Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 129571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
But my room ...
The images made me cry all night. She’d painted me as Persephone and Chase as Hades. It took up the entire wall and faced my bed.
In the mural, Chase held me, this God of the Underworld. His long black strands ran down to his back and formed into huge crows with red eyes. Darkness swirled all around him. A three-headed dog sat at his feet. Drool dripped from their fangs. A crown of bones lay on his head.
Instead of my black waves, Viv painted me with long auburn hair that flew in a breeze. Numerous beautiful flowers covered the top of my head. A few birds peeked out between them. I bit into a pomegranate fruit so red it looked like blood. Seeds and juice spilled from my lips and onto my white gown that waved in the wind.
The sun glowed bright on my side, while a gray cold withered behind Chase.
Is this really how she sees us? I don’t even know if that’s good or bad. He’s the God of Death, and I’m the chick he tricked and kidnapped.
I shoved the thoughts out of my head and forced myself to fall asleep.
Although warmth flowed in the decaying mansion, our designer wing froze my bones and made them ice cold. I wrapped myself in several blankets and tried to get all of the images on the walls out of my head.
What’s going to happen to Chase?
I fell asleep with that question churning around in my head.
My dream held Viv’s mural image. I strolled in a beautiful forest and picked the loveliest flowers—blushing pink roses, royal blue daises, and a sea of tulips that swayed back and forth just like that body of liquid.
It was in that ocean of flowers that Chase appeared before me, his hair flowing behind him and forming the shape of bird wings at the tips.
I stopped with the flowers and stared. “Who are you?”
He evaporated into a black mist. The scent of fire floated around me. Then, he reappeared in front of me, a cloud of smoke that solidified into a gorgeous man. “Who do you think I am?”
“I don’t know.” I blinked. “Who are you?”
“Your husband.” He caressed the tops of my breasts. Fire raged in my flesh. No one had touched me like that before.
I licked my lips. “I’m not married.”
Darkness stormed within his eyes as he leaned toward me, his breath a soft whisper against my lips. “Who am I?”
A chill swarmed around my body, but my flesh still blazed and my thoughts grew hot and sweaty.
He nipped at my bottom lip. A spark of lust hit me. “Who am I?”
“Death.”
His voice darkened into a needy murmur. “Tesoro.”
“Jasmine!” Vivian’s annoying scream ripped through my dream. “Come on, Jasmine! Wake up!”
I opened my eyes and immediately realized both of my hands were buried between my thighs. My wet fingers lingered within my panties; nails and tips slickened from arousal.
“Jasmine!” She banged on the door. “Wake up! If we don’t hit the tube by 8:30 then we’ll be snookered.”
I rubbed my eyes and yelled, “Snookered?”
“Totally fucked. It’s London lingo.”
“Says who, Charles Dickenson?” I rolled over and covered my head with my blanket. “And what the hell is a tube?”
“It’s the train.”
“Then say train.”
“They call it the tube.”
The door slammed open. My bed moved as she jumped on and tapped my head.
“Bollocks, Jasmine! You can’t sleep all day. Don’t be a stonker!”
“Listen,” I removed the blanket and faced her, “I don’t like you. Get out of my room.”
“You love me.”
“Not in the morning.”
“Do you like the mural?” She wagged her eyebrows.
“No.”
“What?”
“It gave me horny dreams about Chase.”
“Hmmm. Should I make him uglier?”
“No you should paint the whole wall black.”
She frowned.
I rubbed my eyes. “What?”
“Nothing.”
I sat up. “What?”
“I love him.” She gripped my blanket hard and squeezed the soft material. “I actually love him.”
I gave her a weak smile. “Chase?”
“No, of course not.”
“So Troy?”
“No.”
“O-kay. I’m drawing a blank.”
“I’m talking about Dad. Well, my or your dad.” She rolled her eyes. “I love him, but ...”
My or your? Fuck. We’re not related. This is getting harder and harder to keep up with.
“I don’t want to talk about Benny right now.” Sighing, I laid back down.
Her eyes watered. “I love him.”
“Sure. We all love him. Or at least I did. I don’t know. He’s a monster now, and can I even love a killing creature like him?”
“I love Dad”
“You said that.”
“I just ...”
“What, Vivian?”
“Troy is talking serious.”
I let out another long breath. Vivian couldn’t even say it, what was on all of our minds. We all understood the problem. It was Benny. The difficult part was the solution. Did death have to be the answer? Troy believed it represented the only way. I couldn’t even think of an answer, while dealing with my heartbreak.
Vivian interrupted my thoughts and whispered, “Do you agree with Troy? Do you think we should—”