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A Taste of Home by Rev. Dare Cloud - Chapter 04
When last we left our hero (?), he’d just learned his wife was having an affair with the Sheriff of Twin Oaks… Chapter Four Johnny ran in the door, slamming it hard to block the blowing rain and potential terror which was trying to follow. Barely acknowledging the two girls who were planted firmly on the living room couch, he motioned for Becky to follow him upstairs. Taking two steps at a…
Chapter 04
Okay, so the Big Bad Wolf may have felt a LITTLE fear.
Nobody could blame me, you know. The idea of walking past cells, where others were ready to swipe or say offensive opinions as one passed… WELL. I may have been hardened, but I wasn’t heartless! Words hurt!
So did my face as I tripped over a leg stuck out from one of the prisoner’s cells. Now THAT was the last straw! Trepidation turned towards a temper tantrum -- as I instantly shot to my feet, paws up for defending my honor!
“ALRIGHT, bub, you asked for it!” I punched the air, giving it a little of THIS and a little of THAT! “Which one of you rough reprobates decided to be a funny guy!”
It was then I noticed just who thought so: and, to be honest, I don’t know why I even bothered being surprised anymore. It was just the guy I came here looking for, standing close to the cell with that crocodile grin of his.
Which was weird, considering he was a wolf.
“Well well, if it isn’t Big Bad himself.” Larry Lemonade began, his eyes lighting up upon seeing he had my attention. “What brings you to my iron-clad neck of the woods? Missing me so soon? People will start to talk, you know~.”
He was right: it DID look bad to have wolves on opposing sides of the law speaking to one another. So it was after grabbing my fallen fedora off the floor, that I glared and got straight to the point.
“I’m on a new case, Larry, and I have a strong suspicion that you’re involved.” It took a bit of stretching, but I’d managed to get in the guy’s face. An old intimidation tactic. A little more difficult when the intimidate-ee happens to be taller than you and behind a set of bars, but I’d managed just fine.
Larry -- or, Bart -- had the audacity to snicker at me, stepping away from the bars to stand in the middle of his cell.
“You really think I was able to pull off a crime while locked away in this little box?” He spread his arms and did a little spin to gesture to the entire cell. The spin was decidedly unnecessary. “Aw, I’m flattered. I might even blush!”
Ohh, this guy really knew how to push my buttons! Not that I let it show. I kept my cool.
“I didn’t say you did the crime, I only said you must be involved!” Okay, fine, maybe slightly less than calm and collected, so sue me. “You had to! I’ve got photographic evidence!”
I held the photo of him and his supposed girlfriend up to the bars.
Larry, humoring me, had looked so amused as he let his gaze fall onto the photo. That, however, didn’t last as it seemed his gratifying game came to a stop. His smile dropped, his eyes momentarily went wide, as he snatched the wallet from my mits.
“What, exactly, is the crime?” Larry asked, eyes never leaving the photo even as some mirth returned to his voice. “Did Aamilah get caught jaywalking, or something? She’s a peach, that beau of mine. It would be a shame for you to harass that poor family simply because you happen to be fond of me, you know.”
I didn’t know, and what’s more, the implications confused me. YET, I knew a thinly veiled threat when I heard one! My glare hardened, as I snatched the wallet back.
“I’m not the one you should be worried about, Larry. Ms. Maiez has gone missing. Nanny nabbed before the children’s very eyes!” I was huffing by this point, my patience at my limits. “And while there’s not much for clues at the crime scene, she has a connection to you. I don’t believe in coincidences, Larry Lemonade. SO, I’m going to ask you this ONCE: why would somebody want to snatch your sweetheart?”
Larry sighed, as if my questions were nothing more than an annoying inconvenience, and turned to lean his back against the cell bars. He didn’t seem too worried about his alleged paramour now, and I wasn’t surprised. A guy like Larry wasn’t interested in love ... only profit. He was no doubt using the poor woman for financial gain.
“Oh, to keep me quiet, I suppose.” How someone could offer such crucial information in such an offhand way baffled even me.
“Quiet? About what, exactly?” I prodded.
“Oh, this and that. Names, places, motives ...”
