Page List

Font Size:

I nod at her. “Perfect!” I say in a matter-of-fact tone.

“And that’s going to work?” Elden asks in disbelief.

“Absolutely,” I say with conviction. I will do just about anything to get Valerie back as soon as possible, and if it means Harmony and I need to play dumb and dumber, the cheap erotic version, then so be it. Garret is convinced that the old photographer knows something, we just need to make him talk to us.

Henrick Sullivan

*VALERIE*

Themomentthedooropens again, I lunge at the old man and grab him by his collar. I feel anger in me, stronger than I have ever felt. “How could you!?” I yell. “This poor innocent soul… you’re sick!”

The man takes a step back and smacks my hand away. “You’re in no position to judge,” he says coolly.

“What you’re doing is a crime,” I huff.

“Shut up,” the son yells, grabbing my arm and tugging me away from his father. He slaps me so hard that I fall to the ground. I feel warm liquid running down my nose. Wiping it with the sleeve of my sweater, I ignore the pain and keep glaring at these two psychos.

Maybe not the smartest thing to do, but damn it, I’m so pissed.

“You purposefully keep her in that state! That’s heartless and sick.”

“YOU—” the younger one yells. “What do you know!?” He’s suddenly hovering over me, then kicks me in the stomach, making me gasp for air. Before I can recover, he steps on my arm with so much force the bones break. I scream out in pain, and momentarily, everything in front of me becomes blurred.

He’s going to kill me. Shit, he’s really going to kill me. Instead of the fear I’d expect to feel from this revelation, extreme anger bubbles and rises through my veins. I’m so angry that I’m not even scared for my life anymore.

“She can’t move on from here—and it’s all your fault!” I scream. My whole body is rapidly heating up like an oven, and my fingertips start tingling like there’s a wave of energy streaming out of them. I’m not sure what the son sees in my eyes, but something must have frightened him, because he suddenly steps back from me.

“She can’t save her,” the son grunts, this time at his father.

Think, Val, think.

Pretend. Be Odysseus.

“I did not say that.” I clench my teeth, clasping my arm to my chest, and scramble to my feet. “I said you’re insane. Heartless, and sick. But I never said I can’t help her.”

“Shut up,” the son hisses again, approaching me once more.

I raise my good hand at him. “I would advise you not to do that,” I say in a matter-of-fact tone. “Or everything is lost.”

“What do you mean?” he huffs.

Right… what did I mean? What did I mean?

“My gift heavily relies on my well-being, and on my strength.” I furrow my brows, trying not to show how surprised I am by my lie. “And you are reducing my abilities.”

“Don’t be stupid. You’re a wolf, heal yourself,” he grumbles.

“I can’t heal myself,” I lie. Well, technically, it is not a lie. My gift has unfortunately, given me the disadvantage of being weaker than others. My healing is slower too. But they don’t need to know these details. “If I heal myself, it will drain all of my energy, then I won’t be able to heal anyone else.”

The old guy looks at me, his eyes wide in horror as his gaze shifts from my face to my arm. Then he turns to his son. “You idiot!” he yells.

The young man tries to move away, but his father catches him by the collar and punches him with his fist. I grimace at the sound of it. Say goodbye to your perfectly straight nose, dude.

The man pushes his son away. “Make sure to get her back to her room, unharmed! And then send Luca to treat her wounds!”

*CELINE*

As we knock on Mr. Evans’ door, Harmony and I exchange one last meaningful look, nodding our silent agreement of the plan to each other. We take up sultry stances in our slutty outfits, with boobs and hips jutted out, and extra wide smiles on our faces so that Mr. Evans gets a good view as he opens the front door. I don’t normally wear pastel blue and the only reason I have the dress I’m wearing is because it was a gift from Lauren back in the day. I honestly forgot I even had it, otherwise, I would have already donated it with any other clothes I don’t wear anymore.