Had he bluffed when the weapon wasn’t even fully ready yet? It sounded like it. And I’d played right into his hand. Not that I’d had a choice. He had Victory.
When the car parked, we stepped out. Maxim immediately grasped my hand as soldiers craned their necks to look at us.
I wondered what they thought of me. About to surrender my lands and my people. Did I look weak? Did they know it was to save my sister?
We stepped inside the large warehouse building. A large circular metal object sat in the middle of the room, looming ten feet high. It looked like a huge cannonball. There were rivets at the seams, but even so, I could see something glowing inside.
Ember.
“Ember isn’t combustible,” I said in confusion. We’d tried to make ember bombs, but when struck, it just broke apart into smaller pieces. It was like coal but burned much longer and naturally.
Maxim grinned, finally letting my hand go. “That’s where our lovely Whitney comes into play. Her gift is that she can mutate the properties of something, and we recently learned she canmake the smallest piece of ember explode like a firework. Isn’t that right, Sergeant?”
Guilt and shame washed over Whitney’s face. “Yes, sir.”
“And now we get to see what happens with a big piece.” Maxim rubbed his hands together and began to walk over to his men. I had planned on staying back, but my legs began to move, unbidden by me, and I followed him.
Controlling bastard.
“Everything all set for the test?” Maxim asked one of his men, who was screwing some lid on the top of the metal ball.
“Yes, sir,” the man said, his gaze flicking to me. He glared at me, not even bothering to hide his hatred.
Maxim seemed to pick up on it. Leaning into me, he whispered against my neck. “When you blew up the Red Palace, you killed Sergei’s father, too.”
Crap. My stomach dropped. I was probably not going to survive long here. If Maxim didn’t kill me, someone would.
Maxim looked surprised, and I realized I hadn’t hidden that thought, and Ricov was lurking in his usual lurker ways.
“Oh, my little pet. I won’t let anything happen to you. Ever. You are my greatest trophy.”
Maxim leaned in to kiss my cheek. I tried to move away, but he held me there. His cold, slightly damp lips pressed to my cheek, and I inwardly cringed.
Clenching my fists, I dug my nails into my palms. I missed Kohen. I missedhiskisses, I missed making love to him for the first time, and I missed beinghiswife. This new reality was devastating. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could take it.
You are my greatest trophy.Normal people collected painted rocks. Maxim collected people. Liana was right when she said he didn’t have a soul. This demon was dead inside. I was sure of it. And as long as I was alive, he had my power. I couldn’t even die because he had my sister.
It all felt so hopeless.
We walked outside, my steps in perfect synch with Whitney’s as Maxim’s soldiers rolled the giant spherical bomb out behind us.
I watched as Whitney walked over to the bomb with puppet-like steps and laid her hands on it. A single tear slid down her face as she bowed her head and rested it on the bomb. I hadn’t noticed it before, but an eagle creature screeched above us. Was it hers? It seemed agitated, as if warning her not to do this. Her hands glowed a sickly green, and I wondered if it was really her doing this, or Maxim, or a little of both. I wasn’t judging. I’d do the same for Victory or any one of my sisters.
The metal glowed that same sickly green, and then Whitney staggered backward, breathless. The eagle above us cried out, and now I was sure it was her creature. Heat washed over me like an invisible fire, and I stepped forward, Maxim clearly allowing it. I was shocked to find the source of the heat was the ember ball. She’d… definitely activated it in some way.
“Professor,” Maxim said, and an older man wearing civilian clothes stepped over to the ball, holding his hands out.
I cocked my head to the side, curious as to what was going to happen, and then Maxim forced my legs to step backward. I hated the feeling of my body moving without my permission.
“You can ask me to move,” I growled at him.
“Where’s the fun in that?” he sneered.
That sick feeling was back in my stomach. I dreaded being alone with him and began to panic. Then the ball started levitating, and all thoughts flew out of my head.
The professor had his hands up and seemed to be guiding the giant bomb up and out into the open field.
“Sir, we should go back inside. There could be debris,” a soldier told Maxim. He nodded, and then Whitney and I were walking in tandem, against our will, at Maxim’s side. Now I sawwhy she was so important to him. His dangerous weapon was nothing without her. And he couldn’t control anyone without me.
