Runaway, the must-read emotional
fifth book in the Empire High Series from USA
Today, Wall Street Journal and #1
Amazon bestselling author Ivy Smoak is available now!
To the first boy I ever loved.
I intended to keep my promises to you. I
swear. I loved you, Matthew Caldwell. With my whole heart. I think a piece of
me will always love you.
But it all came crashing down when I
realized you didn’t keep your promises to me.
I refuse to take any of my days for
granted. I learned that the hard way.
So I’m sorry. But I can’t keep my
promises to someone who didn’t keep theirs.
XOXO,
-Brooklyn Sanders
Grab your copy today
exclusively on Amazon or read FREE on Kindle Unlimited→
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3fkCTNy
Amazon Worldwide: http://mybook.to/EmpireHigRun
Amazon Audible: https://amzn.to/3HGsmrW
Amazon Hardover: https://amzn.to/3CgHtXU
Amazon Paperback: https://amzn.to/3MuVsOs
Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3FkVdB1
Start the Empire
High Series with Untouchable!
Free in Kindle
Unlimited
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3nz2M0M
Amazon Worldwide: https://mybook.to/ehuntouchable
Amazon Audible: https://amzn.to/3nDMMuy
Hardcover Edition: https://amzn.to/352Kdf8
Amazon Print: https://amzn.to/3nDEfYu
Friday - 16 years ago
Matt. I squeezed his hand and he squeezed mine back. God I
loved him so much. And waking up next to him had quickly become my favorite
thing. In a few months, I’d be his wife. Our wedding day couldn’t come soon
enough. I couldn’t wait to be Brooklyn Caldwell. Matt squeezed my hand again.
It was the most comforting feeling in the world.
Especially
after the crazy nightmare I’d just had. I’d dreamt that I’d played a horrible
prank on my evil half-sister Isabella. Matt had been furious with me. And I
could see why. Isabella had fallen through the ceiling in my nightmare. The
prank had gone way too far. Such a crazy
dream.
But
then I felt a sharp pain in my side. I winced. And everything suddenly
felt...wrong. Like the room was spinning. I felt like I was going to be sick.
This
didn’t feel like the bed I shared with Matt. The mattress was hard and the
sheets were thin and itchy.
The
room didn’t smell like him either. It didn’t smell like anything at all. And
that was most certainly not Matt’s hand holding mine. It was all wrong.
I
opened my eyes and had to blink because the room was blindingly white. My dad
was sitting next to me holding my hand. His eyes were closed and he was in a
wheelchair, his arm attached to an IV in the corner. For just a second I was
alarmed by how sickly he looked. For just a second...I was worried about him.
Which was ironic. Because he certainly wasn’t worried about me. He didn’t give
a shit about me.
It felt like my heart stopped beating. None of it was
a dream. No.
Never. Nunca.
Tears started welling in my eyes. The prank had
happened. Matt did hate me. He’d left me. He’d called me a liar and just walked
away. He didn’t answer any of my calls or texts. He just...ignored my
existence. Just like he had when we’d first met. Like I meant nothing to him.
My chest ached. Like my heart was ripping in two. Matthew Caldwell hates me.
And yet...none of that was the worst thing. The
monster sitting next to my bed topped everything else. And I needed to get the
hell away from him.
I pulled my hand out of my dad’s grip.
That startled him awake. “You’re awake, princess,” he
said, his voice hoarse and groggy.
I was not his princess. That was his name for my evil
half-sister. And I wanted no part in it. I wanted no part of this family.
“Don’t call me that.” My voice sounded even hoarser than his. I looked down at
the IV that was attached to my wrist and tried to pull it out.
“What are you doing?” He reached out to stop me.
“Don’t touch me!” My stomach rolled as I sat up. I was
definitely about to be sick.
“Princess, calm down. You need to rest.”
I pulled out the IV and grabbed my wrist as the blood
dribbled down my arm. I needed to get out of this room. I needed to get away
from the man that called himself my father. That
sick fuck.