It was then I realized what Larry was hinting at. That snake!
“You’re planning on ratting out other goons in hopes of lessening your sentence, aren’t you!” In a way, I suppose this was noble ... but for all the wrong reasons. That sneaky snake was proving the old saying true: there really was no honor among thieves.
“You could say that. But I’m afraid I won’t be much help with the who ... I get around, I hear a lot. My list of potential candidates is rather long.”
Well, it could have been worse. At least I knew what motive may have been behind this crime, which was more than I’d entered with. It looked as if this lead had run its course-- completely fizzled out. This was mildly disappointing, and apparently my expression gave this away. Larry turned back around to grin down at me.
“Aw, chin up, pal! You managed to find me easily! Perhaps your methods will serve you well a second time, hmm? I have lots of friends, you’d only need to find them.”
Of course! Someone at the Ugly Duckling might know more. Not that I dared try my luck with that Rumpelstiltskin fella again ... a guy can only sell his soul once, I hear.
“Maybe. Keep your nose clean, Lemond.” I turned and headed briskly to the exit. I paused at the double doors when I heard him calling out to me, his voice echoing down the corridor.
“Whatever you say, Norman. Oh! And detective?”
I humored him with a curt glance back. Larry was clutching the bars of his cell door, regarding me with an expression devoid of his usual tomfoolery.
“Be sure you bring her home.”
There was something in his eyes, in his tone, that almost made me doubt my earlier assumptions. Hints of something beyond a scam. Maybe there really was a speck of gold in that icy heart of his, after all.
“I’ll find her, Larry. You can bet on it.”
The Chemist chapter 4
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Chapter 4
Two mornings ago, she’d followed his exercise route as best she could from a safe distance. He held a strong, fast pace—obviously an experienced runner. As she watched, she found herself wishing that she had more time to run. She didn’t love running the way others seemed to—she always felt so exposed on the side of a road, no car to escape in—but it was important.
So you see about Julie infodumping about running? Yeah. Now imagine a 16 and a half page chapter of nothing but that.
Yes, these chapters are on the longer side. But holy fucking shit, literally not one single word of most of this is in any way relevant.
“Hi, Daniel.”
“Hi…” He raised his eyebrows.
“Um, Alex.” Whoops, that was a few names back. Oh, well.
HOW ARE YOU THIS BAD AT YOUR JOB?!
I’m convinced that Julie wasn’t so much burnt as she was going to be fired.
He nodded, then pulled an old BlackBerry out of his pocket and fumbled with the buttons.
Nothing quite like some awkwardly dated references.
If he hadn’t been drugged, he would have heard the edge in her voice and seen the ice in her eyes.
Chapter 4 summary: The chapter opens up on the aforementioned tedious infodump that lasts for way longer than it should. Julie tells the readers about how Dr. B got her startled with really solid fake identities. One of them was burnt not too long after she herself was burnt. The other two are still good. She complains a lot about how much money that this gig is costing her, but she feels that it’ll be worth it if she can free herself from her terrible situation.
And then she takes a left turn and starts talking about how she’d been in with a mafia leader for a while. He’d wanted her to set up permanently, but she’d ditched that identity and fled. She knows that they’re probably still looking for her, but she doesn’t care.
Then, she does like… a day of surveillance on the target, Daniel. She figures that the guy has a solid routine down, and tries to determine when the best time to grab him would be. She eventually decides that it needs to be on the subway. So then we have a tedious scene where she’s riding the subway and fails to find him. It goes on for ages without actually going anywhere.
Then finally, FINALLY, she finds Daniel. Because this is actually a romance novel wrapped in a spy thriller, he starts chatting her up. She accidentally introduces herself as Alex, and says that she’s a doctor. She jabs him real quick with what she calls “truth serum”, and he starts getting all woozy from it.
She guides him out from the train, and makes him call the school secretary to say that he’s sick, and going to see a doctor. He then starts going on about his ex-wife, and how she loved money. And Julie is kind of like “WTF are you doing, girl? Stop flirting with him!”
Firstlife chapter 4
Today’s review might be difficult for some; readers discretion is advised.
