Secrets (Secrets #1)

PROLOGUE

Harry

I’ve killed a man.

And there’s blood … everywhere .

It’s pooling in my palms, soaking every digit, before it slips off my skin and onto the marble floor like spilled milk.

Why can’t I stop staring at my fucking hands?

Come to think of it, they don’t even look like my hands anymore. It’s just skin tainted crimson.

I anchor my attention on the red liquid trickling off the end of each fingertip.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

I’ve killed an innocent man.

People are applauding as if it’s something to celebrate. The grating noise of their clapping and high-pitched whistling has turned to a numb ringing in my ears.

I need to focus.

Appease them.

Appease them all—

So. Much. Blood.

Part of me is holding back from spewing my insides over the lifeless body at my feet. But there’s also a dangerous foreign feeling, a stronger emotion, trying to claw its way to the surface … an unmistakable sense of power.

Heavy footsteps drill into my brain, masking the deep ringing that’s threatening to shatter my eardrums. With every step closer, the fear I’ve murdered a man starts to subside, replaced by a surge of adrenaline. It courses through my veins, burning everything in its wake and scorching every good deed I’ve ever done to ash. Every goodwill gesture. Everything I’ve ever taken for granted.

There’s a small, taunting voice in the back of my head.

Embrace this , it says.

Two leather-clad shoes stop a few steps ahead of me.

He stands there, head cocked, mouth twitching in a grin, watching as the malice reaches the surface of my skin in the form of a merciless smile.

“Welcome to the Circle.”