Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 88119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
“Aren’t we on the same side now? FEA, fighting for the right thing?” he asked, but there was a trace of sarcasm in his voice.
He rested his palms on my face and after a few seconds, the dull throbbing in my nose ceased. Slowly he removed his hands. “Do you need anything else?” he asked in a careful voice.
I began to shake my head but my body began trembling uncontrollably. I gasped. “Holly was taken.”
Devon reached for my hand. “Shit,” he murmured. “I’m so sorry, Tessa. I haven’t been in headquarters for long, but I can tell how close you two were. I’m sure FEA will find her.”
His blue eyes bored into me and suddenly I couldn’t take it anymore. “Devon, I’m sorry, but I need to be alone.”
The understanding on his face nearly undid me. When he closed the door after him, I dropped to my knees in the doorway to the bathroom. It took a while before I found the strength to stand.
I couldn’t stop staring at Holly’s empty bed. Her sheets with the huge sunflowers (she couldn’t stand the starch white FEA issued sheets) were crumpled and the pink teddy bear that her younger siblings had given her last Christmas was perched on the pillow. I’d caught Holly pressing it against her chest more than once in the middle of the night. She’d always denied it with a happy little smile. My stomach clenched painfully at the memory.
Now she was gone.
Gone.
What would they tell her family if she never returned? Would anyone tell them? Or would Major just make up a story?
I’d fought the tears back for hours, but now I couldn’t stop them. The flood gates opened, and they poured down my face. I still wasn’t sure what had happened. But somehow I knew they hadn’t intended to take Holly. It was why everyone had been so afraid to let me go. They’d been given orders to take the auburn-haired girl from the Livingston mission. Me. And because I had looked like Alec, the guy had thought Holly was his target.
The door to my room opened and Alec stepped in. Deep shadows spread under his eyes and he was still wearing the suit he’d worn for the mission, but he’d loosened the tie and unbuttoned the top two buttons of the white shirt. Red dots sprinkled the collar and parts of the front. Alec followed my eyes.
“It’s your blood,” he explained like I could have forgotten that my nose had been broken earlier that day.
He scanned my face. “Devon was here?” he asked neutrally.
I nodded. Slowly, I tried to stand, my legs wobbly. “What did Stevens say? Did he tell you where they took Holly?” I wished I could have been present during the interrogation.
Alec looked exhausted. “He didn’t tell us anything.”
“But he must have said something! He knows where Abel’s Army is.” Despair rang out in my voice. It seemed to fill every fiber of my body.
“Maybe he doesn’t,” Alec said softly. “If it’s true that they have a Variant who can alter memories, they might have done that to him, because he was new and they weren’t sure about his loyalty.”
“Why?” I whispered. “Why would he work for them?”
“I’m sure they promised him money or power.”
My legs gave way and I sank down onto the bed. Money and power? That seemed too easy. I covered my face with my hands, unable to stop the sobs. The mattress dipped as Alec sat down and pulled me against him. I buried my face in the crook of his neck. He felt so solid and strong. My fingers clutched at his arms and my tears soaked his shirt. I couldn’t stop them.
“I’m so scared. What if they hurt her?” I gasped. My throat felt swollen and raw. “God, Alec, I love her. If something happens to her, I-I…” I didn’t even know what I’d do. If anything horrible happened to Holly, because they’d mistaken her for me, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.
“I know,” he whispered against my hair, kissing the top of my head over and over again.
And I knew he did. For once it was a relief to know he could feel what I felt, that no words were necessary. He tightened his hold on me.
“This is all my fault. They wanted me. I know it,” I said miserably.
“Don’t say that. It wasn’t your fault, and you don’t know that they wanted you. Abel’s Army wants to hurt FEA and they don’t care who gets in their way.”
“Alec, they said get the girl. Why would they have orders to catch Holly? I was the one they saw in Livingston,” I said. “They wanted me.”
Alec didn’t argue again. He just held me and let me cry until I had no tears left. I hung limply in his grasp, forcing myself to breathe in and out. His familiar scent surrounded me, brought me back to better memories, and slowed my pulse.