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Chapter 4
“No! Gross! I’ve never jonesed for his scones.” She shudders. “It’s just...he’ll sleep with you and leave you brokenhearted in the rubble that has become your life.” Bow, who is obviously biased, has probably seen a distorted version of the truth. She’s never seen into Killian’s heart.
Sweetie, you have literally known the guy for less than 24 hours. Don’t be so quick to dismiss Bow’s warning.
Yes, the reader knows that Bow and Killian are on opposite sides of this war. But Ten doesn’t know that.
I’d adored [Madame Pearl]. Once. She was the one who told my parents to send me to Prynne. I’d heard them talking. At first, my dad resisted the idea. When Madame promised him the experience would toughen me up, help me become the person I was meant to be, and snap me out of my pouty teenage refusal to sign with Myriad, he finally relented. Then he convinced my mother.
Fair warning, but I’m probably going to be working through a lot of anger about organised religions with this book.
But ah yes! You should 100% listen to a near stranger and send your child to jail so that she can be tortured… Simply because she refused to obey your brainwashing! THEY SOUND LIKE AMAZING PARENTS, I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT!!
Despite that tangibility, we’re forbidden from touching the Shells for any reason. Without being told why!
Ah yes, the cornerstone of organised religion: don’t do something, and don’t ask why you can’t do it!
Nine months have passed since Dr. Vans shot him in the chest.
I don’t know why they bother to continue the war in the afterlife; they’re doing a great job at making every human life as fucking miserable as possible.
“I’m done with this subject.” I mean it this time.
“Of course you are.” With an unfeminine grunt, she falls onto her pillow. “You’re a runner.”
The girl has been abused beyond belief. By her parents, by society, by the so-called “doctor” meant to take care of her, by the guards in this prison, by the other inmates…
And Bow is somehow surprised that Ten wants nothing to do with her?
“How old are you?” I find myself asking.
“Nineteen.”
ASK HIM HOW LONG HE’S BEEN 19!!
He leads me down the hall, into the commons, just not the commons I’m used to seeing.
One corner of the room has been transformed. There’s a small candlelit table with two cushioned chairs placed side by side. Platters of food occupy every inch of the tabletop. There’s even a bottle of wine and a chocolate cake.
I really hope that I don’t have to explain to anybody why the director and guards of a asylum/juvenile detention facility working so hard to set a PATIENT/PRISONER up on this sham of a date is beyond creepy.
“I’m underage.” Eighteen, the legal age for everything nowadays, can’t get here fast enough. “If I drink any alcohol, I’ll be breaking the law.”
So they have laws about drinking alcohol under a certain age, but not about literally beating and raping CHILDREN?
Nice to know where their priorities stand.
“Oh, and let’s not forget the time I was waterboarded. So fun!”
Drinking alcohol is bad, but waterboarding a 17 year old because she disobeyed her parents is 100% legal. Good to know where they’re drawing the line.
“You have freedom. You have freedom right now. You had freedom yesterday, and the day before and the day before that. No matter where you are or what you’re doing, you have freedom of choice. You’re so afraid of making the wrong decision, you’re actually stagnant.”
They have the freedom to choose between A or B, or to be punished. So they literally don’t have freedom at all.
Real free will would have the option to choose nothing at all.
I flip him off via the camera, continuing down the hall, heading for my cell.
Chapter 4 summary: Dr. Vans is DEMANDING that Ten go on this “date” with Killian, because he’s desperate to see her signed to Myriad (aka what her parents have paid him to do.) A nurse even forces Ten to change into a dress, or go naked.
Before she goes, Bow starts talking about how terrible Killian is; that he’s a “love em & leave em” kind of guy. Despite Ten insisting that she’s not going to fuck him, Ten will not stop defending him. Bow then asks about Ten’s old boyfriend, who was a guard but he was killed by Dr. Vans 9 months ago. The conversation upsets Ten so much, and she kind of shuts down.
She goes to meet Killian, who shows her some VR stuff. The excitement of seeing a pretty beach is quickly shut down when she realises that this is yet another Myriad sales pitch. They sit down to eat the dinner, and Ten eats an entire cake by herself. The only thing that Killian brought to drink is wine, so Ten gets a little drunk.
