Promises and Pomegranates by Sav R. Miller

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CHAPTER 28WHEN I BRING up my sisters, I’m certainly not expecting Kal to offer to takeme to them.I feel like that kind of goes against the rules of kidnapping, bringing thecaptive around the people who want her home.Then again, I’ve never been on the business end of a situation like this, sowhat do I know?Marcelline helps me pack, quietly taking clothes from my dresser andplacing them into my open suitcase. I glance at her as she moves, toying withthe journal in my hands, wondering if I should take it with me.Before coming to the island, writing was as second nature to me asbreathing. It was where I funneled the inspiration gathered from the poemsand books I read, jotting down random musings or fictionalized anecdotesabout my life.I haven’t touched the journal since my arrival, inspiration few and far
between, despite the serenity around the house. Technically speaking, theAsphodel is the perfect place for a writer’s retreat, though it feels oddcreating anything in a place so plagued by death and darkness.Perhaps that’s why I haven’t tried.“What do you think, Marcelline?” Holding up the journal, I turn it so shecan see the pink leather cover. “Should I try to pick up an old hobby?”She purses her lips, twirling the end of a strand of her strawberry blondehair. Most of our relationship up to this point has been me firing words atrandom, and her dodging every bullet, ignoring my comments and questionsunless Kal is around.“What’s the hobby?” she asks, her voice raspy, as if rough from lack ofuse.“Um, writing.” I perch on the edge of the bed, flipping through the pages,my neat handwriting floating by with each turn.“Like, stories? Poems?”Heat scorches across my face, flames of embarrassment licking mycheeks. “Both, kind of. I used to do it all the time, but to be honest, I kind offorgot about it since coming to Aplana.”She nods, widening her blue eyes. “Yeah, the island has that effect onpeople. Like you come here, and your previous identity kind of just...evaporates. Some locals call it the New England Bermuda Effect. I had anaunt who said Aplana was filled with an ancient, ancestral magic thatreplaces a person’s nature with that of the island’s.”“Do you think that?”“No, I just think it’s easy to forget everything the second your feet touchsand.” Marcelline shrugs, pointing at my journal. “Doubly so when you’rebusy falling in love.”The heat spreads from my face, scoring a path down my sternum, andfinally settling in my gut. I lean forward, shoving the journal into the frontpocket of my suitcase, and try to steel myself against her comment, even asmy pulse beats so loud and fast, I think it might launch out of my throat.“Definitely the sand,” I say quickly, over the bile teasing my esophagus.Marcelline presses her mouth into a thin line, then nods, dropping one lastT-shirt into the suitcase. “Yeah,” she agrees, clamming up like every othertime I’ve tried to start a conversation. “You’re probably right.”I don’t see her again before we leave the house, and I dart outside to theback yard before we load into the town car, speaking in low, soothing tones
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Copyright © 2021 by Sav R. MillerC
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Chapter 36Chapter 37Chapter 38Chapt
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For my thirteen-year-old self. Your
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PLAYLIST“Pomegranate Seeds” - J
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—sometimes, simply the existence
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they don’t care if their crimes c
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“It doesn’t.” His face redden
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taking the place of violence.My min
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“Dio mio! Suck it in, Elena,” M
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doorway suddenly, the burnt orange
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“What the fuck?” I hiss, hurryi
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CHAPTER 3MY DICK STIFFENS behind my
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And I realize, as she peels that pi
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tucking it in at his sides.If you d
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Breaking off on a strangled cry, sh
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never continued beyond that.Is it p
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that I can’t translate, while Pap
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“Here.” Kal shoves a piece of p
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CHAPTER 5“WELL, this is an intere
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sisters.It’s very clear to me tha
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When I breeze from the room, hittin
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With her, it’s always been about
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CHAPTER 6THE FIRST THING I notice w
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All my life, I chased bruised cheek
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man dubbed Doctor Death by everyone
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CHAPTER 7ELENA DOESN’T LEAVE the
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I bought the jet—a vintage 1987 M
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Of course, I hadn’t known it was
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fucking sentiment. “So you keep s
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strong, like he’s letting me keep
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it? Did you marry me to save me, or
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either side of the hall, we finally
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I know he’s said he was blackmail
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Each year, my mother pinched and sa
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over the black upholstered headboar
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the headlines, my hand already reac
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Kal left me in our room. I hadn’t
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about your affare illecito. So very
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“You’d what, Elena?” I mutter
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CHAPTER 11ELENA’S EYES flare to l
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“I’m not sure this is a good id
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Silence.“Marcelline?” I call ou
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CHAPTER 12THE LONGER I lie naked in
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sisters sometimes say.”“Ah, yes
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flash of distress in those tantaliz
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CHAPTER 13“WHAT IS THIS PLACE?”
