Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 84072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Just a shell.
“Help,” I whispered into the void. “Just once.”
The room seemed to inhale and exhale slowly, and that was my answer, wasn’t it? Keep breathing, keep existing.
Keep wishing I was dead.
I reached for the letter opener and held it to my neck, slicing across my artery so deep that blood spurt all over the floor.
I waited for my vision to fade, for my breathing to slow.
Nothing.
The next minute, I touched the skin, and it was completely healed.
The fire raged in front of me.
“Sir?” Jasper cleared his throat. “The blood? I would say don’t be so fucking wasteful, but I imagine that would just encourage you more. You know you’re lucky to be alive.”
“Lucky.” I snorted. “I wouldn’t go so far, Jasper.” I turned. “Shouldn’t you be doing whatever you do when you aren’t babysitting me?”
He rolled his eyes. “You mean take care of the orphanage, your several companies, and make sure you don’t turn into a walking ghost? Yes, but I find it tiresome when you act like a petulant child. I deal with enough brats. Don’t make me whip you too.”
I gritted my teeth. “Touch one hair on any of their heads, and I swear to the gods—”
He held up his hand. “A metaphor, I assure you.”
Metaphor my ass.
My eyes narrowed. “I think I’ll just go visit myself then. Maybe they’ll be in the mood for a scary story about a man who can’t die.”
“You forget…” Jasper’s grin was absolutely terrifying. “You’re no man.”
With that, he left, his footsteps annoying the hell out of me as I roared out a curse and threw half the books onto the floor in a fit of rage.
The innocence of children, yes, that was what I needed.
I needed a smile that was real.
A hug that didn’t steal.
And a reminder of what my money did—and who it saved, even if it couldn’t save me from myself.
Chapter Five
Jasper
“Idiot.” He muttered it over and over again, even though it didn’t make him feel any better as he took the stairs two at a time down to the basement. “He’s getting more moody.”
“He always does,” Luis said from his spot in front of the monitors. “You know how it goes. He gets moodier and moodier until, you know…”
“How you can still blush after all of these centuries is almost offensive to me as a person.” Jasper shook his head. “I need to run an errand. Watch him. Make sure nothing out of the ordinary happens.” He paused and then looked over his shoulder. “The new batch of blood? Anything?”
Luis had the audacity to look down at his shoes rather than face Jasper head-on like a man. He adjusted his wire-rimmed glasses. “We’re trying, sir. You know how it goes. At least it’s helping her—”
“SHE’S DYING!” Jasper roared. “And I’ve given you everything as a trade. Don’t fail me or I’ll find another doctor who can do your job better, and you know what that means.”
Luis gulped and, probably without realizing it, touched his head, the same head that no longer had any silver flecks. “Y-yes.”
“Good talk.” Jasper sneered and stomped his way back up the stairs.
If he hurried, he could make it to the other side of town in a few brief minutes. He didn’t want to miss lunch.
No, if he missed lunch, she’d worry.
She always worried, didn’t she?
Or maybe he imagined it.
He grinned to himself as he walked past the orphanage. Idiot children were loud enough to wake up half the town. With a scowl, he kicked one of the balls back toward the fence, almost hoping it would hit one of them in the head, not enough to kill, though. No, that wouldn’t do. But at least hard enough to make him feel better.
He was in the black company Escalade in seconds.
Driving down the main highway as rain pelted his windshield.
And then, finally, taking the second street from the main road, down, down, deep into the forest.
Down to see his sleeping beauty.
He would not fail her.
He would kill every soul in this town and raise every grave.
Maybe he was losing his mind because for a minute there, when he’d seen all of Benjamin’s spilled blood, something had told him that he should get down on his hands and knees and drink.
Such a fucking waste.
Such a fucking idiot.
He pulled the car to a stop in front of the small white house and quickly got out. Gravel crunched under his boots as he walked to the stairs. He climbed them, each step heavier than the last, then opened the screen door at the top. It let out a small squeal as he let himself in.
And there she was.
The same as before.
And there he was. Just as angry.
A cloud of rage had taken over the helplessness.
Never again.
“Any change?” he barked to the attending doctor.
A pause, and then, “No.”