MINE: The Anti-Hero, Book One

Prologue

The Wife

The moon hangslow in an inky-black sky dotted with a million stars. Endless, they seem.

Goose bumps rise on my arms as a gust sweeps over my nightgown, sending my long blond hair swirling around my face. The wind is getting stronger with each passing hour.

A storm is coming.

Peering at the ocean at the bottom of the cliff, I listen to the waves crashing against the shore. The sound reminds me of my own breath. Reminds me to breathe at all.

I close my eyes, rolling my wedding band around the base of my finger. On a deep, ragged inhale, I wriggle my bare toes deeper into the cool, thick dirt beneath my feet. I tilt my face to the sky and open my arms.

I’m flying,I think.

Yes, I’m flying.

I’m free, like a bird on the wind.

Suddenly, the air shifts around me. A chill. A presence.

He’s here.

I freeze, the hair on the back of my neck prickling. My gaze drops to the garden that surrounds me, awash in silver moonlight.

Tears fill my eyes. From fear, or is it relief? Relief that, finally, all of this can be over.

I reach out, my long, skinny fingers fluttering against the breeze. I want to touch my flowers one more time. Just one more, just one petal.

“It’s time,” he whispers in my ear.

Yes. It’s time.

A tear rolls down my cheek as I turn to face what I know will be the death of me.