12 Hours Novels & Stories

Two days, seventeen hours left on the offer. Seven hours left on the lock. Enough.

Chapter 11: Twelve Hours The encrypted phone screen glowed in the dark like a threat I couldn’t escape. Twelve hours. That was all the syndicate had given us before they would drop the edited video that would destroy Callan’s life and mine. My hands were still shaking as I set the phone down on the nightstand.

Daniel nodded as if he had expected that. “Forty-eight to seventy-two hours is a lot of hours.” I gave a weak laugh. “It is.” “How many exactly?” “Forty-eight to seventy-two.” He gave me a look. “Mom.” Lucian’s mouth twitched. I sighed. “Two to three days.” Daniel considered this with the grave seriousness of a person negotiating with time itself. “That’s not fair.” “No.” “They should have a faster machine.” “I agree.” “Or a truth button.”

How long are you-’ ‘2 hours,’ She interrupted me, and my eyes widened in shock. “2 hours?!” I screamed. “En, what's wrong Alicia?” Adrian asked, unplugging his earpiece. I waved my hands at them and then lowered my gaze. 'Yeah, 2 hours,’ Helen answered and I hissed sharply. 'No.' I said, then continued, ‘ I can't give you-” ‘How about an hour, Hun?’She pleaded. 'No.' I rejected it without a second thought.

She panted in shallow, ragged gasps, chest heaving, tears still falling silently. Jax crouched beside her, checking the timer on his phone. Eleven hours, fifty-eight minutes. He let the seconds tick by in silence, stroking her sweat-damp hair almost gently while she trembled and sobbed. Fifty-nine minutes… The timer beeped. Only then did he speak, voice low and steady. “Twelve hours.” He cupped her cheek, thumb wiping away a tear, his touch deceptively tender. “Record broken, Lila.”

While everything I'd been holding in came pouring out. We stood there for a long time. Long enough for the tears to slow. Long enough for breathing to even. Long enough for something like strength to return. Not much. Just enough to keep going. Just enough to take the next step. "Four hours," I said finally, my voice muffled against his chest. "I'll sleep for four hours. Then I'm back up. Back working. Back searching." "Six hours," Lucian countered, his tone firm but loving. "Four isn't enough. You need real rest. Real recovery. Six hours minimum."

"Maybe less." I looked down at the digital clock on my dashboard. "We only have six hours total." "Then we move fast," Marcus said.

He murmured gruffly, his gaze surprisingly gentle, yet holding my droopy ones intently. “Why would you think that, I barely even slept” I murmured, my voice sounding barely above a whisper. “What kind of law in this advanced universe states that sleeping over ten hours is considered ‘barely slept’?” he demanded, his tone oozing off playful sarcasm. My eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. “What??!... Ten hours?!” I yelled and he nodded with a shrug. “Ten hours, eight minutes and thirty four seconds to be precise” he read from the luxurious Graff Diamond watch strapped around his wrists.

She is feeling as if her body turned into jello. Kai and Bella are breathing heavily. "I heard that the effect of this drug lasts for twelve hours" Kai shared with Bella. Bella, whose eyes were closed with exhaustion were sprung open with shock. "What? Twelve hours? Its already morning. How many more hours do you think we might keep this up? At this rate, i am sure you will be bored of me by the time the drug wears off" she mumbled tiredly. She is deliciously sore, and at this rate she is going to sleep for two days straight.

Eighteen hours. The compound was ready. I was going to make sure it stayed that way.