Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 160041 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 800(@200wpm)___ 640(@250wpm)___ 533(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160041 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 800(@200wpm)___ 640(@250wpm)___ 533(@300wpm)
“Exactly what is gone?”
He rubs his lips together. “Um …”
“How did you even find us?” Orion blurts out, interrupting my interrogation.
My eyes shoot his way, and he visibly flinches. “I saw the goddamn license plate and car brand when I was driving back to campus after I received an ominous warning, and I decided to follow.”
“Goddammit,” Orion mumbles. “I knew we’d been seen.”
“What warning?” Xavier asks in shock.
I grab him by the shirt. “I don’t divulge information. You do. Now tell me the truth.”
He gulps, visibly shaken. “Yes, ma’am.”
My eyes narrow. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about a certain cop named Bob going missing, now, would you?”
“It’s compl—”
“Where is he?” I interject.
Xavier’s finger slowly points toward the blazing fire from the burner in the background, and goose bumps spread on my skin.
“You threw him in there?”
They actually burned him alive? Holy shit.
“Well, he was already dead,” Orion says, scratching the back of his head. “It was an accident.”
Damn. Now I’m almost disappointed.
“What kind of accident involves a goddamn cop?” I grit.
“He didn’t die by accident,” Xavier says, swallowing again when I look at him, and I like how absolutely feeble he feels beneath my fingers, how easily he melts from my touch. “I killed him.”
The only light surrounding us comes from my motorcycle, and as the rain pitter-patters down on his quickly darkening face, he adds, “I slit his throat, and I would do it again and again and again if it meant keeping you safe.”
I tilt my head, amused by the idea that he thinks he can keep me safe from anything at all, and killing a cop, out of all fucking things … is he fucking insane? I never thought someone would be crazier than I am, but I guess I was wrong.
“You killed a fucking cop, Xavier. Do you have any fucking idea how dangerous this is?”
“I’ll live,” he replies.
Bold of him to assume I’ll let him live.
“Do you even think before you act?” I snap. “Cops don’t give a rat’s ass about solving murders until it’s one of their own that’s pulled through the wringer.”
“I know,” he says.
“No, I don’t think you know at all. Those fuckers out there are looking for him as we speak, and if Bob over there doesn’t return to his job soon, they’re going to start a manhunt.”
“The only time Bob has ever been useful was as a pile of ashes,” Xavier retorts cooly.
My eye begins to twitch from the sheer audacity of this fucker. “They are going to come after you.”
“Let them. I don’t care.”
I lean in. “Yet you ran away like a little bitch when you saw me.”
Sweat droplets roll down his forehead, and my tongue darts out to lick them up. God, I love the taste of fear on his skin.
“I’m not afraid of the cops, I’m only…” he cuts himself off.
Fears me.
“Tell me why you killed him, pup.”
His fist balls. “Because you kissed him.”
My eyes widen. I’m completely flabbergasted and nearly lose my grip on his shirt. “You’re jealous.”
His skin flushes bright red, and he averts his gaze. It’s so damn cute that I nearly forget I was supposed to punish him for misbehaving.
“You really can’t stop yourself, can you?” I muse.
He shakes his head.
I focus on Orion next. “And you? What’s your excuse?”
Orion raises his hands. “He roped me into it.”
“That’s a lie, and you fucking know it!” Xavier suddenly yells out of nowhere.
“You’re the one who killed him,” Orion retorts.
When I release Xavier, he jumps at Orion, as if he wants to go for a second kill for today.
“You watched me do it! You snuck up on me!”
“You were making a mess out there. Of course I had to go make sure you cleaned up properly!”
Xavier points at Orion’s chest. “I didn’t ask for shit! You invited yourself into my car!”
“What was I supposed to do? Leave you dragging a corpse all over the Tartarus grounds?”
They’re right up in each other’s faces now, and I have to admit, it’s amusing watching them bicker like girls. Xavier suddenly shoves Orion, who then grabs Xavier’s throat. I’m really not in the mood to stop a fight, but someone’s gotta do it.
“Stop,” I bark. “Now.”
The knives immediately clatter onto the ground, and both their heads turn toward me.
I glance at the burner in the back and the blood staining Xavier’s shirt. I never could’ve imagined these two would actually kill a damn cop … let alone work together to get rid of the evidence.
Impressive.
But this kind of transgression is only going to make my job harder.
“You two have really made a mess here,” I say, rubbing my temples.
“It was his idea,” Orion says, and Xavier immediately shoves his elbow into his gut.
I pick up the knives they dropped and point one of them at Xavier’s throat. “I tell you to stop, you stop.”