Betrayal - Book 3 of Guardians Saga - EDITED

CH 7.1 A Feeble Story

A/N Enjoy the music video!

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Alex lounged in a dark leather office chair, her feet resting on the desk. A faint blue light glowed from the computer console beside her, highlighting the faces of Brockner and Scott. "I still think you should take his body to his house.  If the cops find it here or even nearby, they'll ask too many questions."

With horror crawling down their necks, the brothers peered through the cracked open door and saw Dr. Dewey and Rile sprawled on the floor. Alex spared the prone figures a disdainful glance.

"Are you convinced?" Cale whispered. The terrible look on Gabe's face was his answer.

Brockner squinted at Alex through the smoke of his cigarette, then lazily flicked the ashes towards the floor. He spoke slowly, each word laden with skepticism. "You expect us to believe that you lost your memory for months and didn't care enough to try and find out what happened? You weren't curious about waking up with a nut-job like Morgan? It's pretty feeble, like you read it in a cheap novel." Brockner dragged on his cigarette until the end glowed a deep red, the tip trembling from his inhalations.

Alex flicked her fingers at him in dismissal. "Life, my friend, is very different from the grand adventures and complex stories described in books. Reality is simple and mundane. Accept it - no matter how unappealing it may be."

Why does everyone find it so hard to believe that I don't care about my past? Fire truck Hollywood. Everyone in the movies is always discovering their past.         

Scott let out a low, mocking chuckle at Alex's dig. In an instant, Gabe and Cale had descended upon Scott and Brockner. Cale's staff glinted in the light as it swept across the room, pinning Brockner into place. Gabe followed the sweep of his staff with a sharp jab to Scott's midsection, sending him crumpling to the ground. Next, Gabe spun Alex around, slamming her into the wall and pressing his dagger against her throat.

Gabe's voice rumbled from deep within his chest as he spoke with a deadly calm. "Tell us what really happened. Now."

Alex swallowed hard, her gaze tracing the cold steel pressed against her neck. "Gabe, you've got the wrong impression. Really, really wrong."

Cale approached the two bodies side-by-side, his face screwing into a grimace as he knelt and laid his hand on Dr. Dewey's neck. His strong fingers moved slowly in search of a pulse, and after a few moments of silence and tense anticipation, he shook his head and repeated the process with Rile. "No pulse," he said bleakly, standing up and turning to Alex with despair written all over his face.

Gabe stepped forward and pressed the blade of his knife against Alex's throat, demanding the truth.

"They're not dead. They just need to be . . . well . . . activated, or they'll wake up on their own in a day or so. Palpate for the pulse longer, it will be there. Faint and slow, but there," Alex responded, wincing at the cold steel against her skin. "My neuro-electric powers protect their brains from lack of oxygen."

The dagger against her throat didn't flinch, reflecting its owner's disbelief.

"If you believe that, I can sell you a bridge or two." Brockner choked out as he raised himself up on one elbow. "She killed your friends and you'll be next the second she has a chance."

With his good arm, Cale hauled him up by the neck. "Tell us what you know."

"Don't listen to him. He's the enemy. I was assigned to stop him. He'll say anything," Alex said, her voice trembling under the pressure of the blade against her skin.

"You remembered that big, bad past of yours?  Tell us," Gabe said.

"I don't remember everything, so I can't tell you everything, but you must release me. Doctor Dewey and the others aren't dead. Let me go and I'll show you." Alex's mind raced as she tried to remembere the past she had been trying to forget for so long.