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my little wife doesn’t turn and m
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been in this week.Dread funnels in
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CHAPTER 14I’M STILL GLARING at ou
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“Jesus,” the man says, wrenchin
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ones. And after, probably me.I knew
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Besides, I shouldn’t even want mo
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that she learned he was married.His
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at the ache they cause, taking a st
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CHAPTER 16I DON’T GET VERY FAR, s
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Maybe if he hadn’t left you alone
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And then everything goes dark.
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Perching on the edge of the desk, I
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naught, depending on what I find in
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to push the narrative that I stole
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fighting, even if he didn’t know
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hitting you the longer we spoke.”
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good stuff.“We don’t have long,
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smoothness of his ministrations, an
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succulent and entirely too pure for
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the K I put there.Elena blinks down
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tugs on my hair until pain lances a
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CHAPTER 20I FEEL FULL.It’s the on
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threatening to unravel at any momen
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He steps past me, pushing open the
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Page 145 and 146: the contract I signed years ago, ju
Page 147 and 148: “Believe me,” I say, leaning ag
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Page 151 and 152: “Are you okay? You seemed... tens
Page 153 and 154: CHAPTER 22“I’M TELLING YOU, the
Page 155 and 156: were kids. “Anyway... how’s mar
Page 157 and 158: on my arms, sending a shiver gratin
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Page 161 and 162: at all times, there are just certai
Page 163 and 164: Her eyebrows draw inward, and she g
Page 165 and 166: CHAPTER 24SOMEHOW, even before he s
Page 167 and 168: bumps sprouting along my skin. “D
Page 169 and 170: most satisfying delicacy he’s eve
Page 171 and 172: to him, and I feel that familiar pr
Page 173 and 174: CHAPTER 25I’LL NEVER FORGET the l
Page 175 and 176: pissed himself.When I put the bulle
Page 177 and 178: Tony exhales, glancing around the r
Page 179 and 180: glances up, her smile falters, chee
Page 181 and 182: CHAPTER 26HE TELLS me to close my e
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Page 185 and 186: side, shooting daggers at the bounc
Page 187 and 188: his jacket pockets, pressing his li
Page 189 and 190: I just can’t figure out why they
Page 191 and 192: “That’s true. I’m very lovabl
Page 193: She nods. “Always. Ari has a reci
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Page 201 and 202: CHAPTER 29AS BADLY AS I’d love to
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Page 205 and 206: CHAPTER 30“DIO MIO, you must’ve
Page 207 and 208: Mamá snorts into her wine glass.No
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Page 211 and 212: CHAPTER 31I LET the silence filling
Page 213 and 214: “It’s true.” I shrug, ignorin
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Page 217 and 218: CHAPTER 32I MEET my sisters and Lor
Page 219 and 220: Annoyance flickers in my gut, but I
Page 221 and 222: Boston to the ground, just to keep
Page 223 and 224: “Of course, you didn’t, because
Page 225 and 226: Just not the one I’d been hoping
Page 227 and 228: path. Looking up at Kal, I’m stru
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Page 233 and 234: kind of flames that flourish with p
Page 235 and 236: CHAPTER 35THE THEATER LISTED on the
Page 237 and 238: Taking the seat next to hers, I str
Page 239 and 240: Like floodwaters after a hurricane,
Page 241 and 242: my pants; I hiss when she drags the
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yanking my face to hers.“You’re
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The dancers take the stage at the s
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CHAPTER 36ARIANA STARES at me as sh
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in the luxury building.Lucky me, I
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knew from the second I laid eyes on
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“I used to want that from you, to
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shoved my head between her legs.Her
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Over the next couple of weeks, I st
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answer.My eyebrows furrow. “What?
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CHAPTER 38KAL’S SISTER looks like
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Slamming the papers down on the gla
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Wiping his mouth on my thigh, Kal s
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expression in his eyes completely u
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“For what it’s worth, I am sorr
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captive before, because you’re da
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Hades and Persephone.She finally st
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IVERS INTERNATIONAL IS a company fo
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She nods, producing another flash d
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completely around our daughter’s
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THANKS FOR READING!If you enjoyed K
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ALSO BY SAVKing’s Trace Antiheroe
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTSJesus, y’all. I wa
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ABOUT THE AUTHORSav R. Miller write
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Promises and Pomegranates by Sav R. Miller

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