The Uprising (Book #3 in The Inception Trilogy)

chapter thirty-one

(sorry for no update. i feel like this series has gone to shit, and i always get writer's block before the ending of a book. the end for this is coming up, by the way. i feel like i've really disappointed everyone and let it go downhill. i'll try to end the book strong. thank you for reading, i truly do appreciate it xx

p.s. it's *unedited* i will say that this chapter is hella intense and stressful. good luck.)

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

EVELYN GRABS MAXIE'S WRIST, hauling her away from the fence although no other experiments lurked there... yet. She clutches the young girl's shoulders desperately, forcing their eyes to meet.

"I'm not stupid enough to believe that you'd leave if I told you to," she says. "But if you're not going to leave, I need you to do that supernatural shit, okay?"

Maxie blinks, her mouth agape in fear. "I-I don't really know how, I just--"

"If you have to get angry or scared, then get angry and scared. We're going to need all the help we can get Maxie."

The younger nods rapidly, her hands already trembling as she wrings them together.

"I want you to stay by me the entire time, got it? I want you in my line of sight at all times."

Maxie nods again.

Evelyn drags a hand through her hair, peering out the gate. "They aren't too close yet. Probably taking their time to scare us more. You should find a weapon."

Maxie throat closes up. "Eve, I've never..."

"Trust me, if your life depends on it, never having held a weapon before won't stop you from using it."

Harry comes up behind her, his hand on her lower back. "You should get to higher ground before the swarm comes in. Wait until it thins out."

"Since when did I ever leave the thick of the fight?" Evelyn asks, giving him a look. "I'm not going anywhere, but Maxie is."

Maxie doesn't argue and nods, listening to Harry when he tells her to get on the rooftop of the conference hall where the archers are.

Evelyn turns to Harry, her lips pursed. "Why does this feel like the final brawl?"

Harry kisses her forehead. "Because it might just be."

"I can't tell if I'm relieved or terrified."

"Decide when it's over."

"Hey..." She reaches up to cup his cheek. "Don't die, okay?"

He kisses her lips briefly before pulling away. "You're the one who can't die. I'm not going to let it happen."

There's a shout from one of the soldier's at the gate that makes them pull apart. Max comes jogging up to them, a machete in one hand, gun in the other. His face is flushed red and he's already sweating, undoubtedly from nerves.

"They're slamming into the gate together to make it cave," he tells them, out of breath. "Dude, there's a lot of them. I don't think..." But he can't bring himself to finish the sentence.

Evelyn bites the inside of her cheek. She wishes they could just set fire to all of them, but there's too many trees and buildings around to do something so careless. That sure would be annoying; to die from a forest fire in the middle of a battle. She'd rather take a more honorable death to at least prove she fought.

"We should stay together as long as we can," she tells them. "Where's Micah, Killian, and Gavriel?"

"Gavriel, at your service," the man himself says, sneaking up behind them. She smacks him in the shoulder for startling her. "As for the two lovebirds, I'm not sure. Killian was with the archers last I checked."