Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 55221 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55221 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
I think of Evie and Wyatt, of them walking into the lab and discovering my hastily scrawled goodbye and notes about the vaccine. In a way I’m glad I wasn’t able to say goodbye in person. It was hard enough the first time, when I’d sent them fleeing from DC. Doing it again, especially now that I know what I’m walking into, would’ve been so much harder. They’ve already lost so much, survived so much. I left them with what I hope is a sort of peace, a knowledge that they can and will create a vaccine. They are my hope for the future now, for the fate of humanity in this new Emergence Era.
“You’re wrong.” Gage speaks through the headset, surprising me from my thoughts.
I open my eyes to find him kneeling in front of me, his fingers on the bottom of my jacket.
“I know you.” He gets the zipper to catch and zips it all the way up to my neck. “I’ve known since we first met.” He gives me a look that probably would’ve melted my heart a few years ago, then he rises and sits beside me.
No more talking, there’s only the noise of the helicopter, the blasting wind, and the slight crackle of static through the headsets.
We sit arm to arm and simply wait.
For landing.
For parting.
For the end.
19
The elevator opens to the familiar gloom of the underground castle. Gage dropped me off, helping me to the ground just outside the garden, then taking off without a word. He watched me, though, his eyes on me as he retreated into the sunrise.
I hurry through the hallway and into the wide staircase landing. “Valen?” I call.
“You’re back?” Druin lands beside me so quickly I jump. He must’ve already been tracking me. “Why are you back? You’re supposed to be at some human fort.”
“Where’s Valen?”
“Gone. He left for the Black Cavern about an hour ago.”
“No.” I sink onto the stairs, my legs going weak. “No.”
“What are you doing here?” He drops a few steps in front of me, concern in his eyes. “It’s not safe.”
“Valen’s not safe. Gregor knows.”
“Knows what?”
“That I’m alive. That Valen’s been lying to him. I don’t know how much deeper it goes, but that’s enough for him t-to—” I shake, my vision going black.
Come to me NOW.
The command floods through me, tearing apart my mind. Agony blooms inside my skull, and for long, excruciating moments, I don’t know anything. I’m not me at all, only a command, only an instruction that must be followed.
“Georgia!” Druin’s voice comes at me from a great distance, like he’s shouting down an overgrown train tunnel.
I gasp, my vision returning in a blast of sensation. But it’s dark here.
“Where am I?” I reach out.
“I’ve got you.” Druin takes my hand.
“What happened?” My head burns, and I feel wetness on my cheek. I taste blood.
“I don’t know. Maybe a seizure? You were shaking, eyes rolled back, and you kept walking. When I tried to stop you, you started hitting your head on the wall. You only stopped when I let go.”
“Gregor. His compulsion.” I keep moving inexorably toward the tracks, toward the Black Cavern.
“Georgia?” Juno’s voice slices through the dark. “What’s going on? Where have you been? You’re bleeding.”
“I have to go.” I can’t stop, can’t disobey.
“Wait.” She steps in front of me. I can’t see anything in the pitch black, only sense her presence.
“He’ll kill Valen. I won’t let him. I can’t let him.” The bridge of my nose burns, tears rolling down my cheeks. “I have to go.” The truth is, Valen may already be dead, but I can’t think about that now. I can’t let it be real. I won’t. And despite our bond being broken, I still believe I can feel him. Somewhere deep inside where even Gregor can’t reach, Valen is there.
“You can’t!” Juno grabs my arms.
“She can’t resist the compulsion,” Druin says quietly. “Gregor’s hold will eventually kill her if she disobeys. She’s already suffering from it.”
“No.” Juno’s voice is quieter, breaking. “Not you. Not you.” She wraps me in her arms, my skin itching to move, to get to Gregor. “Please, no.”
Sparks and rumbling along the track announce the arrival of the empty train carriage. It stops beside me.
“I have to go.” I try to disentangle myself from Juno, but she clings to me.
“No!” She hangs on, her strength crushing me to her. “I won’t let you.”
NOW. The command is acid filling my veins and pumping through my heart. I black out again, my world shattering into a wasteland of pain. There is nothing. Nothing except Gregor’s voice. I must obey it.
When I come to, I’m slumped over in the train car, the side-to-side motion rocking me like a mother with a newborn. I sit up, again tasting blood. I wipe my nose, my fingers coming away wet. Bloody.