Total pages in book: 193
Estimated words: 184001 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 920(@200wpm)___ 736(@250wpm)___ 613(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 184001 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 920(@200wpm)___ 736(@250wpm)___ 613(@300wpm)
And neither should my father’s other son.
If it all goes wrong, Thorin will blame himself, Khalil will blame himself, I will blame myself, and Aurelia will blame herself. None of us will be blameless, but at least united, we can all share this too.
“Okay,” he mumbles finally. “We do this.”
My heart thuds against my chest. “The only question left is how do we do this?” I ask to distract myself from the nervousness trying to fester into terror. “We need to get back on US soil without Isaac being aware of us. A decade ago, he had cops and federal agents under his thumb; who knows who else he’s brainwashed into his cult since then. Someone with enough pull to have the airlines monitored no doubt.”
“Um…” Aurelia raises her hand. “I can help with that.” When we blink at her, she scoffs. “I’m rich and famous, remember? I guarantee I have more pull than Isaac.”
“Are you forgetting that your uncle is in control of all of your assets?”
“Uh…no? Believe it or not, I have my own connections outside of Uncle Mars. Someone who tried her best to help me once. Before I knew the monster my uncle would turn out to be.”
“And she’s willing to stick her neck out for you again?”
Aurelia nods. “I know she will. I uh…” She begins to fidget in Khalil’s lap, twisting her fingers into a knot until he wrestles them free and kisses her palm to give her courage.
“You what?” he whispers. “It’s okay, Goldilocks. You can trust us.”
“I um…I called her. A few months ago. After the avalanche when the sheriff came for us.”
It’s an effort for Khalil, Thorin, and me not to react.
“Why?” I ask, remembering to keep my tone gentle.
Aurelia makes a gruff sound of frustration. “I don’t know! Because I wanted to prove to the sheriff, and that fucking smug therapist, and I guess myself, that even if I had a way out, I wouldn’t take it?”
“And if you changed your mind later, the sheriff was supposed to get a message to her, wasn’t he? That’s why he insisted on the daily check-ins.”
Aurelia nods with her gaze on the floor.
“Okay, so how fast do you think your contact can arrange a plane?”
Aurelia looks surprised at how quickly we’re moving on, and Thorin laughs when he sees it. “You could have left at any time,” he tells her. Aurelia narrows her gaze like she doesn’t quite believe him. “We weren’t teaching you how to hunt and survive out here for shits and giggles.”
“We’re not saying we wouldn’t chase you,” Khalil amends when Aurelia still looks skeptical. “It’s not in our nature to let you get away. You’d just have to be faster. Smarter.” He trails the back of his fingers down her bare arm. “But we’ve been working on that too, haven’t we?”
Aurelia looks shell-shocked, and we’re quiet as we wait for it to finish sinking in. For her to remember everything we’ve demanded of her these past months in an effort to make her less dependent on us or anyone for that matter. I see the moment it clicks; the tension coiling inside her muscles suddenly unravels and her body relaxes as she covers her face with her hands and then drops them again once she’s collected herself.
“Let’s call the sheriff,” she says.
KHALIL
Alone in my bedroom, I stare at the old and worn photo of my parents. I never allow myself to pull it out too often and only ever give myself a second to look at it—to reaffirm the memory of their faces—before I tuck it away under my mattress again.
It’s been ten years since I’ve seen or spoken to them. I know they’re alive, but they can’t say the same for me, which makes the possibility of facing them again that much harder.
Will they forgive me? Will I ever forgive me?
The four of us spent the night coming up with a plan to draw Isaac to us and making it as airtight as possible. The plan is to lure Isaac to our hometown in Six Forks, Nevada, since he’ll be less likely to suspect the trap if he thinks Zeke is just coming home after all these years in hiding. It’s only when I’m alone in my bedroom that I realize what it would mean if we succeed. We wouldn’t just be free, my parents would be too. Free from the pain I’ve caused them all these years.
I’m still staring at the photo when the door creaks open, and I know it’s her without looking up. She pads softly over to the bed and sits next to me. I can smell the sweet scent of her soap from her shower and feel her arm brushing mine as she peers down at the photo in my hand.
“Are those your parents?”