Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 66334 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66334 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
"Did you like it?" Kyrous asked, his tone dark and provocative.
I swallowed, having a feeling she was referring to Morrigan. I glanced at Dion, but he seemed oddly disinterested in who she might be talking about. A sudden tap on my window made me jump and turn around.
I hastily wiped the fogged glass and found myself staring at another masked person. The figure outside stared back, their mask an eerie visage with eyes stretched into points and a wide, sinister grin. My heart pounded in my chest as they lifted their hand and waved what looked like a hook. The ticking continued as a constant reminder of our dwindling time.
Kyrous leaned closer and gripped my shoulder, turning me back around. "Ignore them."
They tapped on the window again, as if urging us to hurry.
“The way out of this couldn’t be clearer,” Carol stated.
She was right. It meant someone on this tram had to die. It was horrifying and unfair, but no one could say otherwise. My instinct to protect kicked in, amplified by the Helios, dulled, but still coursing through my system. I couldn't let it be one of us, one of my friends. The idea of sacrificing someone from our group was unthinkable. They must have felt the same way because a clear divide formed, each side staring at the other.
Lana snorted. "I don't know why you’re looking at us. No one over here is dying for any of you. Sorry, not sorry."
Roger's face twisted in anger. "So, we're all just supposed to self-sacrifice for the lot of you?"
"No," Dion responded, "Only one of you has to."
I was a little taken aback by his directness, expecting it from almost everyone else but him. I looked at the faces of the people opposite us, lingering on the older man whose name I hadn't had a chance to figure out yet, and then Carol's. My gut told me she would be important later on.
"Carol should come with us," I declared softly.
"What?" One of the girls sputtered.
"I agree," Mel seconded, backing me up right away.
A mix of shock and anger rippled through the other group, but I held firm. Carol’s eyes met mine with a steady gaze and she nodded, her expression unreadable.
Roger shook his head in disbelief. "You can’t just decide that!"
"We just did," Kyrous replied coldly. "This isn't a democracy."
The ticking grew louder, each second pressing on us like a vice.
Outside, another tap came from the other side of the tram. If we were surrounded and time ran out, it would be a bloodbath in here. As if sensing the direction of my thoughts, Ky suddenly stood. "If you can't choose, I will."
Roger stumbled to the furthest corner of the tram. "Now, just wait a minute."
Ky kept advancing, the man understandably terrified, but that wasn't who he was going for. He grabbed hold of the older man by his shirt and lifted him from his seat.
"Ky!" I yelled as the others in the man's group demanded that he release him. Even Carol politely asked for him to be spared.
"No way did we almost die saving that guy for you to toss him overboard," Lana declared.
"That's precisely the problem," Brody pointed out.
Ky dragged the man closer until his mask was nearly touching his face, staring down at him. "You're weak." He tightened his grip. "And your weakness almost took Sunshine away."
I only then realized he was still pissed that I had helped him. The older man stammered an apology, but Ky continued to drag him up the aisle to the door. As if sensing his approach, it slid open. I jumped up, calling out, “Please! Let him go. I'm fine. I'm here right now. I want him alive."
Ky kept walking, not replying. Mel and Lana tried their luck as well, getting the same result.
“You could help,” Lana griped at Ciaran.
He shrugged nonchalantly. “He needs to do this. Just be glad he didn’t start slicing and dicing everyone on board.”
“Yo, Vetis!” The masked figure, a guy, with the hook appeared in the doorway and greeted Ky like they were old friends.
"How does it feel being on the other side?”
"I've got the toll for you.”
“I see that.” The man said, stepping closer.
With no warning, Ky shoved the older man back down the aisle and grabbed the guy who’d come to collect, dragging him on board.
“What the fuck are you doing, Vetis?” he bellowed.
They struggled, but the element of surprise had given Ky the upper hand. He took the hook away from him and flipped it around, hooking the curved tip through the bottom of the guy’s jaw. He screamed in pain, grabbing at the hook as if to dislodge it.
“Oh, oh, what the fuck,” Roger rasped, sounding as if he were about to vomit.
Ky grunted and lifted the guy up, forcing the hook deeper.
It tore through flesh and bone until the tip emerged where the man’s nose was, splitting it apart. I grimaced and looked away as blood poured from the wound and he began to make the same sound someone did when they used mouthwash.