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)
It’s as if the thought of death no longer seems the end goal, rather … life, granted by her, seems to drive me, and it’s so odd.
I’ve never felt the raw need to stay alive, let alone to crave someone so much it could make me want to do anything to be with her, and it makes me feel elated.
Is this how normal people live?
I snigger to myself and pen down some more words, but a bunch of students marching by, gossiping, draws my attention away from my words and toward the rose maze, behind which the Tartarus House lies.
Peculiar.
I stare at the maze, wondering if something is up, when a bunch of cops stroll by, pulling me from my thoughts.
I clear my throat as I glance over my shoulder at the crowd slowly gathering near the Delta Nu Sorority, and I lower my pen as my jaw slowly begins to drop.
Sunny Reed is surrounded.
I jump up from my bench and approach the crowd, but from the corner of my eye, I spot the dean and Xavier doing the same, pushing through the crowd until we all reach the front.
My face turns ghostly pale when my eyes connect with the cop grasping Sunny’s arm.
Atreus Foley.
What the fuck?!
“Sunny Reed, you’re under arrest for multiple counts of first-degree murder,” he growls, pulling out his cuffs.
Everyone gasps in shock, even me.
How did he get out of the Tartarus House basement?
Shit. Shit. Shit! This wasn’t supposed to happen.
“Get your fucking hands off her!” Xavier growls, reaching for something in his pocket.
All the cops are on high alert and draw their weapons.
“Xavier. Don’t,” Sunny warns, glaring at him, and he immediately lowers his hand again.
But the look on his face is like thunder split open the skies.
I’ve never seen him this angry, this … unhinged. It’s like he’s ready to burn down the world.
“Sunny?!” Felix roars, pushing through until he’s reached Atreus and Sunny. “What’s the meaning of this, Foley?”
But Foley completely ignores him as he and his cop buddies focus on dragging Sunny through the crowd. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to talk to a lawyer for advice before we ask you any questions. You have the right to have a lawyer with you during questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish. If you decide to answer questions now without a lawyer present, you have the right to stop answering at any time. Do you understand?”
She nods without showing a single drop of emotion on her face. “Yes.”
The people push and pull until finally the road is cleared and Sunny is paraded down the campus like a certified criminal. In broad daylight. Walked to the gallows.
“Sunny?” I mutter, but when her eyes connect with mine, the sorrow within them takes me aback.
No. No. No!
This can’t happen.
I drop my notebook on the muddy ground as tears well up in my eyes.
She lost.
But she … she was my only reason to stay.
She can’t leave. She can’t leave me alone with the world.
I won’t survive.
The dean holds Xavier back, while I feel like a lost lamb floating in a world far too big for me to endure.
Out of nowhere, two hands wrap around my back, a warm head resting against my spine.
“It’s gonna be okay.”
“Cecelia,” I mutter, my body crumpling beneath her.
I turn around and sink into her, despite my large frame, curling into her shoulder so I don’t have to show the strangers around me that it wounds me to the point of tears.
I am lost.
Without Sunny, there’s no light to show me the way.
Sunny
My black-and-green hair clings to my cheeks as I stare at the wall in front of me, wondering how much time has passed since I was put in this cell.
Hours? Days? Who knows, I’m not keeping track.
I’m far too busy plotting the demise of the final pawn in my game.
Too soon. Too soon.
It happened too soon.
My fingers twitch, blood boiling beneath my skin, cracking the surface open.
I’m itching for violence.
Just one more.
The door handle is jiggled, and a wicked smile slowly forms on my face.
Could it be?
A familiar set of bright, icy-blue eyes stares back at me through the narrow gap, and my heart skips a beat.
Atreus.
The flicker of hatred burns brighter than ever the moment he steps inside. Not for his insolence but for the fact that I might still have a chance after all at seeing this through.
“Hello, Miss Reed.”
The mere sound of his low timbre sets my body on fire.
Fuck.
Even now, I still want to jump his bones.
The door is pushed open farther, and two cops step inside with tasers and guns at the ready, as they probably wish to take me somewhere else. All it does is make me laugh.