Dr. Vans is watching them on the security cameras, and he insists that they keep talking about the realms, but when Ten refuses, he insists that they do “trust fall” exercises. Ten then says that since they have to talk about the realms, she’s going to ask him a lot of uncomfortable questions. The kind of questions that religions never want you to ask. This one is about “fusion”, which is basically reincarnation. Another one of those things that nobody can neither confirm nor deny. Since he refuses to talk in depth about that, she instead starts pressing him about his dead mother.
But then she’s super wasted, and she stops making any sense. So she finally decides to leave, despite Dr. Vans yelling at her over the intercom to not leave.
Court chapters 4-7
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Chapter 4
But then he makes a sound low in his throat, and just that easily, all the fears and the failures slip away in the frantic, frenzied crush of his lips against my own.
Not even five minutes earlier, she was panicking because she was “making out with Hudson while her classmates were being tortured to death by Cyrus”. And then she goes upstairs with Hudson where she proceeds to make out with him some more. Pick a lane.
“I don’t think the Crown is what we thought it was.”
Chapter 4 summary: Hudson interrupts Grace telling the others that Cyrus is likely killing the children he’d taken. Says that they all need sleep. So he takes Grace upstairs.
He kind of shuts Grace out for a moment, lost in his grief. Grace pulls him out and they start making out a little.
Hudson then expresses his survivor's guilt. That he should have done better, should have fought harder against his father. Again, Grace talks him off that ledge. He also mentions he’s pretty sure Cyrus had the witches under some spell where they couldn’t see or hear him. Says that he’ll have to talk to Macy about that later.
Grace says that she’s pretty sure that they all misunderstood what the crown was.
Chapter 5
And then more clearly than he’s ever spoken to me, like he’s concentrating on every word: Wake up, Grace! We’re almost out of time!
Chapter 5 summary: Grace says she thinks that because she hasn’t felt any different since she got the crown. Hudson is quick to point out that the girl literally spent the first 17 years of her life not knowing that she was a gargoyle; maybe her instinct isn’t exactly the best guide for this.
He tells her that they have time to figure it out later, implying that she should go to sleep now. So she gets into bed.
But her sleep is troubled with dreams of Luca’s death, the battle, and Remy. She’s awoken by what I can only assume is the gargoyle-to-gargoyle communication from the Beast.
Chapter 6
A sickening wave of déjà vu slides through me as I realize that the piece he’s holding is none other than the vampire queen herself.
Chapter 6 summary: Grace wakes up, although there’s zero mention of the voice that had awoken her. She sees that she’s slept for 7 hours, and figures that she still has time before morning.
So she goes to her room to get her things. As she goes, she thinks about how much has changed since she first got there. How those werewolves who threatened to throw her out into the snow seem so benign in comparison.
Macy is asleep on her bed, so Grace struggles not to wake her as she throws clothes into a bag. She then thinks about how tired she is, and how she doesn’t know when she’ll next be able to sleep. So she gets into her own bed, and sleeps for 2 more hours before the Beast wakes her up again.
She starts to leave her room to return to Hudson’s when she comes across the Beast in his human form. He’s holding the vampire queen chess piece, which somehow survived the fight earlier.
Chapter 7
He’s turning back into stone, and a quick glance down at my body shows that I am, too, with both our now-stone hands still firmly holding the vampire queen.
Chapter 7 summary: The Beast tells Grace “No time.” Grace is kind of shocked to hear him speak, since he’d only ever communicated in her mind up until now. However, the only thing that he says over and over is “No time”, which frustrates Grace to no end. She understands that communication was probably the first thing to go during his imprisonment, but still.
She thinks that the vampire queen chess piece he’s holding is a clue, and thinks that maybe it has something to do with Delilah, but she isn’t sure.
He slams the piece onto the table. Grace reaches for it, and is physically shocked when he puts his hand over hers. The two of them start to turn into stone, while holding onto the chess queen.
The Ones We Burn chapters 1-4
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Chapter 1
She could break bone with her bare hands and run for miles without growing winded.
