Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 111353 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 557(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111353 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 557(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
“Of course it’s not— Hey!”
She snatched it up and carried it into the room, leaving me to chase after her.
“Stop,” I cried. “It’s from Ronin and I don’t want it. I’m taking it straight to the trash.”
Eris snorted as Ursula set the gift on the bed. “Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t throw it out without knowing what it is and if I want it.”
What the hell was wrong with these people?
“Open it, or I will,” Sauda said. “And then give it to me.”
I huffed out a heavy breath. My head was aching from all the excitement of that day, and my leg was about to shake off from the non-stop vibrations of the back-to-back-to-back calls I’d been getting since my announcement hit DeadDrop. I checked a little while before, three hundred and twelve missed calls from the total four hundred and seventeen... were from Lucifer.
“Okay,” I barked. “I’ll open it if you five give me some privacy. You can even have it.”
“Sweet,” Kama chirped. “Let’s see it then.”
Stomping over, I tore off the bow and lifted the lid. Leaning over, I took one look inside—and screamed.
“Yeah,” Eris muttered, leaning away. “I’ll pass.”
RONIN
Charlotte’s screams echoed through the room.
“You gave her Pravat’s, Bruno’s, and Kazuya’s heads in a box?!” Tristan bellowed, throwing the whole dartboard set at me. “What the fuck were you thinking!”
I sent it flying away from my head. “I was thinking that there’s nothing women love more than the heads of their enemies! I even had brand-new gold-plated pikes picked out for her next gift!”
There was a faint thud from the mirror. That would be from Charlotte fainting in a room full of demonesses who could’ve caught her, but didn’t even try to.
“You fucking lunatic! How about next time you try hellflowers!”
“What the hell’s a woman going to do with a bunch of plucked weeds?!”
CHARLOTTE
Groveling 101
Step One: Gifts That She’ll Love & Shows You Care
Step Two: Grand Gesture
I woke the next morning on the floor.
Ursula and the others saw fit to leave after Ronin’s gruesome present was delivered, but they also saw fit to leave me unconscious on the floor while on the way out the door.
I pushed up on hands and knees, groaning at every ache and creak in my bones.
My phone went off. Fishing in my pocket, I saw the screen, then picked up on the third ring.
“Hell—”
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?!”
I yanked the phone from my ear, cringing.
“You stupid, ignorant, little fool! How dare you!”
Struggling to my feet, I looked around but didn’t see the present. One of the princesses must’ve taken it away. “No,” I finally said as I climbed into bed. “I don’t know what I’ve done because you’ve been holding your cards so close to your vest, you never bothered to tell me if I can or can’t tell people about the hallow search. Ooooh,” I hissed. “I guess I chose wrong.”
“You fucking—”
“That’s enough of that,” I sliced off. “Why are you so angry in the first place? You’re still in this game. All you have to do is find the hallows before anyone else does, and then I’ll make you my partner in the creation of a new age,” I crowed. “But of course that means you’ll have to do... legwork.”
“You think you won.” His voice was a rough, insidious growl. “You think you’ve done something other than making a massive fucking mistake. That power is mine, and I never needed Adora to get my hands on it. You will give me the All Hallows, Charlotte Hunter. The only question is how much torture and suffering I’ll put you through before you do.”
Click.
I shook my head, tossing the phone away. “That man really loves an exit line.” Flipping over, I gazed up at the canopy. “But not everything he says is a lie. From our first conversation, he told me that he wasn’t all-knowing, and he just keeps proving it. If he had a clue, he’d know his threats have no effect on me now, right, D?” I smiled—a sad one, already stained with tears. “I hear you’re in heaven now. I hope it’s as nice as advertised. And I hope even more that you arrived as your true self, because the real Dora will always be the best Dora.”
I paused, swallowing hard. “Sorry I haven’t spoken to you before. I wish it was because I didn’t know what to say, but the truth is I did. I did know what I wanted to say to you, but I didn’t because I was afraid it wouldn’t help. That my final words to you wouldn’t lessen the pain one iota.
“And it hasn’t.”
I gasped, fighting against the crushing agony in my chest. “What is talking to the ceiling supposed to do? It doesn’t change the fact that you’re not here.”
It took me a while to stop crying. Even longer to drag myself out of bed. By the time I did, the gong had long since rung signaling breakfast. My appetite was shot to hell, but I needed to get to class. Without Ronin as my excuse, I couldn’t afford to be marked absent.