Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 112398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Two men who leered as they approached but were smart enough not to touch.
Breaths rasping from my lungs, I made it to the next street.
This one was nearly deserted, though there were two young girls on the opposite side on the corner. One had curly brown hair and was dressed in a miniskirt. The other appeared to be maybe three or four years younger than her, blond and wearing shimmery black shorts.
Both wore heels and were hugging their arms over their faux-fur jackets to provide some warmth as they waited to garner attention.
But it was what radiated from them that nearly stopped me in my tracks. What nearly made me switch direction and go straight to them.
The shouts of their thoughts.
Only they were dulled by the drugs I could almost smell running through their veins.
Sticky and sweet and vile.
But they made them no less profound.
The hiss of the Kruen that whispered the cruel evils into their hearts.
“You were destined for this. This is right where you belong. With the foul. Did you think you’d make something of yourself? You were born this way. You’re just like your mother. Disgusting and pathetic and weak. Ignorant and stupid.”
A wicked voice laughed low in the brown-haired girl’s ear. “Don’t think you’re smart enough to walk away. You owe your life to Thadeo. You wouldn’t have a roof over your head if it wasn’t for him. Your only value is your body, and he’s paying you exactly what you deserve, which is next to nothing.”
She fought them. The thoughts that fired through the distortion that blurred through her consciousness. Fought to rise above them. To break through them.
And the blonde . . . the one who seemed much younger . . . She was close to succumbing, her thoughts torrid and bleak.
“Of course it hurts. Because you deserve it. You earned it. Asked for it. Begged for it. Why do you think your mother’s boyfriends came to you? You were always a little slut. They could smell it on you. You’ll die this way, and soon. You should just put yourself out of this misery. It’s okay to welcome it. It’s the only relief you will ever find. You can’t take this any longer. It’s time. It’s time.”
I stumbled over her agony as her thoughts blistered through my mind. It was as if I could actually see her memories without touching her.
A terrified little girl. Man after man in her room. Telling her she was special. That she was pretty. That it was their secret. The pain. The prayers. The pleas.
Oh God, oh God.
Nausea coiled in my stomach, and my fingers tingled with an unbearable urge to touch. To end the battering mayhem in their minds.
It grew as their thoughts spiraled through me in a deluge of devastation.
It became impossible to turn from them, and I was moving, crossing the street without giving myself permission.
Drawn to them.
“You look like you took a wrong turn,” the older one—the brunette—tossed out as I approached. “You should get out of here before it’s too late.”
It was like she couldn’t tell if she wanted the warning to be spiteful or if she actually wanted me to run.
Except I was on the sidewalk, and my hand that wasn’t gripping the gun stretched out with the need to touch, though there was still a foot of space between us.
“Stay here. Please don’t leave. I’ll be right back,” I whispered to her through the disorder.
The screaming in my ears growing louder.
Both theirs and Pax’s.
I could almost hear Pax chanting, Hurry. Hurry. Hurry.
A vague, fuzzy innuendo that he needed me.
Her laughter was a scoff. “What, you think you’ve got somethin’ to offer me? Get the hell out of here, you clueless bitch, before your luck runs out and you end up right here next to us.”
Terror flared in the other’s green eyes when she looked up at me and saw the color of mine, and she whirled, looking around as if she were searching for someone else.
Pax had been here.
I knew it. Could feel it stronger than ever. The pull that tugged and compelled.
I felt torn, fractured by the instinct to stay and help, and the need to go.
Hurry.
“I’ll be back,” I promised again, pain leaching out with the words before I moved deeper into the darkness that reigned along the side of the dingy building.
The sensation grew with each step.
As danger echoed and chaos thrashed.
Pax.
He was near. I could feel his severity. The sharp cut of his aura.
Keeping my footsteps light, I hurried in its direction, trying to orient myself to the bedlam that flashed through the dense, hazy air.
Hostility and malevolence.
Then I stumbled when I saw the outline of someone up ahead in the distance.
A dark silhouette that rippled with a twisted sort of violence. Everything about him was sullied. No goodness to be found in the slick of immorality that dripped like sludge from his being.