Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 107652 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107652 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Keeping one stabilising hand on his hip, I raised the other and hesitatingly tapped his hand on my throat.
He narrowed his eyes.
I waited for him to snap my neck and get it over with.
Instead, he pushed away, letting me go and breaking my hold on him.
Crossing his arms, he looked me up and down with disdain. “Speak if you want to survive.”
My mouth was dry but, amazingly, I didn’t pass out. My heart skipped and tripped and I’d never felt so sick, but I managed to rush, “I didn’t mean anything by touching you. I felt woozy, that’s all. My options were to grab you or collapse.”
His jaw clenched as if he didn’t buy a word. “Are you here to kill me like she was?” He arched his chin at the body lying face down by the table. Ribbons of red covered the marble tabletop from where her blood had sprayed.
I struggled to stay conscious. “No.”
“No?”
Meeting his fury, I sucked in a breath. “I was taking a walk, that’s all. I have absolutely no intention of harming you—”
“Liar.”
My hackles rose, combating the brokenness of my nervous system. My voice came out stronger as I said, “I’m a lot of things, but I’m not adept at lying when my life is being threatened.”
“If you’ve been thrown in here, you’ve been trained to be the best liar possible.”
“Trained?”
He rolled his eyes. “Come on. Do you really expect me to believe you’re this clueless?” His mood turned black as Hades. “I’ll ask you again. Why. Are. You. Here?”
“I-I don’t know. I—”
“Do you wish to kill me?” he asked quietly, his gaze cutting over my face like a blade.
“I’ve told you. No!” I shouted, probably a bit louder than I should. “I don’t even know you. Why would I want to kill you?”
His head tilted, a shadow of disbelief dragging across his features. “Do you want to seduce me and have my child?”
A morbid giggle escaped. “Can you at least buy me dinner first?”
Confusion slid over his features, mingling with his fury. “If you’re not here to do either of those things then...why. Are. You. Here?”
I swallowed hard. “It was a mistake.”
“A mistake,” he echoed as if playing along with me. “How so?”
“Wrong place, wrong time, wrong everything. I was promised hot stones and cucumber facemasks, not...whatever this is.”
Black wrath etched his features; he stepped closer as if to hurt me. “Twenty fucking years I’ve had to put up with this nonsense but you...you might be the worst one yet.”
“Excuse me?”
“Sometimes I’m lenient and let some of you go, but this time?” He smiled thinly. “This time I’m going to exterminate each and every one of you because—”
“Wait!” I threw up my hands even though he hadn’t moved. “I told you! I’m not like the others. I-I didn’t come here willingly. I’m not here to kill you or bed you. I’m—”
“Whisper,” he purred, cutting me off. “Kill this liar for me.”
“Whisper?”
The black panther coalesced from the night, its hackles raised and whiskers bristling.
That’s Whisper?
Staggering away from the tree, I backed up. My system threatened to shut down, but I fought back. I fought my broken mind like hell because I didn’t want to be torn to pieces by a jungle cat. “I’m not meant to be here!” My eyes flew between Lucien’s and Whisper’s.
What sort of name was Whisper?
“I’ll admit I was greedy at the thought of a fully funded spa weekend. I let consumerism get the better of me. I should’ve known it was too good to be true, but...I’m honestly not lying.” I continued to back up, the panther stalking my every move. “Me and a few other women are here by mistake. The rest of them, you’re right. There’s a bunch who want you dead, along with those who will happily do whatever you want if it means they end up impregnated but—”
“Enough,” he whispered, rubbing his temples as if in pain. “I haven’t heard so much chattering in decades.”
“Sorry, but...you’re not listening. And I should really be given the opportunity to prove my innocence before you kill me—”
“Quiet,” he hissed, stepping toward me in familiar black clothes. His coat was buttoned only at the waist, flaring out like an emperor’s cloak. “You’re so noisy.”
The urge to apologise came again but I pressed my lips together and stayed silent.
Our conversation seemed to hover, wrapping around us in the flame-flickering dark.
Lowering his hands, he winced a little as our eyes met. Beneath his mask of rage and hate, cracks of agony fractured like lightning bolts. Sucking in a breath, his fingers strayed to his chest, lingering over his heart.
“Are you...okay?” The question fell from me, completely against my control.
He went fatally still. “What?”
Uh-oh.
Now what had I done? Was I not allowed to enquire about his health, or had I somehow hinted he was weak?