It made her an excellent hunter; it made her a better killer.
But with it came a hunger satiated only by taking a life. With it came the death sentence that was blood-magic.
This book calls her a “blood witch”. But it honestly sounds more in the realm of vampire than anything.
Ranka tucked the pin in her pocket and began the long trek home.
Chapter 1 summary: We open on a young girl named Ranka. She is something called a blood witch. Her power rises the longer she goes without killing something and drinking its blood, but she loses her color vision along the way.
She does pause briefly to explain that blood witches are rare, and cursed. They usually die sooner rather than later, and Ranka thinks that she maybe has a decade of life left before the curse swallows her. However, her coven leader had told her that it was a blessing, not a curse.
She’s on the hunt for a string of missing witches who have been disappearing nearby. As she goes, she comes across the mostly-dead body of something called a fangwolf. Ranka isn’t sure what killed it, only that it must have been some immense beast in order to take on the wolf. She drinks from it and regains her color vision.
After eating from the wolf, she then smells something foul. And it’s not the now-dead wolf. She looks to the nearby forest where she sees another witch. A blood witch. She should be happy to see another one, but there’s something off about this woman. Instincts tell her to run, but she’s frozen. The woman starts to walk towards her, walking through some thorn-bushes without flinching at all. Ranka turns to run, but trips and falls. The woman lunges for her, but then seems to come back to herself. She then shrivels up and dies; Ranka likens it to burning an ant with a magnifying glass.
The entire incident was so bizarre, as is the woman herself. She’s wearing human clothes, despite also wearing the earrings that mark her as being a witch. Ranka finds an odd pin clutched in the woman’s hand, so she takes it before leaving.
Chapter 2
The Bloodwinn treaty had promised to protect Witchik from the pillaging of humans. Instead it had simply continued without the official blessing of the Crown. Witches were barred from retaliating, lest they be cut off from meager shipments of medicine funneled through the human-ruled south.
[...]
No one dared accuse her of cowardice to her face, but she saw it in their eyes, in the turn of their mouths when their sick waited on shipments of antiseptics that would not come and more hunting lands were ripped apart by mines. The Skra looked at her and saw the future she’d denied them.
Now I’m obviously only in chapter 2 of 80, but I think that I’m starting to sense where people are going about racism in this book.
“Right.” Ongrum’s hand dropped. “We need to talk.”
Chapter 2 summary: As Ranka heads back home, she tells the readers that the humans have crossed the border of the witch territory and have started mining metals for their weapons. That they’re caught in endless battles with the witches.
She goes on to explain that there’s supposed to be a treaty. One that everybody knows is a joke. But the problem is that the witches are these spat-upon peoples who remain at the mercy of the humans and their medicine.
Ranka was chosen to go off and marry some prince. The witch leader wanted her to go there and murder everybody, if only to weaken the shitty royal line. But Ranka refused. And it puts the witches in a difficult spot, where again, they’re completely dependent upon the humans for receiving proper medication, so they can’t fight back against unfair treatment.
And as a result of this, the other witches hate Ranka for simply not taking one for the team. She hopes that in time, they’ll understand why she chose to stay. But it’s hard when the other witches look at her like she admitted that she enjoys kicking puppies.
So she goes home, and gets all of these dirty looks, as mentioned. She says that she needs to report before telling the others about what she found outside. But when she goes in, she finds the leader’s sister, who tells her that they need to talk.
Chapter 3
“It would be war. If we killed their prince—”
“War among the humans.” Ongrum smiled wryly. “There are no other male heirs. His sister was deemed unfit to rule. Kill the boy, and the humans turn on one another in their scramble for power. And Witchik will be free.”
Yeah, but they’re only thinking in the short term. A human war would probably last, at the most, several years. After things get settled, they’d likely return their attention towards the witches.
Whom I’d like to remind everybody, that the witches are completely dependent upon the humans for supplies. If they seriously think that murdering one prince is going to magically free them, they’re seriously dumber than I thought.
Ranka touched her bracelet—and drew her axe. “Tell me what I have to do.”
