Lahat ng Kabanata ng Promised to the Panthers: Kabanata 41 - Kabanata 50

Ezra stilled.My eyes shot over to Joy and narrowed. She was smiling as if what she asked was the funniest thing ever, and I guessed for her, it probably was. I looked at my father, but he was acting like he hadn’t heard.“So?” Joy questioned when I didn’t answer. “Do they—?”“Shut up,” I hissed at her.Her mouth dropped open and then slammed shut. “Excuse me?”“You’re excused.”Joy’s eyes shot over to my father. “Are you going to allow that brat to talk to me like that?”“Joy—”I pushed my chair back as I stood. Planting my hands on the table, I leaned forward and smiled at her. “I can talk to you anyway I want to, because you are not my mother.”She gasped. “I raised you!” She pressed a perfectly manicured finger against her chest. “I gave up on everything I wanted to do to raise you! I bought you clothes and I—”I scoffed. “Buying me clothes and dragging me to little tea parties is not raising me,” I yelled. “I don’t remember all that much about my mom, but I knew she—”“Your mothe

“I don’t like this plan.”“Too bad,” Obsidian muttered from his spot on the couch. “It’s the only one we have.”I glared at him as I tugged on the hem of the jacket. “I’m sure—”“Silence, Ezra,” he growled.I hissed at him, but obeyed his command for about two seconds. “I don’t understand why you’re doing this. You’ve never gone to these things before. Y—”A vicious snarl from Obsidian cut off my words. “I’m doing this because you don’t have the skills needed to catch the bastard who’s threatening our—”“Like you actually give a damn.”“—mate and Devrim. He could…” Obsidian’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. I turned, curious to find out what had gotten that reaction out of him.I wasn’t expecting it to be Devrim.Devrim took the last two steps and paused by the couch. He wasn’t paying any attention to us because he was busy fidgeting with his shirt.“I never expected you to look so good in a tuxedo,” Obsidian rasped.He is attracted to another male? Devrim raised his head an

“We don’t split up,” Obsidian rasped as the car pulled to a stop. “If we do have to split up, we do it in pairs of two, with all of us knowing where the others are going.”“Sounds good,” Devrim muttered, staring out the window. “There are even more people here than there had been the last time we attended.”My eyes darted between the three of them. Out of the three of them, Obsidian looked the most nervous. It looked like he wanted to bolt, and I didn’t blame him. Ezra and Devrim had been here before, and they knew what to expect. And Devrim was right, there were a lot more people than there had been the last time I attended the ball. Devrim got out first when the door was opened, followed by Ezra. I scooted to the edge of the seat, but Obsidian didn’t move.His hands were curled into fists on his thighs as he stared out at the crowd. Swallowing, I leaned forward and carefully placed a hand on his knee. His body jerked and his eyes snapped over to mine.“Obsidian, I don’t know what’

I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that they knew my mother. And apparently, Obsidian personally knew my father, which didn’t make sense. The only thing I could think of was that we’d been told lies at school. I was snapped out of my troubling thoughts when a hand was placed on my thigh. Swallowing, I turned my head to look at Obsidian. He was frowning at the stage. My eyes darted to Ezra and then Devrim. They wore similar expressions as Obsidian. I’d been so caught up in my thoughts that I hadn’t paid any attention to what was happening. Someone was performing on the stage and the lights had been dimmed. My eyes darted over to my father’s table where he sat talking to a man I’d never seen before. All the tables were occupied, I realized. The hand on my thigh slowly slid down to my knee. Fingers brushed along the hem of the dress until it located the slit, and then slid underneath the material. I held my breath and waited. Slowly, his hand slid up my thigh, paused, then sl

“Why did you do it, Vanya?” she cried. “Why did you let him kill me?”I shook my head and tried to explain things to her, but no matter how hard I tried, the words just wouldn’t escape. My eyes dropped to her stomach. Her skin was suddenly being ripped open, and Charlene was clutching at the organs that were threatening to spill out. Blood pooled at her feet, soaking the carpet. She made a strange sound, which made my eyes snap back up to hers, but they instantly dropped to her mouth. Her lips were being sewed shut as I watched. Stitch after stitch. Then everything suddenly went black. It only lasted for a few seconds before lights suddenly blinded me. I raised my hand and shielded my eyes as much as I could. Slowly, the lights dimmed until I could see clearly.Charlene stood a few feet away, her tear-filled eyes accusing. Behind her, a man stood with his face hidden in the shadows. He laughed as he stepped forward, closer and closer to her. His laughter was cut off abruptly as he