down. Despite everything I will to happen, the darkness takes me over.
I can’t help her.
I have to help her.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Gracen
I ’M COLD.
And I’m wet again.
And my head hurts.
And I think I’m lying on concrete.
I can’t be sure, though.
I don’t even think I can really get my eyes to open fully.
I keep trying.
With all the screams going on around me, I’m not sure I want to open my eyes. I don’t want to see. Not really. A big part of me needs to see. A big part of me has no intentions of seeing the world die around me. I know what’s causing it. I know what’s killing all those people.
I am.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Hart
I ’M COLD.
And I’m wet again.
And my head hurts.
And I think I’m lying on concrete.
I can’t be sure.
I don’t even think I can really get my eyes to open fully.
I keep trying.
I will them as hard as my brain, which doesn’t like me at the moment, can, and I beg and plead with it to make my eyes open, make my legs move, make my body react on command. Because that’s what normal bodies do. They react on command.
I can hear, though. Well, some. I hear Lucien’s voice somewhere really far away. I think he’s talking to someone. Probably Seth. Probably giving him the play by play of what he did to me. They’re probably discussing what they’re going to do with Gracen.
I hate to tell them, but they aren’t doing anything with Gracen.
Whatever the big plan is, Seth must not have done it yet. When my eyes flutter open I can see purple lightning outside the really small, really high window on the other wall. I think I’m in a basement.
Awesome.
A basement.
My eyes roll around a few times, trying to focus on something. Anything. I’d take a freakin’ rat if it helped me see what’s going on. If there’s something around me that can help, not that I think there will be. I don’t have that kind of luck.
No, with my luck, this basement is in Hell, and when I finally focus on something, Amelia will jump out at me with that sledgehammer she loved so well and say, “Surprise!”
A light flickers on a few feet from me.
It’s so bright I cover my abused eyes and scurry up until I’m sitting as straight as I can, my back against the wall, my knees drawn to my chest.
I feel like a cornered animal.
I don’t like feeling like a cornered animal.
I pull at the chains, trying to break them and get away. It’s no use… since they are chains and all. And I’m human now. I hate my life.
“Calm down. It’s just me.”
I don’t have to see him to know it’s my brother. Of course it’s my brother. Who else would have me chained in the basement while the world is ending?
How messed up are we that this is our life?
How messed up that I killed him because an angel whispered in my ear that he shot me?
How messed up…
Shit.
“You drugged me.” I don’t sound as mean or as intimidating as I want to sound. I sound tired. Really tired. My voice is scratchy like an old man that has smoked for fifty years. Not sexy at all. Good thing I’m not going for sexy. I’m going for… Hell, I don’t know what I’m going for. I’m mad that he drugged me, obviously. I’m scared that Gracen will kill the world. I miss her. I want to save her. I have no idea how something like me, a nobody, can save her. I can’t even save myself. I pull at the chains to remind me of that.
Stop… stop I have to focus. One task at a time.
One: See.
Two: Talk some damn sense into Lucien.
Three: Get out of the basement.
Four: Find Gracen.
Five: Save the world.
Easy.
Though at the moment, seeing seems to be as difficult as saving the world.
“Can you cut off the light? It’s sort of burning a hole in my incredibly old retinas.”
He does. I’m thankful.
I blink a few times, and my eyes adjust slightly.
Even though it’s dark outside, when the purple lightning flashes, I can see things. Shapes mostly. Shapes is a kind word. Blob is a better word for it. I see
I can’t help her.
I have to help her.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Gracen
I ’M COLD.
And I’m wet again.
And my head hurts.
And I think I’m lying on concrete.
I can’t be sure, though.
I don’t even think I can really get my eyes to open fully.
I keep trying.
With all the screams going on around me, I’m not sure I want to open my eyes. I don’t want to see. Not really. A big part of me needs to see. A big part of me has no intentions of seeing the world die around me. I know what’s causing it. I know what’s killing all those people.
I am.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Hart
I ’M COLD.
And I’m wet again.
And my head hurts.
And I think I’m lying on concrete.
I can’t be sure.
I don’t even think I can really get my eyes to open fully.
I keep trying.
I will them as hard as my brain, which doesn’t like me at the moment, can, and I beg and plead with it to make my eyes open, make my legs move, make my body react on command. Because that’s what normal bodies do. They react on command.
I can hear, though. Well, some. I hear Lucien’s voice somewhere really far away. I think he’s talking to someone. Probably Seth. Probably giving him the play by play of what he did to me. They’re probably discussing what they’re going to do with Gracen.
I hate to tell them, but they aren’t doing anything with Gracen.
Whatever the big plan is, Seth must not have done it yet. When my eyes flutter open I can see purple lightning outside the really small, really high window on the other wall. I think I’m in a basement.
Awesome.
A basement.
My eyes roll around a few times, trying to focus on something. Anything. I’d take a freakin’ rat if it helped me see what’s going on. If there’s something around me that can help, not that I think there will be. I don’t have that kind of luck.
No, with my luck, this basement is in Hell, and when I finally focus on something, Amelia will jump out at me with that sledgehammer she loved so well and say, “Surprise!”
A light flickers on a few feet from me.
It’s so bright I cover my abused eyes and scurry up until I’m sitting as straight as I can, my back against the wall, my knees drawn to my chest.
I feel like a cornered animal.
I don’t like feeling like a cornered animal.
I pull at the chains, trying to break them and get away. It’s no use… since they are chains and all. And I’m human now. I hate my life.
“Calm down. It’s just me.”
I don’t have to see him to know it’s my brother. Of course it’s my brother. Who else would have me chained in the basement while the world is ending?
How messed up are we that this is our life?
How messed up that I killed him because an angel whispered in my ear that he shot me?
How messed up…
Shit.
“You drugged me.” I don’t sound as mean or as intimidating as I want to sound. I sound tired. Really tired. My voice is scratchy like an old man that has smoked for fifty years. Not sexy at all. Good thing I’m not going for sexy. I’m going for… Hell, I don’t know what I’m going for. I’m mad that he drugged me, obviously. I’m scared that Gracen will kill the world. I miss her. I want to save her. I have no idea how something like me, a nobody, can save her. I can’t even save myself. I pull at the chains to remind me of that.
Stop… stop I have to focus. One task at a time.
One: See.
Two: Talk some damn sense into Lucien.
Three: Get out of the basement.
Four: Find Gracen.
Five: Save the world.
Easy.
Though at the moment, seeing seems to be as difficult as saving the world.
“Can you cut off the light? It’s sort of burning a hole in my incredibly old retinas.”
He does. I’m thankful.
I blink a few times, and my eyes adjust slightly.
Even though it’s dark outside, when the purple lightning flashes, I can see things. Shapes mostly. Shapes is a kind word. Blob is a better word for it. I see
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