Evelyn
What's happening to me?
Her voice drowned my senses, swallowed up every thought in my head, infested my mind like a swarm of bees and I drank her poisonous words like sweet red wine. Why couldn't I stop it? Why did I have to listen? I thought...I thought I could resist...I thought I could overpower her. But I was wrong. Verena's powers were eating away at my thoughts, and they would keep gnawing until there's nothing left in my head but the thought of her.
I understood why Dominic was so conflicted with his own thoughts after being tied up in hers for so long. If he felt like...well if he felt like this—not knowing what thoughts are your own or someone else's—I understood.
Verena led me out of the truck, her gentle hand in mine as she guided my awkward steps. I was smiling like an idiot. Why was I smiling? It was only a kiss—a kiss that felt she pulled me into her world and wrapped reality on her slender finger. I didn't want to smile, but it felt like there was a string tugging on the edges of my lips, forcing me to lift my cheeks. It was so painful, and yet so pleasing.
"Where are we?" I said, looking around the area outside the truck. I saw woods. Trees toppled shadows over my head, leaves shaded the golden sun—though the clouds were doing a good enough job with that. Miles of woods before stood me. It wasn't unfamiliar, yet I couldn't quite put my finger on why I felt so welcomed.
Why would they take me to the woods? What was so important there? Verena's power not only shaped new thoughts but clouded older ones as well. I kicked myself for not remembering. Think Ev, think. But a cloud fogged my head.
"Don't you recognize it?" Verena said, and as if it were a command, lines of troopers marched behind Verena—Grado in front with his reddened cape and shiny silver armor. Why was it I could remember who he was, but hardly anything else?
But who was Grado? He...he was the general. The head of Detras army, a praised military leader, a war hero. He was...he hurt my friends. My friends! Suddenly the thought of them reentered my head. Celeste, Kyler, Cassian, Lani, Gemma...Dominic. My friends, they were...they were Rogues. I was a Rogue.
I felt like I was finally pushing through her power. I was finally winning back my thoughts.
The woods were the Rogue's home.
Oh no. It's the Rogue's home.
My heart twisted at the thought of where they were taking me. We were going to the Rogues homeland.
I looked to Verena, gaped at the wicked satisfaction in her eyes and I realized what she was trying to do. I could fight it. I would fight it. But she didn't need to know that. I would let Verena believe she still has control over me. If I pretended to be under her command, I could pretend to be on their side and fool them. But how long could I challenge her abilities?
I would fight it as long as I could. I was stronger than her, and I would prove that not even the most skilled hexer could restrain me. I would not let her win.
"Come with us, Evelyn. Were going to somewhere familiar to you."
"How do you know where to go?" I said, out of wonder. The Rogues location was very secretive. Without the guidance of Dominic or Celeste, I surely wouldn't be able to find my way back. If they thought they could get the location out of me, they were damned.
"I don't know where it is." I said coldly, then cursed myself a bit. I still had to pretend I was under her power.
"We don't need your help."
"Then how?"
Verena smiles, a subtle laugh escaping her lips, "No need to fret so much Evelyn. A little birdy of mine told me."
Someone told her? I pull back my breath, trying to hide the shock rolling through my bones. If someone told her...that meant one of the Rogues was a spy. A spy for Detra.
How long had someone been giving information about us to Detra? What exactly did Verena know? And most importantly...who is this little birdy of hers?
My first thought was Beckett. He came from Detra, and would be a perfect candidate. A vulnerable young kid. But then again, he was simply a kid. I didn't think Detra would put their trust into a fragile boy. If not Beckett...it could be any of the new Immunes we rescued. But they were all damaged, wounded even. They held a hate for Detra that could not be controlled. It would have been any of them. But God knows.
Then it hit me...Gemma.
Gemma, my best friend since i could remember, had to be the spy. Gemma had always pledged her loyalty to Detra and showed her hearty appreciation for the system. I couldn't understand how she fell so out of love for Detra, how she grew to hate it. She was a Deja for sure, but was she really on our side? Had Detra known Dominic and Celeste were going to break into the prison and free the immunes?
I've learned Detras knows more than it should. It didn't seem entirely impossible.
Grado holds his leather hand up, halting the troops behind him, and meets next to Verena and me.
"Have you done it?" He asked, wearily.
"I've done it. It was much easier than I expected. I thought the power kinesic would put up a better fight?"
God, how I wanted to snatch the air from her lungs and make her choke.