Chapter 3 summary: Ongrum calls a meeting of the witches. Once everybody is gathered, Ongrum tells everybody that three days ago, she and Yeva went out on patrol. They were forced to separate, and that’s the last anybody has seen of Yeva.
Ranka then stands up and tells the others about the weird witch she’d encountered, and the pin she brought back. Most of the witches don’t know how to read, which Ranka blames as being part of their lives before they came to the coven; there are a few women there who do know how to read, but it’s implied the others refuse to learn. Anyway, one witch steps forward and tells everybody that it’s the human god of the sun. That this pin is from the capital. Aka the place where Ranka was supposed to go to marry that prince.
Ranka then decides that she has to go to the capital to murder the prince, as planned. She tries to remind them that this would bring war down upon the coven, but as I mentioned, they’re only thinking short-term. They think that removing the only male heir right now would destabilise the government enough that the humans would turn to in-fighting to crown a new prince. Ranka is still rather hesitant, but eventually agrees that this is for the best.
Chapter 4
Ranka sank into her cloak, sweating in the relentless heat, and tightened her grip on the poster she’d stolen. Six guards swathed in mourner’s black manned the checkpoint ahead, armed with buckets of soapy water and instant-click torches.
I’m insanely confused over all of this. If Ranka was asked to go to the capital and marry the prince, why is she not being escorted by a fucking golden carriage or some shit? Why is she in an anti-witch checkpoint?
She shoved the cabbage merchant out of her way and vaulted over his cart. Six arrows flew. The produce went up in a whoosh of flame, spitting sparks into the air.
The cabbage merchant slumped to the ground in defeat and put his head in his hands. “Every time,” he moaned. “Every single time.”
Really? Did we really need to have a “MY CABBAGES” moment?
When witchery manifested in a human child, tinting their nails and sharpening their senses, something in them changed, altering the chemical makeup of their very cells. Witches burned brighter, faster, hotter.
Again, this stupid book has not mentioned that these “witches” can do actual magic. But literally every new thing that we learn about them makes them sound more and more like vampires.
But they were right to look at her with fear. And in forty-six days she’d show them why.
Chapter 4 summary: Despite the fact that Ranka had been asked to become the next Bloodwin to the prince, she has to wait in a fucking checkpoint line. Witches have marks on their fingertips that get darker with the more powerful that they are. So the guards are washing people’s fingers to prove that they’re actually human, before letting them into the city.
In the line next to Ranka, there’s a girl with marks so faint, she might as well be human. It makes Ranka think of her own sister, who was the same way. She doesn’t know what fate happened to her sister, but always prays that she ended up being confused for a human, and settled in a village somewhere. That she has a life, and that it’s happy.
When the other witch gets up to the wash barrel, Ranka then decides that it actually is her problem. She then causes a ruckus and everybody obviously takes notice of her. Or rather, her black fingertips. She then shows them the wanted poster of herself, which instantly changes everybody’s attitudes towards her. In the commotion, the other witch stole the entry stamp, and Ranka hopes that the girl will be okay living in the city. That maybe she’ll start a normal life, or help smuggle other girls in.
Ranka meanwhile is frogmarched through the city towards the palace.
Client No 5 chapters 3 & 4
This book review contains discussions of SW; reader discretion is advised
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Chapter 3
He’d treated me as if I was a person, not a vagina, and yet he paid me like a whore.
I’m confused about this. She’s angry that he’s treating her with respect? And that he paid her like 3x more than the agreed upon price?
… at least the high-end escort business that I was in.
So in the previous chapter, she’d said that she looked like a trashy hooker.
Either she’s trashy-looking, or she’s a high-end escort. I’m not sure that you can have these two things at the same time.
I wasn’t deluded enough to think that I could do this work forever. Prostitution was hugely based on looks, at least the high-end escort business that I was in. No drugs, no violence. Just sex. In fifteen or twenty years I’d be out of work, and I planned to make sure that I was well set up by then. I paid my bills, I bought what I needed for work, and I skimped on everything else. All the extra cash I earned went into investments that would eventually buy me an apartment. Rent was killer in New York, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to afford it when I wasn’t working.
