Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 66383 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66383 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Cinitta walks in, and her eyes find mine as I lie on the floor. She looks away quickly before Viper notices and heads over to him.
“You should have stayed in that other world. It would have been better for you than your fate here.” I try to move, but I can’t. I try to draw from my powers, and I feel them lurking just under the surface, but it’s like they’re stuck and unable to move forward. “Cinitta is going to watch you, so be on your best behavior and stay quiet while I go and speak to a certain Angel of Death.” Viper turns and strides out, his father going with him. When I see he is gone, I search for Cinitta and find she is standing off near the cages, her gaze firmly fixed on the floor.
“Why do you serve him?” I ask.
“You know why,” she answers.
“Sometimes people who we thought were heroes change. He has changed, Cinitta.” She doesn’t reply.
I check on John, who’s still knocked out. “What did they do to him?” I ask.
Cinitta looks at John’s cage.
“A wolf isn’t meant to be caged. They go insane and will tear it to shreds. This cage is strong enough to withhold most wolves, but Viper is not sure about this one. He is the alpha, after all, so he thought it safer to knock him out.”
“He’ll wake soon,” my sister says, her baby clutched in her arms. She locks eyes with me. “And so will you. Remember who you are, Talia. You aren’t someone who can be broken like this.” I want to believe her, but I don’t know how. I literally feel stuck, and my powers don’t feel the same.
A part of me is missing.
And I don’t like the feeling at all.
“Cinitta, help me.”
“The last time I did that…” She turns toward me, and I watch as a tear leaves her eye.
“What?”
She quickly wipes her cheek.
“I lost a sister.”
I gasp at her words. “I didn’t have a choice,” I choke out.
She shakes her head. “I’m not talking about then… after.”
“Oh.” I attempt to move, but it’s hard. Everything feels so heavy.
But then I hear my name.
It’s loud and filled with power.
Max is angry.
Chapter Eighteen
“Talia,” Tatiana calls my name. “Think about it. Whatever they are using on you is created with power. What do you do with power?” she says in a whisper. “You take it.”
My head rests on the floor, and I hear the screams of Max, my name constantly leaving his lips. I try to do as my sister says, but nothing happens. And then John starts to stir. It’s quiet at first, but I see his slight movements through the cage bars. My sister notices as well.
“Talia, you have to do something. John won’t be able to handle being in a cage.” I watch him as his body comes around. I still can’t work out how to move, though.
It’s draining.
I’m exhausted.
The fatigue is making me want to close my eyes.
My sister keeps on calling my name, but I just can’t seem to care.
Why do I keep ending up in these situations?
A loud bang rings through the room, followed by a growl so deep that it makes me lift my head.
John is awake.
His body slams into the sides of the cage, but it’s not moving. He turns into his wolf and continues throwing himself against the bars.
“Cinitta, let them go.”
Cinitta looks down at me, her purple hair bright as she stands in the light near the cages.
“Viper won’t know. Let them go and blame me.”
“He will know,” she says. “I can’t risk my life again.”
John’s growls grow incessantly louder as he remains trapped in the cage.
“John, stop! You’re scaring the baby.” Tatiana tries to calm him down. “John, look, we are both fine. We’re fine.” He pauses for only a moment before he starts again. Tatiana’s head drops in defeat as John’s growls only become louder and louder with each minute that passes.
Then we hear a bang.
Cinitta whips her head to the doors.
“Cinitta, what’s that?”
She steps away from us, and I try to reach her, but she isn’t close enough.
“I don’t know. It sounds like it’s coming from the front doors,” she says, just as the sound of another explosion reaches us. Her gold eyes find mine, and worry covers her face.
John thrashes in his cage, back and forth, growling so loudly and viciously that I want to cover my ears, but I feel so tired.
So, so tired.
Alan enters the room. His eyes find mine and then Cinitta’s before they flick to the door as another explosion echoes through the room.
“Carry her and leave them,” Alan commands before turning back to head the same way as he came.
Cinitta reaches for me and lifts me with ease. I manage to look back to see my sister watching John as he tries with everything he can to get through that cage, but nothing he does helps the situation.