More Power More Hope- Book Three In The United Series

Chapter 3

Adam's POV:

Max stiffens next to me as the name 'Ivan' appears on the screen and I quickly shut the T.V off. I don't like Ivan. I don't trust him and I never did, but Max does, and I'll respect that.

I don't bother thinking as I reach out and grab Max's hand and give a soft squeeze of reassurance. I want to tell her that it'll all be okay, that she'll be okay, but I don't want to jinx it.

She flinches when I grab her hand. Being Number Two, she's been through a really tough life. I want to help her, but I don't know how.

I slightly scoot closer to Max and hope she doesn't notice. I don't know what I'm doing. I really have no idea. I don't like her in a romantic way nor am I attracted to her, but still. I feel like I'm obligated to protect her and keep her safe. A memory flashes through my head: twelve year old Maggie Hoyle, lying on the ground as Ivan smashes his foot onto her back. She's looking up at me with wide, scared, and pleading green eyes behind cracked, dirty frames. I can hear her small voice ringing in my ears: 'You said you'd help me'.

My breath catches in my throat and I have to stop my hands from shaking. Maggie Hoyle doesn't exist anymore. Max Jackson does, and this Number Two doesn't need to be protected.

But I once again can't stop myself as I sling my arm around her shoulders, pulling myself close to her, so close our sides are touching. It's weird- I want her to respond in any way. I want her to scoot closer or lay her head on my shoulder, anything to show that she trusts me despite what happened, even if I don't deserve it.

"Uh, John told me you got Lumen," I tell her, trying to break the silence.

"Yeah. I did," replies, looking straight at me with her half-blue, half-black eyes. I realize her short black hair is returning to its original color- the roots are turning red. She told everyone that she dyed her hair black after she escaped the Mogadorian base she was resurrected in. Every time one of us asked her why her eyes were half-blue and half-black, she would just purse her lips and try to change the subject. We never did get it out of her.

"Can I see?" I ask her, referring to her Lumen. She nods her head and holds her palm out in front of me. Seconds later, a soft blue light emits from her palm. It's not too bright, so it doesn't hurt my eyes or anything.

I smile at the sight of it. I look deeply into her eyes and despite the color change, her eyes look exactly the same way it did a couple years ago.

That's when everything goes downhill.

There's a huge explosion from the living room, shaking the entire penthouse. Max automatically jumps off my bed, my arm slipping from her shoulder. All the lights go out and it's pitch black besides Max's Lumen, which she keeps shining brightly.

She unsheathes a Celestial bronze sword that looks exactly like Percy's, but not disguised as a pen. I follow her out of my room into more darkness. There's groaning from the living room and Max hasn't gotten any scars, so I know the Garde are okay, but what about Sam and Malcolm? What about BK? What about Ella? Are they all okay?

I cautiously walk next to Max as she heads into the living room. She points her palm towards the living room down the hall and it's a mess. It's like the whole ceiling collapsed. Max gasps and rushes over to someone's side. She puts her sword down beside her and starts to rip rocks off of the fallen, unconscious person on the ground. I kneel next to her and see who she's helping.

Ella.

"Ella," I just barely whisper before helping Max dig Ella up from the mess of rocks on top of her. Max is much stronger than me with her Garde enhancement and takes much more rocks off of Ella than I do. She finally pulls the last rock off of her after awhile.

Max picks up Ella and lays her head on her lap. She checks Ella's pulse and sighs in relief.

"She's still alive. Can you take her to your room? Let her rest?" Max asks me. I nod my head and carry Ella to my room. It isn't hard; Ella has the weight of a feather.

I place Ella on my bed and that's when I hear the worst thing I've ever heard. Worse than the explosion and the groaning of my hurt friends combined.

"Adam! Adam!"

Max, calling for help. She needs help.

I forget about everything else and rush out the door, my heart pounding. I can't let anything happen to her, not again. I hear muffled screams but I can't see anything. It's pitch black. Max's Lumen has died and I can't see her.

I start to panic. Max is in trouble and I can't even see her.

I run around blindly and almost trip about five times before I can tell where the muffled screams are coming from. It's exactly where Ella was.

I find my way there and I still can't see anything, but I can sense that Max isn't the only one here.

Without thinking, I jump at the sound where the muffled screams, which are obviously from Max, are coming from. But not right where Max is. I jump at the back of Max.

I hit a hard body, too tough to be Max, so I know I didn't hit her. I hear gasps, like someone just being strangled finally got a gasp of air.

The body I hit struggles against me and I punch wildly at him. At one point I hit a hard rock next to him but I keep going. This idiot hurt Max, and he's going to pay for it.

The person, most likely another Mogadorian, punches me in the ribs three times before I grab a rock from the ground and slam it against what I know is his head. He's knocked out automatically and I stand up, breathing heavily.

I look around and I can hear shaky breaths coming from my right. I turn that way, knowing it's Max.

"Max?" I call out cautiously. After a few moments of silence, a blue light flickers from where the shaky breaths are coming from. Lumen.

I rush there and kneel beside Max. She has a long cut from her head to her chin on the right side of her face and multiple new open wounds. A tsunami of anger surges through me but I quickly push it down at the thought that Max needs some serious medical help. She's breathing heavily and I sit down, laying my legs flat. I gently take Max's shoulders and rest her head on my lap. Near her, I notice a thick blue cloth.

I reach over and grab it. I don't have to place the cloth directly in front of my nose to know that there's something on there that was used against Max. The Mogadorian tried to drug her.

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