"Isn't that right Evelyn?' She said holding her finger to my chin and lifting my face to meet hers. I snap my attention back to her, "Tell me. Who do you serve?"
The words tasted like poison on my tongue, "I only serve Detra. And you of course."
Verena smiles, satisfied. Grado lifts his helmeted head, "I'm impressed, Verena. I wasn't sure if you'd be able to do it. Usually, hexers don't work on her kind."
"You doubt my strength, sir."
"I won't doubt it again." He nodded and walked back in front of the troops. Hexers still didn't work on my kind. Not fully at least. It worked for a moment, but I was able to unearth my way out of the consumption of her power.
Verena glanced at me, pleased at her creation. Pleased at the validation from Grado she received as if it were a once-in-a-lifetime gift. She shouldn't find so much pleasure in gratifying him. But maybe she just wanted praise in place of someone else...someone who couldn't see the good in her.
The troops marched forward into the woods, and Verena touched her hand to my back. A chill ran down my spine as her fingers grazed soft circles on the surface of my skin. She leaned in, her lips meeting my ear, and whispered in her smooth alluring voice, "Your little friends are nothing against our power."
She laughs deeply and pulls away, pushing to my back and leading me forwards. My feet crack on the surface of the woods grounds, and before I can blink my vision is met with the giant rims of a gate towering over my head. The gate Kyler had just put up to keep troopers away. It normally would be guarded, but where were the guards?
Something wasn't right.
The troops ahead of us stopped, and Verena saught through them all, the troopers practically dividing apart to cave a path for her and me to walk within. We proceeded to through the armored bodies, stepping right beside Grado. He looked at me, and even though I couldn't see his eyes through his mask, I could feel the haunt in his stare. I wondered what his face looked like. Did he look like Dominic? Was the scar on his face really that horrifying as people say? A giant gash, distorting his eye and mouth, drooping his features, making his skin coarse and hard, and all the more terrifying. I wondered how he got the scar. People say it was in battle, but a scar so deep he feels ashamed to show his face, had to have a more interesting origin. Maybe Grado wasn't as strong as I deemed him to be.
He turned to Verena with a slight nod. She met her eyes to mine with the lift of her brow. "Alright, Evelyn. I need you to tear down the gate."
"The gate is made of a special metal. It cant be torn down. it's indestructible."
"dont be so sure of that." Verena chocked her head towards the gate, and I peered back up at it. The sun glinted on its long walls, reflecting a blue hue of light through it—transparently. That's no metal gate. That would hardly ricochet a bullet, moreover, keep out a whole army of troopers. But Kyler said...What was going on here?
I couldn't do it. I couldn't tear down the gate and welcome them in so easily. But what choice did I have? If I refused, Verena would know her power faded away and I'd be constrained by troopers, but If I agree, I'd be leading them straight into the heart of the Rogues.
"Do it, Evelyn." Verena pressed her hand to my cheek, sending a tingle snaking up my spine. She leans into my ear, speaking in a soft whisper, "Destroy it for me."
I felt her power trying to tug at my head, and the urge to follow her words was so hard to ignore. But I pushed her thoughts back and conceived my own. I would break the gate, lead them inside, and once I get them alone...I would show them the power they're messing with.
It pained me to raise my arms and I denounced every bone in my body when I felt the force spill from the tips of my fingers and drive onto the wall of the gate. I closed my eyes, letting the power overcome. How I loved that feeling. How I hated that I loved it.
I threw my hands forwards, and in seconds, the gate split down the center as if an invisible boulder crashed through it. Shards of 'metal' shattered everywhere, raining the air and painting the ground. Troopers gasped, huddling their bodies to keep the pieces of the gate from grazing them. Once the force was out—I couldn't stop it. I clenched my fingers and the dirt around the gate split, pieces of earth shooting into the air, a cavity of soil caved into the ground.
Stop it, Ev! A voice in my head said, but another screamed, Keep going!
"thats enough Evelyn!" Verena grasped my shoulder, shaking me from my trance. "Now come. This is where the fun begins." She hums a malicious laugh and leads me forwards.
Why couldn't I stop the force? It felt like an animal locked in a cage, unwanting to return to that wicked place once unleashed. I knew I wasn't under Verena's magic, but somehow I still didn't feel in control.
The sullen apartment buildings rose over the shadows of the hill we marched over, and my heart plunged to my stomach. We stood at the top, the wind brushing through the troops, carrying bits of my hair with it. A cold touch chilled my spine, pulling me back, screaming at me to do whatever I had to do now before it was too late.
