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)
“What are you writing?” Lucifer demanded. In a blink, he was in her face—snatching the book from her. “You know what it all means, don’t you? Don’t you! You know who the hallows are. You know what we need to create the All Hallows!”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three heads whipped to the door, and I meant three—Mother included. She could hear.
And I had a lot to fucking say!
“How could you?” I screamed, snapping her attention back to me. “You killed my sister for a fucking nursery rhyme! You—”
Bang! Bang!
“Charlie?” Tristan shouted through the wood. “Are you okay? Can you hear me?”
“Ugh. Are you certain she’s even in there?” asked a lazy and distinctive voice.
“’Course, I’m fucking sure! I can smell her scent.” Someone roughly yanked and rattled the doorknob. “Fuck! Why won’t this open!”
Something moved out of the corner of my eye.
I turned my head... and landed on Dora just as she sat up.
“D-Dora?”
Head down, my sister stared at the knife in her chest.
“Dora!” I shrieked—laughing a loud, jubilant sound as joy and relief blew away my grief and rage. “You’re alive! I can’t believe it, you’re okay. Sis, can you hear me?” I asked, fighting anew in my binds. “Just hold on, okay. I’m going to get you help so— Wait! Don’t!”
Grasping the knife hilt, she yanked it from her body and tossed it aside.
My speech died in my throat.
“Charlie?! Charlie, what’s wrong? Why did you scream?” Tristan called. “Dammit, Belphe! Stop fucking standing there and get her out!”
Their words reached me from far away. Lucifer and Mother’s heated argument didn’t touch me at all. All I could see was the knife’s blade... covered in black blood.
Dora raised her head.
The last thing I saw before Ronin’s magic winked me out of the room... was Dora’s ruby-red eyes.
Chapter One
Itwiddled about the dining room, setting up the decorations, laying out the dinnerware, and arranging the birthday dinner.
What luck it was that Dora’s graduation was scheduled for the same day as her birthday. Now we had double the reason to celebrate, and my boss had double the reason to float some extra shifts my way.
Thunder boomed, swinging my attention to the bay window. Outside, dark, ominous clouds loomed overhead—promising to wash this special day under a river of rain.
I clicked my tongue. “Shame it’s going to rain today, but at least we’re celebrating indoors.”
“Tch, darling, wake up.”
I was calm as I turned to face the head of the table.
“It’s not the rain that’s going to turn this day sour.”
I gazed into Lucifer’s mirthless smile, and then down on the cake resting in the middle of the table—waiting to end up on a frog demon’s head, and not in our bellies.
“Oh,” I murmured—calm as I could only be in a dream. “This is that night.”
The loathsome, smirking son of a bitch rolled his eyes at me. “Why is it the thoughts of you mortals are always so tedious? As we speak, your sleeping body is being protected by men more powerful and handsome than you’ve ever seen, and instead of walking into a sweaty, romping threesome, you’re here pointlessly dreaming of the past, and raking over all the ways you could’ve changed the outcome?”
“Is this why you’ve come?” I moved down the table and began fixing the balloons to Dora’s chair. “To remind me that I’m not safe from you anywhere? Not even in my dreams?”
“No, darling. That’s not why I’m here.”
“Good,” I breezed, “because I wouldn’t give a flipped shit about that. What I do care about is—oh, yeah—where the fuck is my sister!” Snatching up the cake stand, I flung it, cake and all, at his head.
It sailed through and reappeared back where it was like it never left that spot at all.
Lucifer didn’t even blink. “Where is Dora?” he repeated. “You mean to tell me you still care about her fate even though heaven rejected my offspring, and left her to the fate of a demon?”
“What are you talking about? Of course I care! She’s my sister! I came here to bring her back home, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
His face changed so suddenly, I would’ve missed it if I blinked.
“Good,” he hissed, his eyes darkening so deep, I flinched. “This wouldn’t be an effective threat otherwise.”
“Threat? What threat?”
Lucifer gritted his teeth, snarling as he leaned back in his chair. “So here it is. Thanks to your mother’s love of monologuing, you know what we’re trying to achieve. We’re opening the gates of hell,” he dropped. “The fucking problem is that since the power of the All Hallows was used to close the gates, it will take the same immeasurable power to open them. That’s where you come in.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you!” he barked. “Do you see any other fucking living Avos witches around here?!”
Anger and irritation were coming off this angel in waves. He really, really, didn’t like that my ancestors got the jump on him, but honestly, it was a relief to see him drop the fake, smiling darling act. Seriously, was there anything more cringy than a bad guy pretending to be a gentleman?