Share
Chapter 191
Kaugnay na kabanata
Violets and Ash Chapter 192
Violet’s P.O.V.Delaney—I mean Alice, raised her eyebrows. Her lips tipped up in joyful surprise.“Naughty, naughty Violet. Why didn’t you tell us you got your memories back?” she sang, “So, how’d you do it?”A layer of ice encased my beating heart. It smothered the fear, the unending terror that I was likely on my way to meeting Dominic and left me only with the sharp sting of betrayal. Was there anyone I could trust? Delaney had been my friend, one of the first people at Darkling to actually show me kindness.…and it had all been a lie.“Why the fuck would I tell you that?” I snarled coldly.All of the people I’d met since moving here flashed through my head. I knew I could trust Hael. He’d proven that more than once, and I felt the rightness of it deep in my soul, but what about everyone else? What about Olive, or Sylvia?Even Beta Macon and Carmen, Sylvia’s assistant, had their own ulterior motives.Maybe Hael truly was the only one I could trust. Alice whistled. “Oh, touchy. I w
Violets and Ash Chapter 193
Violet’s P.O.V.“Hands behind your back, sis.” She cooed. Her voice turned sharp when I refused to cooperate. “I could always remove your hands. Dad would forgive me eventually.”I clasped my hands behind my back.The wire was so tight that it immediately cut into my wrists, sending a million needle-like pricks into my flesh. It instantly silenced the voice of my wolf, pushing her presence down beneath a mountain of pain.When she backed away I snarled, “What, no gag?”Alice tapped the knife against her chin, thinking for a moment. She snapped her fingers, her heart-shaped face lighting up. “Scream and I’ll slit Olive’s throat. How’s that for incentive?”The slow thud of my best friend’s heart rang in my ears, and I knew that Alice wasn’t bluffing. There was something else weighing on my mind, a question that I didn’t hesitate to ask.“Did her Mom even fall down the stairs or was that just another piece in your game?”Alice spun around slowly, halfway to the kitchen. That knife of her
Violets and Ash Chapter 194
Hael's P.O.V.“Talk about trying to find a needle in a haystack.” I muttered past the consistent throbbing in my head.An hour had passed of me helping Cole sort through a mountain of footage. There was now a drum circle taking up residency in my skull, each beat pulsing behind my eyelids and across my temples. Fuck, I didn’t know how he’d been doing it for so long.Scratch that. I knew exactly how Cole had managed to survive the week staring at a tiny television screen. The mountain of empty coffee cups, cans of caffeinated soda, and half eaten boxes of cereal, which he only requested to get under Violet’s skin, surrounded us. It was like a trash bomb had gone off, sparing only the center of the room.I gave him as much time as I could manage before leaving to meet up with Marcel. We sat in the living room of my mother’s estate, which I’d chosen over my father’s considering I still couldn’t stand the place.A stack of files lay sprawled out on the coffee table. One for each and every
Violets and Ash Chapter 195
Hael’s P.O.V.Mykelle pressed forward, her jaw set. “I’m coming with you, and don’t try and fight me on this. I owe her a life debt.”Just as I was about to agree with her, the front door clicked shut. It was a soft sound, quiet as it slithered down the hall. I tilted my head, “Did you leave the front door open?”“I was in such a rush I didn’t think to close it.”Marcel narrowed his eyes at the doorway. “Someone is here.”There was nothing we could do but watch as Holden—Holden fucking Cartier—sauntered into the living room. The sight of him had my hackles raising. I couldn’t stand the prick on a good day, but this feeling was different. It wasn’t loathing, but unease.Something was off about him, and it wasn’t the blood soaked t-shirt he had on or the rifle halfway concealed behind his back.His eyes swept the room nearly a dozen times, twitching as they flicked over the three of us. I took in the barrel of his gun and instantly recognized the style. A twinge of fear settled in my st
Violets and Ash Chapter 196
Violet’s P.O.V.I knew we were screwed when Delaney’s car roared to life.The dull squeak of the garage door lifting was the last thing we heard before the rumble faded into the distance. Blood continued to ooze from my thigh and the stumps where Olive’s fingers had once been. Just the whisper of movement sent white hot pain sparking through my leg, so strong that the shock of it had me trembling.Olive had lost a good amount of blood, but her enhanced healing at least closed the wounds that came from her missing fingers. They were still raw and red, the bone slightly exposed. Until we got that silver wire off of her, she wouldn’t be able to heal any further.“Violet,” she rasped.“What, Olive? What is it?”Her head lifted in my direction and my heart clenched painfully. Sweat coated her brow, clinging to her hair and smearing what remained of her makeup. Somehow, she managed to tilt the corner of her lips up in a weak smirk.“Your half-sister is a fucking bitch.”It was stupid. So st
Violets and Ash Chapter 197
Violet’s P.O.V.I was standing in the middle of a raging inferno, unable to breathe or think. Unable to do anything but watch as my best-friend bled out onto the floor, and as the man who had hunted me the majority of my life held a gun to Mykelle’s head.Familiar eyes stared out at me through a white mask. It was the plastic kind that covered the face from forehead to chin. The bad man cocked his head, and somehow I knew he was smiling.“Violet, let Alice go.” His voice was soft and ever so quiet, almost condescending in nature.Hating myself for it, I did as he commanded. Alice shot up off the floor, her face a satisfying shade of blue. Blood coated her throat, seeping from a thick gash. Had it been just another inch and she’d be bleeding out onto the floor alongside Olive, her life-blood soaking into the shitty carpet. I stood from the floor and began to dig the wire out from my hands, wincing from the pain.“Is this any way for sisters to act?” The bad man tutted in a parental ton
Violets and Ash Chapter 198
Violet’s P.O.V.The eyes I stared into were Elijah’s, the same man who had raised me these past ten years, but his face was no longer his own. Now that I had seen the mask fall, I’d never be able to go back to who I’d once been.It tore my heart in two to know that the man who had written those terrible letters to my Mom was also the man who had bought me my first cookbook. Elijah—it had been Elijah all along. Behind those soft eyes and his kind smile was the darkest kind of monster.No matter what I felt for him, I would not let him take me. If that meant playing into his sick fantasy, then so be it.I inched my way across the carpet, as far away from my vomit as I could get. The stench alone would make it impossible to speak without gagging. Elijah hovered over me, still on his knees with his hands out in that placating gesture. The sight of it made me sick.“I don’t understand how this is happening. You—You had us both. You had me at the cabin and my mother…” There was no need to f
Violets and Ash Chapter 199
Violet’s P.O.V.Dominic stood from his crouch and offered me his hand. While I wanted to bite him and tear a few fingers off as revenge for Olive, I didn’t. I swallowed the disgust that rose from this never-ending pit in my stomach and accepted his help.He didn’t let go though, not for several seconds.“I know you likely have mixed feelings for Hael, but I promise you this is for the best. You trusted me once, and I know that trust will return in due time. Still I feel the need to apologize.” His shoulders fell as he sighed, those dark brows furrowing.“Apologize for what?” Such a stupid question, but what didn’t he have to apologize for? He ruined my family’s life. That didn’t just call for an apology. It called for fucking vengeance.There was such genuine guilt on his face that my heart cried out in response.Dominic ran his hand down his jaw, clenching it as he spoke. “If I hadn’t been so absent, I would’ve noticed the signs. Hael was manipulating you this entire time, just as At
Pinakabagong kabanata
