The Pawn and The Puppet (The Pawn and The Puppet #1)

by Brandi Elise Szeker

As I clean my face with cold water, I avoid the reflection that will peer back at me in the mirror. I refuse to stare into those cold green eyes. Scarlett’s eyes. The eyes I gazed into as I lit her house on fire.

But real love, the soft and sweet and the kind with feathery wings, it rises from the ashes of the ugly.”

My nerves spring back to life at the thought of his gaze—knowing, studying, observing. His face resonates with me like an old soul, a long-lost friend, and a favored memory.

“You’re going to drink this. We’re going to fight through it together. And you’re going to leave this room without a scratch. They’ll think you’re an untouchable demon from hell.”

“I am never to escape the violent hands of a man, am I?” If I have to go through it again, I might die of despair. Dessin kneels to my side urgently. “Look at me,” he orders, “if he ever strikes you… You tell me immediately. I will cut off every piece of him that he believes makes him a man and shove it into his mouth until he asphyxiates.”

“Do you believe in it?” he asks. “I want to. The notion of someone who understands me—protects me—knows my heart well is—beautiful. I hope it’s true.” And I mean it. I wonder if there will ever be a human alive who knows my heart, passions, secrets, and demons through and through. But I stare a moment too long, and there’s a question that sings like a violin between us. The one neither of us wants to acknowledge, but it’s here, all the same, waiting to be noticed.

“Say your goodbyes,” he says, murder dancing in his chocolate eyes. “I’m going to kill them all.”