I hit him again. And then again. And then again and again and again, screaming in fury as I do so, until the rock is so soaked and saturated with fresh, wet blood, it slips from my grasp and rolls away.
Blood drips from my hands and the sliminess of it coats my face. I taste it on my tongue; salty and metallic. My breath heaves, heart thundering as I look down at what I’ve done. Elijah is unrecognizable. His features have become nothing more than a bloody, pulpy mess of tattered flesh, mutilated muscle and broken skull. One eye protrudes from its socket and nearly all his teeth are gone. The right side of his face is crushed in like a deflated ball, his nose torn away and one ear connected only by grisly strands of cartilage.
I know he’s dead, and now I have become a monster because killing Elijah was easy. I am happy he is dead. I feel no remorse or guilt or anything other than a surge of satisfaction that I’ve taken him out of this world. I woke the caged beast dozing in the pits of my soul, and now it is a part of me.
Turning back to Jax and Rey, I see only one still kneeling, twisting to stare, eyes horrified above the gag in his mouth. Beside him, the other boy lies supine on the forest floor, a clean bullet hole through the back of his head, blood spilling into the earth. My heart twists and struggles before bursting apart as though it has been squeezed in a vise.
I don’t know why, but all I can picture is my crystal water glass smashing on the floor the night I argued with my father about marrying Wyatt. Like the glass, whatever walls I had once placed in my mind to protect myself, now come tumbling down, shattering into millions of fragments never to be whole again. I can almost hear them splintering, a tinkling of glass with a cascade of glittering shards.
I feel my soul flee, no longer able to deal with the anguish slicing though my body like razors. The grief; the mist of a demon; swirls and grows until it fills my veins. Monsters and demons, it is all I have become.
The darkness swarms inside me, devouring every inch of my being, consuming me and changing me and dragging me into its black abyss.
And I welcome it. I loved him and now he is dead. I want to be dead too.
Acknowledgement
Ok, two-thirds of the way done this thing and so far people are still reading! Now the pressure is on to make the third book amazing, especially after I've left everyone hanging at the end of this one. Sorry, not sorry. Now, who is Team Jax and who is Team Rey?
I again need to thank my cover artist, Katie Rasinski at KTRazz Designs for making the book look stunning. No one would buy it if it weren't for the awesome cover.
Of course, thank you to my family for being my biggest supporters and being the first ones to buy each book, even though some of you have already read it four times and seen at least three different endings.
I also need to thank a few friends; the TL/DR FB group chat (or whatever the chat name has changed to by this point) for all of your enouragement, insipiration or general celebratory emojies. Also, as promised, thank you Mac Casey for your expertise and helping to prove me right. I also want to thank everyone who has shared the book, word of mouth is the best marketing and means the world to me!
Thank you to my five Gamble ambassadors for putting word out there about the series, I hope you enjoy this second one.
Lastly, thank you to all my readers and fans. I promise not to make you wait too long for the ending of this trilogy.
Now, I beg; please consider leaving me a review on Amazon, Goodreads, Facebook or anywhere else. It costs you nothing but a minute or two of your time and becomes invalueable to me. As an independent author, I don't have the luxury of a fancy publishing house with a large marketing budget and experienced staff to make my book a hit. I rely on you, my readers and fans, for every review, share, social media shoutout or whatever other support you can give!
About The Author
Kathryn Jacques
Raised in Baltimore, Maryland, Kathryn Jacques graduated with a BFA in Dance Performance from Towson University. She performed professionally as both a classical and contemporary dancer for several years.
Upon retiring from the stage, Kathryn transitioned into TV and film acting where she appeared in numerous TV shows, commercials and independent films. She starred in the 2016 feature film Soul Fray, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. It was during her down time on sets when she returned to her childhood love of writing, and eventually The Gamble series was born.
Kathryn still lives in Maryland with her husband and their two daughters.
Books By This Author
The Gamble
Book 1
Now available
Redemption
Book 3
Coming Summer 2021
The Choice (The Gamble Series Book 2) Page 21