Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 51038 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 255(@200wpm)___ 204(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51038 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 255(@200wpm)___ 204(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
Declan laughs. “Like I said, Mr. Nobody. You’re not one of us.”
“Maybe not. But I’m betting the whole reason you haven’t gotten yourself out of this jail in the first place is because you can’t take Star with you. And the reason you can’t take her with you is because you need to be touching her to do that and, obviously, we’re in separate cells.”
“So?” he says. “It’s not like you’ve got any powers at all.”
“Right,” I laugh. “Well, what if I told you that I can open the cells?”
“Then do it, mortal.” Aric hisses this at me.
I put up a hand. “You’ve got nothing to do with this, so—” But before I can finish my sentence, I hear gunshots from the other side of the jail door. “They’re here! If you can get us out of the building, Declan, I’ll open the cells.”
“Open them!” Aric yells. “Open them and let me out!”
“Not you,” I say again.
Just as Declan says, “OK. I’ll do it.”
I pop open our cell as well as Star’s, and we all rush out, reaching for each other.
But the moment I touch Declan, and Declan touches Star—she touches Aric.
And we all disappear together.
5 - STAR
My eyes are bouncing back and forth between the three men as they argue about getting out of here. As if breaking out of jail is just something one does when they wake up there after a night gone wrong.
So I’m mostly concentrating on this, and not that fact that the cell doors actually pop open when it happens. But when Happy Trail Declan comes rushing at me, parts of their conversation start to make sense.
Whatever is going on here, he and Sunglasses are leaving and they’re taking me with them.
I don’t know why I reach over and touch Aric’s arm once I’m outside the cell. All I know is that I felt compelled to do it.
And now that we’re… somewhere else. Some place that is not a jail cell. I’m suddenly very glad he’s here. Because those two guys were in the middle of kidnapping me! And while I don’t know a damn thing about the one called Aric other than he’s got a giant snake of a dick inside those tight jeans of his, I understand that he’s not friends with them.
Perhaps the shaved-headed biker isn’t the best person to pin my hopes on when it comes to saving me from kidnappers, but he’s all I’ve got.
And the instant I touch him, both Declan and Quaid touch me, and then we are…
Well. Nowhere. Total darkness.
“Where the hell are we?” Aric bellows. “What the hell did you do?”
“Is everybody OK?” Quaid asks. Suddenly, a hand is grabbing me. “Star? Is that you?”
“Don’t touch me,” I say, brushing his hand away. “I don’t even know you! And I want to know the same thing! Where the hell are we? I mean, this isn’t normal! One minute I’m safe inside a jail cell and the next thing I know, I’m literally standing in the middle of nothingness.”
“It’s OK, Star.” Suddenly Aric is next to me. “I won’t let them hurt you.”
“Oh, will you give it a rest?” Quaid barks back. “Quit acting like you’re some kind of good guy.”
“Well, at least I didn’t just snatch her away from the mortal world and drop her ass off in the pits of Hell.”
“What?” I say. And it’s not a calm outburst, either. It’s actually rather shrieky. “Did he just say pits of Hell?”
“Obviously, it’s not the pits of Hell,” Quaid says. “And for your information, Mr. Motorcycle, this is still the mortal realm.”
“How would you know?” Aric snaps back. “You’re Mr. Nobody.”
“You keep saying that, and yet I was the one—”
“Wait!” I say, interrupting their argument. “Where’s the other guy?”
“Declan?” Quaid asks. “He’s right—” But he doesn’t finish. And even in the dark, I can tell he’s looking for him. Reaching blindly through the air. I know this because his hand bumps in to me, right across my breast.
“Hey!” I say.
“Oh, that’s you, sorry.”
“You just grabbed me!”
“What?” Aric growls.
“I didn’t!” Quaid says. “I was looking for Declan! Clearly, he is missing.”
“How could he be missing?” I ask. “I mean, I don’t actually understand what just happened back there, but I’m not stupid and I’m pretty sure he’s the one who got us out of the jail.”
“No,” Quaid protests. “I was the one who got us out of the jail cell. He just took us… well. I’m not sure.”
Aric huffs. “That little brown-nosing asshole had better not be missing. I’m not getting stuck in the pits of Hell.”
“We’re not in the pits of Hell,” Quaid says. “How many times do I have to say it?”
“Declan!” I call. “Are you here?”
“If he was here,” Aric growls at me now. “He would be talking. Trust me, that guy never shuts up.”