Nausea burns up my throat as we come to a stop, but when we do, the whitewashed walls and cries of fear are gone. In their place stands a dark, looming, gothic building with a handful of steps between us. Marble lion statues stand on either side of thedouble-arched doors, while candles of all shapes and sizes lie scattered in every corner, lighting the way. It’s almost pretty, but the way the green cloud looms overhead makes an eeriness settle in my gut.
Maybe I did die and find my way to Hell after all.
“It’s impressive, isn’t it? The Sanctum aren’t the only ones with their own world,” he muses, awe lilting his voice as he stares at the masterpiece before us.
I glance back over my shoulder, hoping for an escape, but there’s nothing but darkness that frames us. Clearing my throat, I turn my attention back to the building, only for my breath to lodge in my throat at the new arrival standing at the top.
Walker.
My knees threaten to buckle beneath me at the familiarity his arrival offers. His brown hair is still cropped as he stands with his feet shoulder-width apart and his arms folded over his chest, a stance I’ve seen him take a thousand times before. Only those times we were always side by side, now we’re on opposite sides of the fence, and there’s no way that’s ever going to change.
I may have followed him into the madness once or twice before, but that’s when he had my trust, maybe even a little piece of my heart, but I’m not that girl anymore. I never will be.
“Where’s Kael?” I breathe when I realize one of the men on my shit list is no longer present, and Jude shrugs, running his fingers through his mousy-blonde hair.
“I thought you’d be glad to see the back of him.”
I gulp. “I am,” I rasp, and Jude’s grin widens.
“Then forget about him, and get ready for me to show you our mission.” He takes two steps forward, but pauses the second he realizes I’m not immediately at his side. He peers over his shoulder, cocking a brow at me as I shake my head.
“You meanyourmission,” I clarify, and he snickers, raking his teeth over his bottom lip as his eyes settle on mine.
“But, Little Weapon, it’s destined to be ours.”
2
KAEL
My brother moves, making my heart lurch as I reach out for Elodie, but she slips from my grasp, a promise against my fingertips, before her touch becomes nothing more than a whisper snatched away like it never happened.
Clenching my hands at my sides, my shoulders slump as defeat ricochets through me from head to toe.
Fuck.
That wasnotsupposed to happen.
Fuck. Fuck.
My breathing grows labored with every sharp inhale, my racing heart threatening to tear from my chest as I clench my eyes closed, willing my surroundings to morph to the familiar four walls of my room back at Institute Thirteen. Not even my room, actually, the damn lounge area I share with Thorne and Rion. I want to be back there again, just like I was this morning, tangled in the sheets with Elodie at my side.
It was bliss.
Until I ghosted my fingers across her bare skin and felt the puckered wounds on her back. My sanity plummeted before I could take my next breath, and before I could process what I was doing, I was out of the sofabed and down in the hollows ofInstitute Thirteen, pummeling my fists into Warren Blackwood’s face like my life depended on it.
Everything has gone downhill from there.
I still haven’t had a real chance to talk to Elodie about the fact that we’ve been keeping her fake father hidden in the basement, and now she’s gone.
Jude has her caught in his web, and it’s all my fault.
When he reached out moments before the Institute Games started, telling me to get her away from the chaos, I heeded his warning and did just that. I didn’t have all of the facts, though. I thought he meant for her safety, not to?—
Fuck.
I should have stopped him. I should have refused. I should have protected her. But I also should have known that’s never an option when Jude is involved.
Besides, while she’s not here, she’s not under the watchful eye of The Sanctum. I don’t know which is the lesser of two evils. At least Jude won’t harm her. He needs her too much. The only thing The Sanctum has done is cause her pain.
