Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 126522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
The sickening crunch is all I need to feel the pure satisfaction pulsing through my veins. The moment his head is dangling from my fingers, the serrated knife clatters to the ground and echoes through the room. Marcus and I don't waste any more time on the prick as we turn to leave, determined to get back to Shayne before it’s too late.
30
SHAYNE
A piercing cry tears from my chest as loud, pained sobs get caught in my throat. “Stop,” I beg Levi as he draws me in close to his warm chest, holding me so damn tight. “Stop. Please. Just let me go. It hurts too much. I’m not going to make it.”
I cry out in pain, the agony too much for me to handle as my head spins. My body is weak and I barely have the energy to fight him off. “This is going to hurt,” Levi tells me as Roman and Marcus take off into the dark woods. “We have to get you out of here. There’s a suture kit and antiseptic in the back of the Escalade, but I’m going to have to move you.”
I shake my head as my eyes go wide, fearing the very thought of being moved right now, but he doesn’t give me a chance to argue as his strong arms tighten around me and he takes off at a sprint toward the Escalade.
Blood pours off me in waves, coating his warm skin and making it harder to hold onto me. I cry and groan with the jostling movements but he ignores every last one of them, his only mission to get me to the safety of the car.
“Hang in there, little one,” he tells me, my weight doing nothing to hold him back. “I’m gonna make the pain go away.”
“Please,” I cry into his wide chest as stray leaves and branches whip past our faces. “Just make it stop.”
“We’re almost there.”
He runs past the beat up car that I was brought here in and the fresh memory of being trapped in the trunk darkens my soul. A soft whimper pulls from deep within me but before I get a chance to linger on the thought, Levi is adjusting me in his strong grasp and opening the trunk of the Escalade.
He lays me down as though I was the most precious jewel and instantly climbs in behind me. He tears his shirt over his head and doesn’t waste time ripping it into long bandage-like strands. I keep my gaze locked on his tattoos as he starts wrapping them tightly around my wounds, desperate to control the bleeding.
He keeps his focus, not daring to slow his pace and before I know it, my world is going black.
A sharp jostling has my eyes springing open and I wake to find my head cradled in Levi’s lap, his hands pressing down to keep me still as Roman straddles my thighs, keeping me pinned. The pain comes rushing back in waves and I scream, thrashing to get him off me.
“Keep her still,” Roman grunts to his brother as Marcus hits the gas, sending the Escalade hurtling down the dirt road, hitting every fucking pothole and bump imaginable.
The momentum of the car moving has something rolling into my side and I glance down to find the head of my attacker, his open eyes wide with fear. A terrified shriek tears from deep within me and Levi grunts, grabbing the head and tossing it into the back seat of the car. “Fucking hell,” he mutters, clenching his jaw, but the thought is gone the moment Roman adjusts himself on top of me, sending a wave of searing pain shooting through me.
“Let me die,” I beg of him, staring up into his deep obsidian eyes, knowing with absolute certainty that a quick death would be a million times better than having to suffer through the horrendous pain of living inside their world.
Roman shakes his head, regret sweeping through him. “You can’t die before you even know what it means to live.”
“Please,” I whisper as Levi hovers over me, his eyes full of terror as he holds me down. “Just put me out of my misery. I can’t do this anymore. I’m not going to make it. Just let me die.”
Marcus hits a corner, racing toward the highway and far away from my hell as Levi grips my arms just a little bit tighter, demanding that I stay here with them. “We’re not going to let you go,” he insists, the desperation in his tone filling the car. “You still have so much to discover. I know you’ve seen the worst parts of what it means to be with us, but you haven’t even scratched the surface of the good stuff yet. Just stay with us, you’re going to be alright. I’m not going to let you go.”