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)
No.
I staggered toward the bathroom and turned the faucet on. Major would expect me to brush my teeth, though how he expected me to do it when my brain was shutting off so fast, I didn’t know. I dragged myself toward the door and pressed my ear against the cold wood, glad for the feel of it against my body. My legs buckled under me and I sank down on my knees. Black dots flitted in and out of my vision. I felt heavy and weightless at the same time.
That hadn’t been normal sleeping pills. They were supposed to knock me out. Major still hadn’t moved away. What if he was going to check on me in a few minutes? I crawled toward the bed, extinguished the lights, covered my body with the blanket and pretended to be asleep. I was scared of closing my eyes, scared that I wouldn’t be able to open them again, that I’d drift off to sleep immediately. After a few seconds, I wasn’t even sure where the mattress ended and my body started. My legs felt numb. And my mind wanted to shut off.
I dug my nails into the soft skin of my inner thigh and the pain banished some of the mist from my head. I heard the door open and lay very still as steps came up to the bed. Suddenly Major gripped my wrist. Without the pills already turning my body into mush, I would have flinched. What was he doing? He turned my arm so my palm was facing upward and then he pressed something hard and cold against the skin below the crook of my elbow. There was a click and something sharp pierced my skin, sending a stabbing pain through my arm. What had he done?
He released my arm and after a moment, his steps retreated and I was alone again. This time Major didn’t wait in front of my room. He left.
Relief surged through me but then came the realization that my body was too heavy to move and I still didn’t know what he’d done to my arm. I rolled over, closer to the edge of the bed. With my arms—which were getting heavier by the second—I heaved myself out of bed. My face pressed against the floor. I was so tired. My eyes were just slits. The world was nothing but cotton and mist. Cotton and mist.
With my elbows, I slithered toward the door. I glanced up at the door handle. It was so high up. With a groan, I raised myself up on my arms and gripped the handle. My fingers slipped off and I smashed back to the ground. But the door was ajar. I pried it open and peered into the corridor. It was dark and abandoned. Major must have gone to his room on the floor below.
There was only one person who could tell me everything and help me find Abel’s Army and Holly. My mother. And there was only one person who could help me find her. I crawled across the hall, raised my fist a few inches over the ground and hammered against the door. What if he didn’t hear it?
I felt myself drifting away when the door opened. I peeked up at Devon’s surprised face, surrounded by a halo of murkiness, then my head dropped and my world turned black.
Slowly, I came to my senses and my vision returned. A soothing voice trickled through the darkness. I tried to cling to it, to let it pull me out of unconsciousness.
“Tessa, what happened?”
I blinked against the blurriness. The shape of a face hovered in front of me. After a few seconds, it became clear. Devon looked down at me with a deep frown. My head rested on his lap and he was stroking my hair.
Where were we? I tried to sit up but stars erupted in my vision. Devon touched my temples and suddenly the heaviness was gone from my limbs and the dizziness disappeared from my head. But I didn’t try to sit up again. I quickly took inventory of the situation; I was in Devon’s room, sprawled out on the floor and his door was closed.
“Did anyone see us? You didn’t call Major, did you?” I croaked.
“No,” Devon said gently. “I didn’t know what was wrong with you. And to be honest, I’m not sure if I trust him.”
That made me smile. At least I wasn’t the only one. With Alec it had always been obvious that he was on Major’s side, that the FEA was the thing that mattered most to him. “You shouldn’t.”
Devon’s blond brows drew together. “I shouldn’t what?”
The smile crumbled. “Trust him.” I wished I had come to that realization months ago. It would have spared me a lot of heartache.
“Why did you take sleeping pills and then crawl across the hall?” Devon asked softly.