“Brooklyn, you need to calm down,” he said more
forcefully.
“You stole...you stole my...” It was like my mind was
all jumbled. Everything was blurry as I tried to climb out of bed. And my side
hurt so damn much. When I pushed myself off the bed, I fell to my knees. My
foot hit the metal pole the IV was attached to, and it fell to the ground with
a clang.
“Brooklyn, stop.” He reached out for me again.
I cringed when he put his hands on my shoulders. Ow. I grabbed my stomach. I wasn’t going
to be sick. I was just in pain because my dad had tried to kill me.
“Shit,” my dad mumbled.
Something in the room started beeping like crazy.
And Dr. Wilson rushed in. “What on earth is going on
in here? Did she fall out of bed?”
“She’s hysterical,” my dad said. “Do something!”
Hysterical?
I’m not hysterical. He was
the crazy one, not me. “Help me,” I croaked and grabbed Dr. Wilson’s pant leg.
Dr. Wilson stared down at me like I’d lost my mind.
Like I was a feral animal he wanted to kick away. Why was he looking at me like
that? I was asking him for help. Begging him to save me from this hell. Did he
not realize what had just happened?
“I didn’t agree to this,” I said. “I didn’t. Let me
go. Please let me go. Let me out of here.” It felt like air wasn’t reaching my
lungs fast enough. I choked on my own breath.
Dr. Wilson glanced at my dad and then back at me.
“Please get me out of here. I don’t want to be here
anymore.” Not in this room. Not near my dad. Not in this house. Not in this
fucking state.
“Did you give her too many painkillers?” my dad asked.
“I...” Dr. Wilson’s voice trailed off. “I don’t know.
Did you see her take more medication?”
I’m
not high! But Dr. Wilson’s
statement made me realize that he was not here to help me. He was part of the
reason I was in pain. He’d performed the surgery. It wasn’t just my dad. Dr.
Wilson was a monster too. I couldn’t be here. I needed to get away from both of
them. I tried to get up but fell back down.
“Brooklyn, try to take a deep breath for me,” my dad
said. “I think you’re just having a panic attack.”
Fuck him for using that against me. I trusted him. And
now he was trying to make me feel insane. “I’m not,” I gasped. Maybe I was. But
deep breathing wasn’t going to help. I needed to get out of this haunted
apartment.
“I’ll
take you wherever you want to go,” my dad said. “Where do you want to go,
princess?”
Stop calling me that. I wasn’t his princess. I wanted nothing to do
with him. “Please just let me go.” I tried to push myself up off the floor but
the pain was blinding. The room started to spin. The door seemed like it was a
million miles away. If I could just…
“We’ll
get you back to your bedroom, alright?” my dad said. “Please take a deep
breath.” “No. I don’t want to be here anymore. Please.” I felt the tears
streaming down my cheeks.
He
lowered his eyebrows. “Okay. We’ll get you out of here, if that’s what you
want. Just tell me where you want to go.”
I wanted to go to Matt’s. Desperately. But he no longer wanted me
there. He’d made that pretty clear after our fight. And my best friend,
Kennedy, was mad at me too. I had nowhere to go. But I needed out of this room.
Out of this house. Out of this life. I couldn’t do this anymore. Everything
hurt.
“Just
tell me where, princess.”
I
wasn’t his fucking princess. “As far away as possible from you.”
His face fell. “Brooklyn, what’s going on?”
“You
stole my fucking kidney, you psychopath!” I tried to stand up again but the
room was spinning too fast.
Runaway is the fifth title in the Empire High series, and I've been completely captivated since the very beginning and couldn't wait to dive back in to the Empire High world.
Runaway is Brooklyn's story after her supposed death. Over the course of this title her character matures, develops and grows and it's full of surprises and reveals.
I was captivated from beginning to end and can't wait to see what happens next in this fascinating and engaging series.
No comments:
Post a Comment