Exposed [Book 4 in the Expiring Series]

29 Shattered

Iris~~

For a second, I am whole.

Then there's a crack. Just a tiny crack, and a piece of me falls away. And then another. And another. And at first it feels as if it's only one piece at a time, but then it's as if it's two, then three, then four. I shatter until my entirety is nothing but a pile of shards on the ground where I stood.

"No." Jonas's voice cuts like a blade. "You will not put her through that."

Odette. I look at the building. Odette is in there.

Odette who tortured Bently. Who killed and killed and killed and forced me to watch, to hear.

Two Veil approach, and I shrink back.

I won't see her.

I won't do that.

Stepping in front of me, Jonas grabs hold of the Veil on the right and punches him.

The other Veil grabs my arm.

No.

I whirl, rounding on the Veil, and I drive my elbow into the spot beside his shoulder blade. He releases me and turns, but I send my fist into his face beforeONLYONWATTPADBENDERhe can grab me.

Gathering my skirts in my hands, I backup.

I can't go in there. I won't.

I won't be made to feel like an object again. I'm a person with feelings. I'm human.

"Iris," Moretti's voice taunts from somewhere behind me. "Where do you think you're going?"

I grip my skirts tighter. What would happen if I punched him? Because at this point it doesn't seem like he will let either of us go. For all I know, he plans to keep me locked up in a cell with Odette.

Odette.

I feel the world shift as if it's suddenly titled on its axis. What will she do to me? We were told Amoria disapproved of her actions on Earth, but wouldn't they enjoy watching her tear me apart? Bently and I were the ones she didn't get to kill, and while Odette seemed to want me alive back then, those feelings could have changed during her imprisonment.

Jonas continues to hold the one Veil back, but the one who tried to grab me stalks toward me. Jonas notices, but before he can do anything, his Veil punches him in the jaw, sending him stumbling back.

The other Veil is almost upon me, separating me from Jonas.

I bend my knees, ready to launch into a defensive tactic when a pair of muscled arms wrap around me and tug me against a hard chest. "Behave." Moretti's beard scratches my cheek.

Jonas whirls toward us, his eyes wide. His attention slipped, the two Veil are able to subdue him.

I thrash against Moretti only to see more Veil slink from the shadows. One pulls my arms forward and clips a pair of handcuffs on my wrists.

Jonas shouts, but whatever he says is muffled; it's as if my ears have been submerged underwater; there's a hum in my eardrums.

I sway.

But the Preeminence's arms keep me from falling. The wrong Preeminence's arms.

Hands brush the sides of my hair, grazing over the tips of my ears, and cloth presses against my eyelids, stealing my sight.

"That should keep her subdued," a voice says as hands tug at the ends of the blindfold, tying it into a rough knot against my hair.

Don't beg.