can’t stop focusing on the guard’s hands snaked around her wrists, his nails digging into her skin. Nails I’ll be ripping out of his fingers once I’m free of this chain around my neck.
The house is filled with dirt, shards of glass, and blood. Stained with violence. Violence I caused.
Aurora’s body seems to grow more rigid with every step she takes inside, her footsteps softer, weaker, as though her knees are about to cave in on her. All of her pain mounting into one single glance across her shoulder, one single stare straight into my very fucking soul.
I swallow, but no matter how hard I try, the lump in my throat refuses to go down.
I walk toward the shot-through windows to keep an eye on what’s happening down below, but my eyes can’t help but zoom in on a broken piece of pottery on the floor right in front of it with crushed pink flowers all around it.
Aurora pauses in the middle of the living room. Right in front of the piano. The same piano I found her under.
Her whole body begins to quake, her eyes skidding back and forth across the bloodied floor, as though she’s marking every spot where I shot down one of her father’s guards. All the bodies have been cleaned, but the evidence still remains … inside her mind.
“That’s far enough,” my owner barks.
Everybody stops. All eyes are on Aurora, but hers only find mine in the dark.
The air is filled with electricity. Rage bubbles in each and every one of these men’s hearts, waiting to burst out into the world like a volcano while they watch her gaze at the ruins of her past.
Her eyes finally find the piano, her fingers touching the keys without actually playing.
Suddenly, Raymond grasps her hand, whisking it up to inspect the glove. “You’re gonna play with gloves on?” All the guards laugh.
She jerks her hand away. “Don’t touch me.”
“Or what?” he jests back. “You afraid someone’s going to tear a hole in your dainty little gloves?”
“Stop,” my owner interjects, and everything suddenly grows quiet. “I don’t have time for this fucking nonsense.” He beckons Raymond. “You, at the front door. The rest of you, stay on guard.”
The guards immediately disperse, leaving just us three.
Along with a very tense atmosphere.
“What are we doing here?” Aurora asks, her lip quivering. “Or is this just so you can revel in the pain you’ve caused?”
My owner laughs. “Don’t be ridiculous, girl.” He gets close to her. Too close. “No …” When he grabs a strand of her hair and tucks it behind her ear, it takes every ounce of my self-control not to lash out and rip off his fingers one by one. “I want you to give me what you promised me. The account.”
Her eyes widen, and she accidentally hits a false note on the piano with her thumb. “The account?”
“The money, girl,” my owner hisses, his grip on her face tightening. “The PIN to the secret account.”
“I-I don’t know.” She stumbles over her words, and judging from the panicked look on her face, this is not what she expected would happen. “I only know where he keeps his documents, not the actual—”
“I don’t want to hear you stammering. Go find my fucking money,” my owner growls.
This is going to escalate. I’m sure of it.
“They’re in his office,” she says.
“What are you waiting for?” my owner hisses at her, and he shoves her at the door. “Go.”
She throws glances at me before walking into the office across the hallway, and I follow them, but my owner blocks the door with his hand firmly planted on the doorpost. “Not you.”
My eyes narrow. “She can’t be trusted.”
Aurora’s eyes flick to mine.
I know she heard.
I can feel it in the way she looks at me, her eyes filled with betrayal. But I have no other choice.
He cocks his head. “You think a meek girl like her could kill me?” He snorts. “You’re just as ridiculous as she is.”
“This place is a honeypot,” I say.
He pauses right before he’s about to close the door on me.
“Let me guard the office,” I add.
After a while, he opens the door again and points at the window in the back of the office. “Fine. Sit.”
In the corner. Like a dog.
My nostrils twitch, but I ignore the growing need to punch his face and move to the back of the room, exactly where he pointed, where I lean against the wall and keep a keen watch on him.