Tethered Souls | Books 1, 2, and 3

{Book Three} 158 | Truce

ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ Tethered ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

Chapter 32

━━─── • ───━━━

• Luna •

Luna saw her black irises and yellow pupils in the cracked mirror. Her consciousness had finally woken and taken hold.

Gasping, she backed away from the scene and dropped the glass. "Oh, God. What did I do?"

Nurse Smith's body was behind her. "This was me."

She recalled doing that. She fought and stabbed Julia.

And she wasn't sorry.

Her logical brain understood Nurse Smith was dead and no one would come upstairs to find her. She called out to the guys downstairs while she circled the nurse's body. Stepping into the bedroom, Luna tethered to Amir and noticed that he was with Greer in the cellar. Everything about their road trip was becoming too wild, and she winced.

She covered her mouth, hoping the bile would return.

Luna breathed softly after Amir saw her. "Moon?"

"A," she whispered, her head bowed and nerves jittering.

He held her cheek and said, "Baby," but she kept her eyes closed. "What's going on? Talk to me."

Amir's voice nearly knocked her over. She held herself up but arched at the waist. "Did you hear anything . . . up here?" she asked, shivering.

"We've been down here getting can goods and supplies," Amir said. "What happened?"

"I . . . I did something. It's big."

His expression lost all humor. "What?"

"I was attacked by Nurse Smith. She'd gotten into the house somehow, and I killed her." Luna's stomach twisted. "She's dead."

"Are you serious?"

She exhaled. "Julia tried activating me. My Trojan side."

"What?" Amir held on tight. "Are you okay?"

Luna nodded as he kissed her forehead. "I'll be there," he promised. "Stay in the room."

Nodding again, she fought back tears.

She nearly fell when her temple ached. Did she see distorted images when Nurse Smith triggered her? She looked up, gasping. The Bluetooth had been touched. It was called a Sonar Oscillator. Luna twitched. She sniffled anxiously. Red fingers. Her nose bled.

Towels were in the bathroom. When she entered, Luna closed her eyes to avoid looking in the mirror.

She glanced after reaching the counter.

Brown. Not the frightening black and yellow. Unlike BARDA or Nurse Smith. Maybe it happened only once. Something happened—

Luna thought of Julia's body.

"Okay," she gulped. "You didn't imagine anything. You jumped and stabbed your attacker. Nurse Smith would've murdered you."

When Luna reached the stairs, Amir wasn't there yet and Nurse Smith's Bluetooth was still in her open hand. Luna walked around Julia's legs with the towel. The nurse wanted Luna to attack her, but she was quickly killed. She also didn't think Julia could hurt her with what she used.

"Luna?" asked Amir downstairs. "I'm on my way."

She paused in the middle of the stairs when he neared. Luna rushed at him and wrapped her arms and legs around him. He gently caught her while stroking her hair.