by Mark Henwick
“Bian.” I stopped her as she made to leave after a monitor had been delivered for Jen. Alex sat silently attaching wires.
“You must rest, Amber.”
“I will. There’s something I must tell you and Skylur.” I was barely able to speak. My thoughts skittered around like marbles dropped on a stone floor. “Matlal…”
“You’re safe, he’s being held.”
“No.” I grimaced. If only my shoulder would stop hurting. If only my head would stop spinning. “Not that.”
She pushed me gently back onto the bed, next to Jen.
“Matlal’s not real,” I said, slurring.
Bian frowned.
“He’s really what his publicity says he is. Barrio boy made good. Not the real leader,” I said carefully. I wasn’t making sense. I tried to sit up, but Bian pushed me back down again. I could smell the pacifics coming off her.
“Not old enough. Not strong enough.” I struggled. “A feint. To draw our attention.”
“He was the leader of Basilikos, Amber.”
“No,” I whispered. “A puppet.”
“For who?”
I felt her eyes on me. Not Bian’s. Hers. The eyes that saw too much, too easily. The voice that, given time, would have turned me aside, even against my friends. A feeling like something cold had slithered over my shoulders.
“Vega Martine.”
“I’ll look into it,” Bian said, still frowning. “I promise.”
I closed my eyes for a second. She would check, but she didn’t believe me. I hoped she would believe before it was too late.
When I opened my eyes, she was gone.
Alex was sitting like a statue, watching Jen’s vital signs. Didn’t need to. I was watching. Both of them. Our hearts thumped in lazy time together.
We’d been betrayed and we’d survived.
Things had just gotten really complicated.
But I’d make it work.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53