Except that it’s pretty well-known that a high end escort’s plan to get out from under guys is to become a madam and start being in charge of other girls.
Todd always took a “test drive” of the new girls before he hired them. He said he needed to know what he was selling, and it’s his job to make sure his girls are of high quality. Yeah, he really hated his work.
Not only gross but also highly unprofessional.
Ally claims that this is a high-end escort service, yet Todd is acting like he’s one bitch-slap away from being a drug-dealing pimp. With the fur coat and cane.
He wasn’t willing to test out the new guy, though.
He should, though. He has to go all the way to prove to his customers that the new guy is good!
What guy wouldn’t be overjoyed at having a live sex show on his own bed?
You can tell that this was written by somebody who thinks that working around sex 24/7 is always going to be titillating.
I am going to scream if Todd starts jerking off as he watches Ally and Adam bang.
I rolled my head to the side and saw that Todd had given up any pretense of being professional. He had his cock out and was rubbing it slowly, eyes glued on my swaying tits.
[...]
A glance over at our audience made me laugh. Todd wasn’t even watching us anymore—his eyes were closed as Jamie sucked his dick. He thrust hard into her mouth, adding added to my arousal.
What a disgusting pig.
And as much as I hated it, there was a part of me that was sad I wouldn’t see Scott Walker again.
Chapter 3 summary: Ally accidentally fell asleep, which she never does because it’s unprofessional. She woke up to Scott gone, but he’d left her a note and a lot more money than agreed upon.
On her way home, Ally’s brother, Zach, calls her up and asks her to come over. She tells the reader that Zach and Todd are BFFs, but somehow, Zach doesn’t know what Ally does for a living. She continues on and explains to the reader about how being a SWer is obviously not a life-time job, that she needs to tap out at some point. So she’s living like a pauper while saving every single thing. And that 5k that Scott left her will go a long way in her savings.
She goes to Todd’s and Zach’s apartment, where she gives Todd his cut from her first four clients. He also briefly asks about Scott, and says that he’s Todd’s cousin. Ally gets angry, because she obviously doesn’t want to be banging anybody that could connect her to her actual identity. Todd then agrees that he should hire a new girl, and also bring a gigolo into the fold.
Later, Todd texted Ally if she’d come over and test out a new guy he’d hired. Ally’s roommate, Jamie, also a SWer under Todd, wants to come over and watch this. So they go over to Todd’s apartment, where they meet Adam. Adam is a little green around the ears, so Ally has to give him a tiny bit of a pep-talk before he goes down on her, and has to explain stuff to him like “always wear a condom. No matter what the woman says. You don’t want to suffer the consequences.” Jamie and Todd stand and watch, but then start going at it.
But he makes her cum, and thus earns himself an approval from Ally. But Ally can’t help but think that Adam isn’t half as good as Scott had been.
Chapter 4
He liked to pretend to be a horse and have girls treat him as such. Apparently the girls at NYU didn’t find this particular fetish sexy, so he was forced to outsource.
Has he tried the brony community?
“He’s under the spell of your puss, and I can’t blame the poor guy. Just do it.”
I know what was meant here, but when I see “puss”, my brain thinks “pus”. Which… gross.
The cool water soaked my hot skin as I broke the surface, sending a shiver through me. It was bliss.
Chapter 4 summary: Ally meets up with Zach later to go visit their parents. On the ride over, he asks Ally if she’s dating Todd, and says that Todd is bad business. Despite the fact that Zach lives with the guy and is apparently his best friend.
Later, Ally sees a 19 year old client who is really into pony play, but outsources his enjoyment because no other girls seem to be into it. Ally then decides he’s getting too attached to her, and decides to send him to another girl later.
On her way out of the hotel, the front desk clerk asks Ally if she’s really a SWer, and how she can get into the business. Since Todd had mentioned taking on a new girl, she agrees to meet up with Amy for lunch later that week and answer any of the girl’s questions.
She goes home, only to find Adam and Jamie fucking. She hides in her room until they finish and Adam leaves. Jamie tells her to call Todd, which she does. Todd wants to book her all night for Scott, which is really against Ally’s rules. But Todd literally threatens to withhold clients from her until she agrees, so she does.
