I'll Have Two Number Nines Novels & Stories

After Isak's old flame, Julia, came back to town, she made a bet with me: he gets nine chances to choose between us in life-or-death situations. The one he abandons for the ninth time has to walk away. I agreed. The ninth time, a single phone call from Julia was all it took for Isak to leave me on the side of the road again. "Drive! Go!" Isak's voice was sharp, laced with a panic I'd never heard before. I clutched the gunshot wound in my stomach, blood seeping through my fingers, staining my white silk shirt.

"This is your eighth divorce, isn't it?" I tugged at the corner of my mouth. I could no longer connect the person in front of me with the Vivian in my memories. "I came today to make things clear with Mom. "You're free now, Vivian." Vivian froze. Her hand trembled slightly at her side. She stared at me in surprise, then quickly returned to normal. "Playing hard to get, are you? Too bad that doesn't work on me. "Fine. You said it yourself. Don't come clinging to me again."

Even though we had married and divorced nine times like a game, I was still the ex-wife. The night grew quiet. The wind outside howled, as if carrying my words far away. After a long silence, Jake lifted his head, attempting an explanation. "Divorcing you… It was my fault. But I couldn't let Carla bear the shame of being involved with a married man." I took a few irritated steps back, unable—and unwilling—to understand. Carla couldn't bear the blame, so that meant I deserved to be divorced nine times?

“Look sister, read this.” As Jasmyne read, the text described how the number nine was indicative of the Beast, how when the numbers 666 were multiplied by any number from one to nine, they always had a way of returning to nine. It also explained how the number nine was equal to the letter I, the letter of the English alphabet representing the human self. Nine months for a human to be born, nine bio-systems to keep the body running. Nine. Time and time again. “But if nine is the number of Satan, what’s that got to do with humans and their ego?” Jasmyne asked.

At the very end, James placed my hand into Elijah’s. “Kid, she’s yours now. “But remember this. “She’ll always be the daughter of ninety-nine men.” As we exchanged rings, a thunderous roar echoed across the sky. Ninety-nine helicopters formed four giant words overhead. [Congratulations, Newlyweds.] When I was thirty-two, I gave birth to twins—a boy and a girl. Outside the delivery room, ninety-nine white-haired old men packed the entire hallway. The head nurse almost thought a mafia war was about to break out inside the hospital.

One flame. Then two... Then all nine. The temperature dropped instantly. Evelyn wrapped her jacket tighter. "What are they doing?" The stranger looked up. "They're counting." "Counting what?" He didn't answer. Instead, he stared at Adrian's brass key. The engraved numbers were changing again. 9... 18... 41... 1... And now... 2 Lucien's eyes widened. "The Second Cipher has already chosen its location." Adrian frowned. "You mean we're supposed to go there next?"

There was only one of the stray we didn’t find, or so it seemed. “You can go,” Nine said to the man beside me, sending his goon away. “Can’t watch your own back?” Six asked. “Or have you gotten that lazy?” “You’re alive,” Nine said, his expression blank. “I wasn’t expecting that after your ocean dive to save your pet.” “You of all people should know I don’t die that easily.” Nine’s gaze hardened. “No, you always have had a way of avoiding death. It’s almost as if you’re a cat.” Nine’s arm rose, his gun aimed at Six. “Let’s see if you’ve reached your ninth life.”

After Melody cheated and returned to the family, I started posting online every day. [Is cheating addictive?] [Just how thrilling is cheating, really?] [When a woman cheats, does she feel worse for her kids or her lover?] … I tagged her school in every post, making sure each one appeared right in front of her students, her colleagues, and even her lover. Everyone told me to stop making such an ugly scene and be the bigger person. Only Melody stood up for me. "I'm the one who did something wrong. It's only fair to let Tony vent a little." That lasted until my 99th post. Then Melody stormed in as if she'd lost her mind and smashed my computer. "Anthony, are you ever going to stop? I alr

He shook his head, "go ahead, pack, we'll go to a clothing store first." "Okay." Nikki, you are nine hundred thousand steps closer to being a millionaire. I did a mental victory dance and stood to my feet to do as he had said.

"I see it now. I was arrogant. I thought you'd never leave me, so I kept hurting you. And kept hurting you. And kept hurting you." He pushed himself up on the pillows with the last of his strength and reached for my hand. "Ada. Give me one more chance. Stay. I can't do this without you." I moved my hand out of reach. "Julian. Ninety-nine times wasn't enough? How many more chances do you need?" Julian's fingers closed on the sheet. Tears dropped onto the floor. When I turned to walk out, his mouth moved as if he wanted to say something else. But he didn't.