Pledge Your Loyalty (The Illicit Brotherhood Book 1) by Ashton Brooks & Gail Haris

Author:Ashton Brooks & Gail Haris [Brooks, Ashton & Haris, Gail]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gail Haris & Ashton Brooks
Published: 2022-03-22T18:30:00+00:00

Taylor

Sirens wail. Business owners rush out of their buildings with fire extinguishers. People are screaming and crying. The fear is palpable. Bodies push against me as they run past. Ash sprinkles down from the sky, along with shimmery pieces of paper. This feels more like a movie set, not reality. It can’t be.

People around me are covered in debris. Am I? I take note of how grimy I feel. My hand trembles as I slowly pick off a bloody piece of metallic streamer, some lumped-together tissue paper, and what I’m praying are not parts of the homecoming queen from my shoulder. There’s smoke and the smell of burnt flesh in the air. My heart is hammering in my chest and I’m seeing the carnage but for some reason, I can’t process it. I feel numb other than the pounding in my chest and ears.

What happened? What in the hell just happened?

There’s so much red everywhere…and on me. It’s paint. I inhale a deep breath but it does nothing to calm my nerves because the stench only reminds me that this is real. The Delta Pi Theta float with our school’s homecoming queen exploded.

My lips tremble and tears burn in my eyes but I still remain rooted in my spot. I’m watching and hearing all the chaos but I’m not seeing or listening. I’m in shock, or maybe finally having a mental breakdown. I feel something move next to my foot. A black snake slithers by and I my lips part but still no sound comes out. I finally find the will to move and slowly back away.

I turn my body away from the horrific scene. Two arms wrap around me, and I open my eyes to see it’s Kali. I’d forgotten all about her being here with me.

“Let’s get out of here,” she tells me. I nod in agreement. As we start to walk, almost run, away, I get that prickly sensation again that I’m being watched. Stopping, my eyes scan over the chaos erupting around us.

That’s when I see them. The black snakes slithering away from the float. My heart pounds against my chest. Smoke fills my lungs as I struggle to breathe and control the anxiety clawing at my throat. I look up from the snakes that are fleeing the chaos, and that’s when I see him.

Steffan.

Could I have been so completely fooled? Is this his doing? Were his lies so convincing? The lips I kissed…were those lying, murderous lips? No. A serial killer. Oh my God. Did I have sex with a psychopath? I gave my virginity to him. The best night of my life was spent with…I can’t even finish that thought.

How is it that I escaped one monster only to run into the arms of another…

When his eyes meet mine, I quickly turn my head and then begin walking faster. I need to put as much distance as possible between me and him. It takes Kali and me what seems like forever to finally get through the crowd.

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