Isle of Sanctum | The Aya Thrasher Chronicles | Book 1 |[Editing]

Chapter Seventy

CHAPTER SEVENTY

RAYNE

Serina stayed by my side for the next hour or so. I was feeling better already, so I didn't understand why I had to stay there. On top of it, I had to process the news that Serina was my birth mother. I still wasn't sure how I felt about that yet.

"Do you want something to drink?" Serina asked.

I shook my head and pointed to the glass of water by my table side. "I'm good."

Adjusting the pillow, I sat up in the bed and noticed Lake and Ace standing by the door. Lake pressed her face against the window and the handle of the door jiggled. I was glad I was allowed to see them again.

Lake practically danced into the room and her face was beaming with a smile. "You're okay," she said happily.

"I think I'm okay," I smiled back. My fingers crawled along the side of my bandaged face. "Well, except for this."

"It will heal," Soren snarked and crossed his arms. "Just get her and let's get out of here."

I shot Soren a look. I had never experienced Soren acting like that toward me before. What was his problem? Maybe he was just jealous? I didn't get why. Lake and I were just friends and that was it.

"Where's Aya?" I asked.

"She's on the outer-ring, we have to go to her," Lake sighed.

Serina stood up. "No, she needs to stay here."

I lifted the corner of the tape from the vein and tried to tear it off slowly, but it was tearing my skin. I grabbed onto another corner and pulled it quickly this time. The needle of the IV fell out and a drop of blood oozed out. I wiped it away and got out of the bed.

"Where are you going?" Serina asked.

"With my friends," I said.

Serina grabbed my arm. "If you're going, I'm going with you. I can't lose you again," she said.

"Fine, if that's what you want," I said as I reached for my clothes from my bedside.

"Lose you again?" Lake asked.

I sighed and pulled the curtain across the room. "It's a long story. I'll tell you about it another time." I removed my hospital gown and slipped on my clothes. I tossed the gown onto the bed and pulled the curtain open. In the process, I almost fell. It was hard to do much with one good eye.

Lake helped to guide me out of the room. I could tell Soren wasn't too happy. He had a pout I wished I could slap off his face.

"Why is Aya on the outer-ring?" I asked.

"They—" Soren began to say something, but Ace kicked him in the shin.

As we started to travel away from the hospital, Serina consistently tried to get us to turn back, but none of us were willing to leave Aya alone. Lake had explained that the Wyres had taken Aya and they couldn't fight them off without me. I knew the extent of my powers and knew that I was their only hope.

It didn't take long for us to reach the tower. I was starting to get irritated with these Wyres. They kept coming back after we were defeating them. It was really obnoxious. I had made up my mind that I was going to end them once and for all.

We came up through the second tower, the same tower Lake and I had come to when I broke out. Lake explained why we had to go through this tower, instead of going straight through the main tower.

As we reached the bridge connecting the two towers, Pryn greeted us. Not her again. Why were they just standing there talking to her? Were they in cahoots with her now? Or was she on our side. It was hard to tell.

"We delivered Rayne, as promised," Soren told Pryn.

"Wait what?" I asked.

Lake brushed her fingers against my upper arm. "I'm sorry Rayne. We had no choice. The Wyres said they would stop the release of the virus, if we brought you to her," she explained.

I just stood there for a second with my mouth agape. They had sold me out. It took me a second to digest, but I finally understood why they did it. They had no choice.

"It's okay," I said to Lake with a tear leaking down my cheek.

"Thank you for keeping your promise," Pryn said. "I'm sorry about your friend, General Davis, but we had to eliminate him. He was becoming what you would call...a liability."

I didn't know who she was talking about, but I didn't trust Pryn.

"What do you want from me?" I asked.

The ground under my feet started to quake and the lights above my head started to flicker. Something major was about to go down. I could feel it.

"It's starting," Pryn announced.

"Where's Aya? We had a deal?" Lake shouted.

My ankles started to tingle. The tingle increased quickly and shot up fire through the nerves in my legs and limbs. It felt like I was on fire. The pain was getting worse and worse as it expanded throughout my whole body. I couldn't bear it much longer.

"What's wrong with me?" I asked falling onto my knees.

"She's coming back," Pryn said with a smirk.