But it was too late, Verena already had commanded in mind. "Send a wave of force through the buildings. Call out your friends so we can greet them."
The troopers dispersed themselves into the wood, I hadn't even known where half of them went. It was as if they vanished into the forest. There was still a good amount of them here with Grado. This was my chance... I turned around raised my arms. I had to—
"Now Evelyn!" She touched my cheek, and like a shock, I whirled around and trusted my raised hands forwards, sending a wave of force tumbling down towards the buildings. Why the hell did I listen to her? One moment my mind was mine, then in a snap of a second it was hers. I thought I could resist it. I swore I would. Was it really that easy for her? I didn't even try and fight it that time.
The force whispered through the windows, knocked at the sullied doors, and shook the buildings like an earthquake. My insides knotted when I saw the Rogues one by one trickle out the buildings—walking straight into the heart of Detra's trap.
I couldn't help myself. I ran forward and screamed, "Get back inside! Stop! Its a—"
My body tensed, and I collapsed to my knees—a shock of electricity sent a sharp piercing ache throbbing up my back, shaking each bone of my spine and tickling each cell in my veins. Tears met at the rims of my eyes, and I clenched my teeth, trying not to let one fall down my cheek. My heart was beating so quickly, I thought the pain might kill me.
I turned over my shoulder clenching my body with my hands, sweat painting my brow. Grado had a razor raised behind my back, smoke trailing from the barrel. Verena stood beside him with a look on her face so angry I saw the red fire of hell in her beautiful eyes.
I tensed my jaw with a snarl, the fire in my eyes redder than hers.
"You're a fool, Evelyn," Grado said, gesturing to the buildings. I turned my eyes, and my breath caught in my lungs. The hidden troopers appeared from all angles, rallying the Rogues in a giant circle, surrounding them on all ends. The troopers behind Grado ran forth like the violent ripple of waves, encircling the helpless Rogues. Some fought back, some chocked in fear. The ones who resisted but up a good fight. A Rogue thrusted his fist against a trooper's cheek, another plunging their leg into an armored groin. It gave me hope. Lots of hope.
"Our Rogues are good fighters. The best. they can beat you" I turned my angry eyes to Grado, but he didn't seem fazed. He simply chuckled a coldhearted hum, studying my every angle as the dirt on my knees swallowed my legs.
"They may be able to beat us. But can they beat you?"
My heart lunged, "I won't fight them."
"Not willingly." Verena sneered, making her way to me. I winced back, and she knelt down beside me, her hand stroking the side of my cheek gently. A wave of warmth crawled from her delicate fingers, a feeling I could drown myself in. She closed her eyes, and I could tell she was using every lick of her power on me. I felt it too. Immediately my head reeled, the world around me spinning in circles, floating around her. Only her. Damn her...why couldn't I resist? I tried so hard....so damn hard.
"You will listen to me, Evelyn. You will destroy this place. All of it. Not a crumb of brick left. Got it?"
Her words spiraled around my head, picking at the lock I secured tightly around my brain. I tried not to let her in, but her words snaked through the key.
She led me to my feet. My knees no longer wobbled, my hands no longer shook. Power. Power. Power. I was craving it. Perishing for a taste. It fed on me yet I was the one left hungry.
"Do it." Verena's sweet voice commanded. And I couldn't disobey. I had to. I had to let out the power.
I raised my hands, and in a flash, a ball of smoke wisped around me. It fogged my vision, and I no longer felt the hunger for power.
I hadn't known where it came from, but the smoke trickled around us, encircled us, and seized my power.
"What the hell?" I heard Grados voice, though I couldn't see anything. Not even his raven black armor shined through the white fog. I coughed, and was ripped from my trance when I felt a hand clutch my shoulder and thrust me aside.
The hand tugged me so hard, I had to run to keep up with it. The fog filled my lungs and muddled my eyes. I opened my mouth to scream, but was muffled by a hand thrown over my lips.
"Are yo stupid? Dont scream!"
The mist cleared, and I could see the two people standing weary in front of me. I wanted to yelp and hug them both in joy.
"Cassian!"
"Shh!" He said, waving his hands in my face.
"How did you find me? How did you do...that!"
"Smoke bombs," Lani smirked, crotched beside Cassian, lifting her jacket to reveal a line of grey circle-like shells.
I'd never been so happy to see Cassians bright face and Lani's glower. Thank god they found me! I wouldn't like to think about what would have happened if they didn't come.
