Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 90268 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90268 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
“With the power of the Devereaux crest, my family lineage, for which we would not be gathering here tonight, I vow my oath to you: Speak No Claim, Hear No Promises, See No Temptation.” He slid the knife through the palm of his hand and immediately grabbed mine, lifting it in the air. “The ritual of silence, I accept Hennessy Belladonna into our secret society. For she is the legacy of the Belladonna family, one of the original thirteen families.”
Passing the blade to my uncle, he proceeded to do the same thing, and then Onyx repeated it. I swear I wasn’t intending on this to happen, but my blood wouldn’t be poison after all…
It’d be liberation.
The council members gathered, whispering something into the night. I couldn’t help it. I stared up at the sky, locking eyes with the full moon as crows gathered above us. As soon as I saw them, I knew everything would be alright, or at least, as alright as it could be, given the circumstances.
I wasn’t mad about my father’s infidelity. I wasn’t going to pretend to know what happened in their relationship to make my father stray. It made sense why my family never wanted to speak to me about him. I wondered if it was from the promises he made to save me and Deja.
Is that why they ordered Onyx to watch me?
He was protecting Deja from the truth she still didn’t know, and I’d never tell her. It wasn’t my place to.
I wonder what would happen if she found out my father was hers too?
It made perfect sense why I felt this immediate connection to her, and the truth was, she felt it too. She was the first and only person to welcome me to the Graves Academy.
It all made sense now. Every last second of the past four months of my life came down to this moment.
Fate always had a way of catching up to you.
No matter what, my destiny was here whether I wanted it to be or not. That was the thing about the universe: the pendulum always came back around.
With luck.
With money.
With power.
With anything…
You couldn’t hide from the truth. Eventually, secrets come out into the light.
Cocking his head to the side, the council member who was holding a knife to my face grabbed the dagger out of Onyx’s grasp and announced, “On this day, Hennessy Belladonna is one of us.” He sliced his hand, grabbing mine and mixing our blood before continuing with…
* * *
“Welcome home, Hennessy.”
Chapter
Thirty-Eight
Onyx: Welcome home, Hennessy.
To say I thought it’d end up this way would be an understatement. I never imagined it’d be like this. If Hennessy proved anything to me, it was that she really did have no fucking sense, but at least more lives were spared. My father coming to my defense wasn’t something I ever thought could or would happen either.
It was a whirlwind of what the fucks and emotions I didn’t know were possible to experience, especially when it came from my own flesh and blood. I didn’t know where my father and I would go from here, other than it had to be better than where we’d been for the past twenty years.
Once we were back inside the estate, Caspian was seen by the doctor in the banquet hall. It was the farthest room from Deja’s, and the last thing we needed to happen was for her to find out the truth. She was the reason I was following orders in the first place. I never wanted her to find out who her father truly was. She knew about their affair or at least she assumed, despite my father’s attempts, rumors and myths were carried out for life.
She already had a fucked-up life with barely remembering our mother and having an arranged marriage. Those were enough crosses for her to bear. The rest could be kept a secret. I trusted Caspian to know that too. It wasn’t like they could stand being in the room together in the first place, and I was grateful for that fact. They hated each other. It had been that way since we were kids.
As soon as I could, I helped him sit up, apologizing, “I’m sorry they punished you because of me.”
“Not everything is about you.” He half smiled, waiting for Jones to drive him home.
“In this case, it is.”
Hennessy appeared, sitting beside him on the couch. “Looks like you’re going to have some wicked scars there, Caspian. Were you jealous of Onyx’s scars? You had to go get your own?” She smirked. “Don’t worry, I have some medicine I can make to help you heal faster. Now, can I ask why they whipped you too?”
With confidence in his expression, he remarked, “Don’t worry, Amazon princess, you fucking owe me, and trust me, I’ll collect when the time is right.”