Later, Ally and Jamie go to the gym, where too much time is spent showing them working out. In the sauna, Jamie asks that since Ally clearly hates men so much, she should switch teams. Ally says no, and then goes for a swim.
Covet chapters 4-7
Click to see the rest of the snark & image descriptions
Chapter 4
“Why Foster decided to put the vampires in charge on the kitchen witches’ day off, I’ll never know.”
“Who should have been in charge?” Mekhi asks as he walks up behind Macy. “The dragons? Roasted marshmallows only get most of the student body so far.”
Except that dragons need to eat food, too. Vampires do not. It makes more sense to put a dragon in charge than a vampire.
I’m halfway through my frozen yogurt when a hush comes over the dining hall, right about the time the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I look to see everyone staring at something behind me and I know—even before I turn around—who I’m going to find.
Chapter 4 summary: Macy and Flint continue to complain about the vampire’s lack of cooking skills, while Mekhi keeps insisting that the cooking “isn’t that bad”. They get into the cafeteria, and things are weird and red or black. Everybody loads up on the self-serve fro-yo that’s at the end of the line, if only because the “Swedish blood pancakes” don’t look good at all.
And that’s it. That’s the entire fucking chapter. “The food’s not so bad!” “Blerg!”
Chapter 5
I don’t need to turn around to know Hudson has just walked into the cafeteria, but the way Jaxon’s hand tightens on mine gives me all the added confirmation I need.
Chapter 5 summary: Jaxon starts walking towards Grace. The entire thing needs two goddamned pages for a single moment, as Grace explains about how everybody else is reacting. The number of fucks I give about this is in the negatives.
He finally asks if he and his friends can sit with them, and again, it’s the most fucking dramatic thing in the entire fucking universe. It’s not even exciting either, which is the worst part!
Grace and Jaxon force themselves to make awkward small talk, which is starting to become physically painful to read. Although they’re literally the only ones, as around them, the others laugh and joke and are generally having a good dinner period.
Jaxon then holds Grace’s hand, and for a moment, she thinks that things might be okay. And then Hudson appears.
Chapter 6
A second later, it’s like everyone notices him at once. Each person at the table stills as if holding their collective breath even as their eyes dart everywhere—except toward Jaxon and me.
The problem is that everybody reacted this way when Jaxon walked in.
So now I’m wondering if all conversation pauses whenever somebody new walks in, no matter who it is. Simply to be dramatic.
I follow him—of course I do. Because I’d follow Jaxon anywhere. And I can’t deny the tiny part of me that hopes he’s finally ready to discuss how we can make this work.
Chapter 6 summary: Hudson comes in, and he’s brought cheesecake. He gives Grace and Jaxon a weird look before he starts to joke around with Macy about playing chess with her later. But then everybody else gets in on this thing, and Grace feels like she and Jaxon have been unintentionally left out of the conversation.
Grace knows that Hudson is trying to make things less awkward between everybody, especially the other vampires and Grace. Yet, he goes around and does things like this that makes Grace feel so uncomfortable.
Eventually, Jaxon gets up to leave, and Grace goes with him.
Chapter 7
At least until the tears start to roll—silent and steady—down my cheeks.
Chapter 7 summary: Outside the cafeteria, Jaxon keeps walking until they’re outside of Macy’s and Grace’s room. Grace then has a panic attack, and Jaxon talks her down from it.
He then embraces her, but once the hug is over, he tells her that none of this is working out. He obviously blames himself for all of the shit and pain that both of them are in now, even though Grace tries really hard to tell him that he’s not at fault here. But he’s quick to point out that he’s the one who had the bond-breaking spell casually in his trash, like the thought of somebody like his dad trying to ruin all and any happiness… had never once occurred to him.
Grace then begs him to tell her the punchline to the joke. The one he started way back in the first book, but then life kept interrupting him telling her the punchline. He tells her, and they have a weird moment of “Wow, that’s the stupidest joke ever”, which used to be kind of their thing.
She starts to tell him an even worse joke, but he kisses her. But then he turns around and leaves. Grace starts to cry, knowing that it’s finally over between them now.
