Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33526 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33526 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Ella’s eyes water and she shakes her head.
“She’ll want us to break you. That’s right, little girl. She’ll make us fuck you up in unimaginable ways.”
Ella swallows. A lingering hope inside me wants her to slap me and run. But that glimmer is decimated as she glares at me, conviction blatant in her warm eyes. I’ve seen that look before; pure fucking determination. “I’ll do whatever is necessary. Let’s take that bitch down.”
Chapter Seven
River
“You have her under control?” Celeste asks as she rolls sheer nylons up her legs.
“Yes, she’s neutralized for now. Bitch knows if she steps out of line, I’ll walk her like a dog.”
Celeste laughs as she approaches me, wrapping her arms around my neck and attempting to kiss me. I remove her arms and step back, wracked by a shiver of disgust. I’m gonna have to bleach my skin later.
My fingers twitch with the urge to wrap around her scrawny neck and watch the light leave her eyes. “We don’t do that anymore, Celeste.”
Celeste flinches as if I’ve slapped her. Wish I fucking had. Bitch deserves it.
Celeste adjusts her reaction quickly, moves to her dresser, and spritzes herself. The putrid stench of her perfume penetrates the air like poisonous gas. “She better be prepared for David. If she embraces me, I’ll have to take extreme measures.”
The fuck she will. If Celeste has any idiotic notions about laying a hand on Ella, I’ll kill her. Nothing will stop me from putting the bitch down like a rabid dog. “She’ll be ready. Don’t you worry about it.”
Celeste turns to me and smiles. It’s fuckin’ weird that the bitch looks uglier than usual. When someone smiles, their face lights up, but with Celeste, a smile is impending doom lurking on the horizon.
“Good. I expect to see your handiwork at dinner tonight.”
Celeste gestures toward a dress bag on her bed. “Ensure she gets that. I expect her to wear it to the ball. David explicitly told me it’s his favorite color.”
I nod and grit my teeth before I say something to fuck everything up. Lifting the garment bag, I sling it over my shoulder and storm out before she says another damn word.
My heart races, and I attempt to calm its frantic beat as I walk down the excruciatingly long corridor to Ella’s room. Fuck, I hate this house. When we get out of here, I want to move into some place smaller, newer. The only good thing about this house is that it’s nestled in the forest, away from the world outside. That part I like. Maybe we could get a house in a forest far from here. It would be nice to be surrounded by nature instead of the carnage of human indecency. The only three people I want to see for the rest of my life are Alaric, Asher, and Ella.
I don’t knock on Ella’s door, barging in without warning. I don’t want any barriers or rules with her, but to achieve that, she’ll have to trust us, and that shit takes time.
She sits on one of the wingback chairs nestled in the room's corner, her eyes cast down as her hands glide over her bare legs. I’d do anything to remove her anxiety. I want to see her happy, but that won’t happen until we get rid of that decrepit bitch.
“You ready?” I ask, stripping every ounce of emotion from my words. It’s the only fucking way I can get through it all—make myself a robot. It’s that or the clown, my coping mechanisms.
Ella looks so defeated, and I’m not about to add to it by showing my trepidation and worry.
“Sit,” she demands, pointing to the bed where Alaric and Asher are seated.
I raise an eyebrow. “Whoa, who died?”
My boys look like shit. Alaric looks worse than Asher.
“Sit down,” Alaric orders.
Asher and I have made peace with Ella being involved, but it’s still a point of contention for Alaric. He’s petrified of her seeing what he’s capable of, worried she’ll run from him rather than Celeste. But it’s better that she understands. If she’s going to be with us, she needs to know who we are, every single part, not just the bits and pieces we show her.
I plop down on the bed and stare at her. “What’s up, baby girl?”
“I want to start the training now, the three of us. I don’t want Celeste to have the power,” Ella blurts. I open my mouth to speak, but she holds up her hand. “Stop. I know what you’re about to say. I understand what’s required to convince Celeste you’ve made me a pawn in her game.” She turns her gaze to Alaric. “I’ll put on a good show, make it appear like you’ve broken me. Don’t worry. I understand I’m expected to be nothing but a trained dog willing to do any trick Celeste deems fit. But I need you to fuck me without the show. I don’t know why I want this, but I do, and since the three of you have twisted me up in so many ways, you’re going to give me this.”