Page 42 of The Heart of a Villain

Aileen contacted him via my phone, and it wouldn’t take long for Arson to track the island and come here with the whole elite.

An ending to this war is near.

However, the outcomes have changed.

Now, my first priority is no longer punishing Lachlan.

It’s making sure Aileen will be protected at all costs and doesn’t end up in the crossfire of my creation.

I guess I was doomed from the beginning.

For she became my obsession and, in this, vitally important to me, achieving something no one has before her.

Touching my heart.

CHAPTER FIVE

“The Beast took the Beauty, because he thought her love would break the curse.

And the villain?

The villain wishes he’d never done it in the first place.

For her love and acceptance threatens my darkness.

And if I don’t have my darkness… what do I have?”

Rush

Rush, 11 years old

My feet are almost soundless on the grass as I race through the forest, using all my strength despite pain ricocheting through my every cell.

The pack on my back rattles as I speed up my pace when a roar from behind me echoes in the air and sends chills down my spine. Yet it fills me with more determination, my gaze zeroing on the massive tree in the distance.

“Come on, Rush!” I order myself, ignoring the burning sensations in my throat, and leap forward, my nails digging into the tree’s bark and probably drawing blood as I wrap my legs around it. I quickly go up, up, up… just in time before the beast sinks its claws into me.

Without stopping, I shimmy upward until I reach the leaves and choose the strongest branch to sit on, smirking at the huge dog barking loudly, scraping its nails over the wood and trying to get up, but failing and then growling.

“You failed. Again.”

He barks several times, seeming to glare at me, and a chuckle slips past my lips.

“Too bad.” I twist the bag to my front, snatch out an apple, and then bite into it, welcoming the sweet taste on my tongue while my stomach grumbles in relief.

I haven’t had anything to eat in two days, since the storms made it impossible to search for food or to fish. I was holed up in the cave, trembling in the cold, as my overused blanket barely holds any warmth around constant humidity.

Sitting in my cave for days drove me insane, though, and even drawing something didn’t bring any relief, just turned my dreams into nightmares that never stopped for a second.

They always included Rafael’s scream and…

The apple crunches in my palm at the anger slowly rising within me, and I shake my head, despising thinking about my twin who gave up on me.

I waited and waited for some boat to show, where my brother would run to me and soothe me in his arms, making all this suffering worth it. But instead, I starve and fight for survival.

Rafael probably lives like a prince surrounded by our wealth, with George and William watching over him.

While I have to hunt every single day and live in a cave, trembling in fear, as so many wild monsters roam the island, ready to kill me.

---