Free The Unmaking (The Rayne Whitmore Series Book 1) by Alanna Faison

and maybe not like Selene,
but he was something. I can feel it now and I become more fearful as the truth
finds me on its own. No, not on its own, my eyes were forced open.
                Revenge. This is all a
destructive cycle that must have begun to moment my father built his reputation
by doing the unthinkable. My father tortured and killed that man and then
whoever he worked for sent that Devourer to our home to murder my family. Daddy
had to know about witches and demons, certainly Damien did and that’s what he
was hinting to Selene about. That’s what he wanted to tell me. When my dad said
to the man something about ‘his kind’ I didn’t know what he was referring to,
but now I know. That man wanted something of my father’s that he wasn’t willing
to give up and now they were all dead because of it. I would be just as dead if
I had been home, if I wasn’t so angry with my father that I stayed the entire
day hiding out at Selene’s. I shudder at the thought, not necessarily thankful
because I would switch places with Jasmine in a second if I could.
                I barely lean over in time
to vomit in the trash can on the side of my bed as I picture Jazzy lying dead
on the floor with her throat slashed, that thing, that Devourer coming back to
feed on her flesh. The way my mom’s broken body had hung out the window, neck
broken sends chills through me.  How many times had I vomited in the past few
days? I start to hyperventilate and I want to run away and hope that I can
outrun my pain. Before Selene can come to my side, I fling the cover off of me
and try to stand up, completely forgetting that my ankle is broken.
                Immediately, I fall to the
ground and let out a scream similar to the one last night when I felt my ankle
being crushed.
                Selene lets out a curse
and then lifts me up, back on the bed. Next, she empties the now full trash can
in another room before coming back to sit beside me, upset. “That damn healer
told me that you shouldn’t be in pain like that anymore. I’ve been giving you
the damn herbs everyday like he said!”
                “What do you mean every
day?” I ask accusingly, panting as Selene tries to make me comfortable. Then
she reaches for the drink she gave me earlier. This time, I drink it without
spitting it out even though it tastes like dirt.
                “Baby, it’s been almost
two weeks now.”
     
    Chapter Seven
                I ’m not sure that I hear her, so I blink a few times and
let the words sink in before I say, “Huh.” I am more lost than ever.
                “You don’t remember
anything do you?” she asks in return, reaching for me again with a look full of
pity. It’s a look you’d give a stray puppy you’ve stared at in the pound.
                “How could I? After I
passed out at the house, I woke up here, just now. Just now Selene! Now is the
next day, not two fucking weeks after my family and employees were murdered.
Two weeks is fourteen fucking days. Two weeks is a lot to miss out on!” I want
to scream at the top of my lungs, I want to break everything in this room, but
instead I look at Selene with all the hate I have inside me. Something again
shatters within me.
                She flinches under my gaze
and then looks away. I wish I knew what was running through her mind right now.
What has she had to go through to get me here, keep me safe? She doesn’t
deserve to be the punching bag for my pain, but she’s the only one here and I’m
giving out the only emotion my heart is allowing me to feel right now. Maybe
later I would feel bad about this, but as I’m feeling, maybe later, I’d be
dead. After all, I’m only human and I’m sure a human heart can take only so
much pain.
                “Rayne, when you passed
out, I carried you to the car and drove to meet up with Damien. I told him