Total pages in book: 187
Estimated words: 184867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 924(@200wpm)___ 739(@250wpm)___ 616(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 184867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 924(@200wpm)___ 739(@250wpm)___ 616(@300wpm)
“You know, I think you’re holding your own pretty well,” he says.
“You think?”
“Yeah. You’re tenacious. And even in the face of danger, you still smile.”
My lips part, but I don’t know what to say.
“You don’t trust me, yet you’re lying right beside me,” he says.
A blush creeps onto my cheeks. “You asked me to.”
“Regardless of the odds thrown in your face, you stay gentle. Humble.”
Now I’m really blushing like crazy. “Thanks. Gentle, though? I don’t know.”
“Nonsense,” he says. “You just don’t see yourself the way I do.”
He does have a way with words.
“But you will … someday.”
I smile. “I appreciate the sentiment. I just wish I could see it that way.”
“That’s because of them, isn’t it?”
He sits up, looking at me intently, which makes me want to look away.
“If I could do something about it, I would. But my hands are bound. I can hurt Caleb, and I might be able to slap Ares, but that’s about it. I couldn’t ever kill him, though.” His hand drifts through the fountain water.
“Why?”
He snorts. “Believe it or not, Ares saved my life.”
Blaine
Ten years ago
I sneak into the casino and hide among the crowd, hoping to find some unwitting people too busy playing their chips to notice me. I wait until one of them strikes a pose and laughs, then snatch away a chip lying on the table.
But when I turn around, I bump headfirst into a security guard.
I drop the chip.
“Oh no …”
He grabs my collar. “What are you doing in here? Where are your parents?”
“Not … here?” I reply.
I don’t want to tell him my whole life story.
Suddenly, he drags me with him. “You’re coming with me.”
“I’m sorry, I won’t do it again!” I yelp, but the guard ignores me and drags me all the way through the main hallway and into a remote area where a single door is blocked off by a dozen guards.
We pass through it, and he chucks me inside.
In front of me is a desk with a menacing-looking man sitting behind it. A boy my age sits in the chair in front of it with a piece of paper he was obviously reading from before the guard interrupted.
“This little dude was caught stealing chips from guests,” the guard says.
“Was he now?” the man behind the desk says, clasping his hands.
“Do you want me to punish him?” the guard asks.
I squeak. “Please, don’t.”
“No. I will do it myself,” the man replies.
The guard leaves, closing the door behind him, and the man behind the desk stands and approaches. I crawl away into a wall as he towers over me with narrowed eyes, his face reminding me of death.
“Please, it was just one chip. I just needed some cash.”
“To do what?” the man responds. “You’re too young to work at your age. You should be in school. So why are you here?”
“My parents can barely make a living wage. I’m just trying to help,” I respond.
The boy in the chair turns around and looks at me, his piercing gray eyes making this dark room feel a little lighter.
“You should know better than to steal from one of the richest men in town,” the man in front of me barks.
Suddenly, he pulls out a knife, and my eyes widen as I hide in the corner.
“Please, don’t hurt me!”
A chair is kicked over.
The knife comes down.
But it isn’t my flesh that it stabs. It’s the boy’s back.
He cries in pain but maintains eye contact with me, and I shudder in place against the wall, desperate to prevent imminent death, while guilt floods my veins.
He saved me.
“Ares!” The knife is pulled out, and the boy groans. “What were you thinking? I could’ve killed you!”
“Don’t … hurt him,” Ares says, turning around to face his father. “Please.”
His arms are open wide, but all I can focus on are the droplets of blood rolling down his back.
The man in front of us points the knife at me. “He is a thief. He deserves—”
“Pain?” Ares quips.
Fuck. I didn’t want him to take this for me. I didn’t ask him to.
“You …” The man narrows his eyes. “I would’ve killed him if it wasn’t for you.”
“Don’t. Please,” Ares begs. “He won’t do it again.”
“No. He won’t.” The man wipes his knife on his pants. “Because you won’t ever let him do it again.”
What?
“This boy is your responsibility now. Make sure he never, ever tries to steal from me again,” the man growls. “If he does, I’ll make both of you pay, and it won’t just be another scar.”
“Yes, Father.”
His father?
His own damn father stabbed him with a knife, and it doesn’t even faze him?
The boy turns his head to me, and the look in his eyes is all I’ll ever need to know.
Just one act of righteousness and my life has been forever chained to his.
Crystal
Present
He lifts his hand and gazes at the droplets of water running down. “Our lives are entangled by a debt I can never repay.”