"Cass and I saw you coming over the hill with the troopers. We snuck away from the apartments, making sure to grab a few smoke bombs on the way out."
"Wheres Dominic? And Celeste and Kyler? Are they all right?"
"They still haven't returned from the chamber. But knowing them, theyll be fine."
My stomach lurched. I hated knowing they might still be there. I missed Celeste and Kyler.
Dominic. I missed Dominic. A lot.
I missed his awful snarky comments and that wicked grin that either made me want to smack his face or pull him nearer. I longed for the warmth of his skin, and how his lips molded so perfectly onto mine. But he wasn't here right now, and though I worry about him, the safety of the Rogues was a greater concern"What do we do now? We have to help them!"
"No, we have to get you away from here!"
"Wait!" I paused, thinking back to what Verena told me earlier" Where's Gemma?" I swallowed, "I think...well I think she might be helping Detra. There's a spy among us—Verena told me. I think it might be her."
"A spy!" Lani exclaimed
A voice crawled from the woods, "Me? A spy?"
I turned my head, seeing Gemma appear from the trees, picking her legs carefully over the grass. "I can assure you I am not a spy. My acting skills aren't that good"
Cassian looked to her, "Gemma did you do it?"
She nodded, "yes. Grado didn't put up a fight, Verena was a little tough though. They're both asleep, but they won't stay that way for long. We have to hurry."
"If Gemmas not the spy...then who is?" I questioned as the gang started to creep into the woods
"does it matter anymore? They already won" Lani whispered harshly, "We have to go!"
They already won. They were just going to leave the Rogues? Had they given up hope so quickly?
"We can't leave them, they need our help!"
Cassian panted, "And we will help them. As soon as we get you far from here!"
I stopped in my tracks, and the group looked at me with confusion.
"What are you doing?" Lani raised her brow.
I paused, not being able to shake the terrified looks of the Rogues from my memory. I couldn't abandon them like that. My power might have been the only thing that could stop the troopers. I cursed myself over and over for even letting them inside. Why hadn't I just tore their forces down right there? Why couldn't I fight Verena's power, no matter how much it pained me to do so?
I led them here, and I was going to going to drive them out. I would burn them to ashes if that's what it took.
"I'm not leaving!" I said with full confidence.
"No Evelyn, you're in danger here!"
"I dont care. They need us, and I'm not leaving until I know they're safe."
Without another word, my feet carried me forwards through the woods—towards the Rogues.
I climbed above the hill, raising my arms and letting the force carry from my veins—aiming right at the target of the seige. The force ripped through the circle of troopers, their bodies hauling in the air all directions, paving a path for the Rogues to rush through.
"Run!" I screamed as loud as I could, unable to detect if they could even hear me, nonetheless see me from where I stood. I was still a good distance away, but my power had no limits to where it reached.
Some escaped as soon as they had the chance, but others stayed still—frightened. I've never seen some look so afraid. These brave people who I thought were the strongest beings alive, looked weaker then they ever had before. It tore my heart apart. If they weren't going to escape, maybe I would just have to force them out myself.
I raised my arms again, slowly, feeling the warm sensation tingle in my forearm, meeting my fingertips, purging my veins, and exciting my heart. It seeped, only a little before I felt the sting of a razor dig in my back.
I collapsed to my knees once again, and Grado stood behind me—once again. Verena marched up to me with an angry glare, and as if I wasn't feeling enough pain, she swung her wrist and slapped me across the face.
"you're a wretch!"
I panted hard, feeling a taste of blood tinge my tongue, "And your a witch. As you said we're not so different."
She slapped me again, and I should have expected it.
"You're too late to help your little Rogues." Verena shunned an angry grin, and I looked over to see the Rogues sieged once again. Trapped with nowhere to go.
My heart twisted. No. This couldn't be. They couldn't win.
"How did you do it? The gate...the location. how?"
Verena shot a smug look then peered over her shoulder, "As I said, I had a little birdy."
The spy. They caused this.
As if a single, a figure appeared from the woods. I didn't believe it at first. I couldn't be. He would never work for Detra. He would never turn on us.
His dark skin and sharp features had a terrible look on them. Like it wasn't really him. The golden eyes staring into mine were unfamiliar, though I've seen them many times. I trusted him...and there was a point he was one of the only people I felt real trust in.
The spy wasn't Beckett or Gemma. My heart pounded on my ribs like a hammer as he came closer, standing right next to Verena.
Verena smiled wickedly and touches his shoulder in a fluid motion, "Hello Kyler."