by Vivien Reis
She was shaking. What had she almost done? What was she about to do? She had been so close to killing him, to killing her own brother.
Jesse handed her a crystal and she some of her energy returned.
"Hold on," he told her, as they hopped away, back to the island.
And it was over.
# FORTY-FOUR
Abi gathered up her things, stuffing them into a bag and zipping it closed. She had propped the windows open and the breeze rustled the white canopy fabric.
"Abi?"
She stepped out onto the porch, her mom waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs.
They were moving into their own hut across the island. It had been seven full days since she had come back, seven full days since she had nearly taken her brother's life.
He was out there somewhere, but Abi didn't want to think of that. The island was in mourning. Of the two hundred and thirty-three Oracles that left the island a week ago, eighty-two didn't return.
Funerals were only held on the island for those who wanted them, or for those with no family on the outside. Tomorrow was their last day of mourning before the ashes of twenty-seven people were to be sprinkled into Nocalu's lake, returning their energy to Deia.
It had taken a few days for Abi's mom to recuperate enough to tell her story to the Consul. Abi listened to her detail exactly how Mr. Flynn had corrupted her, keeping her mind disconnected from her body, starving her thoughts until they no longer felt like her own.
The woman Abi had lived with most of her life was a product of her dad's best friend, someone who had eaten dinner with them weekly, and at the same time was torturing their mom without their knowledge.
Her mom wasn't fully back to herself, though, whoever that person was. The most important part she learned from the debrief with the Consul was that her mom hadn't been the one to hurt her dad. She told them it was all Mundi, a nickname Mr. Flynn had given himself when they were kids on the island.
As they headed toward Elysia Square, Abi caught sight of Myra and Theo. She was helping him walk in the grass, holding his cane while he took baby steps toward her.
Jesse had been away the entire week, getting caught up on his recruitment efforts. She missed him, and though the days leading up to their battle were hell, she had enjoyed being around him so much.
While Jesse was away, a lot of Oracles had returned to the island to stay longer, afraid of what the King's Army might do next.
Abi would stay there with her mom until the Consul released her. After that, she wasn't sure what she could do. Her mom was still wanted in connection with the attack on her dad, so she couldn't go back home.
They walked across the island together. She looked at her mom, who smiled at her. The same smile she had seen so many times in her favorite photo.
# FORTY-FIVE
Evelyn Rouge stepped out of the vehicle, her heels clicking hard against the concrete as she marched through the large doors of the warehouse.
Her fingers curled tightly around her phone as she thought of Abi. That weak little girl had tried to sabotage all their plans in one evening.
Centuries of planning for this one event, waiting until the perfect opportunity and then seizing it, had almost crumbled all around them.
But thankfully, it hadn't.
The whirring of machines hummed as she headed all the way down the first aisle and to the last capsule.
Its metal plate read Thomas Lee, the man responsible for inventing the capsules that spread out before her, row after row of pristine engineering, keeping each Oracle alive for their one purpose: to feed the King.
Red paced to the back room where His quarters were. She selected a number at random from the list, and the machine whined and hummed as a capsule twisted closer and closer to His suite.
The blood crystal would have completed the transition, but that hadn't been her only plan.
The King moved toward the capsule now, wheeling forward into the living room. He purred, flashing a smile at Red, stilling her heart. She had waited so long to see that smile, dreaming of it since childhood. And it was finally hers.
With a hiss, the capsule popped open, its occupant stirring. He liked them partially awake, their flavor developing as the adrenaline took hold in their bodies.
She watched Him press His lips against the man's and inhale, silvery mist flowing quickly into her King.
It wouldn't be long before His power was fully restored.
As he finished his meal, she moved to the drawings he had posted all over the walls. There were hundreds of pages already, supplying information invaluable to their efforts. Mr. Flynn had done an excellent job performing the root between Ben and Abi's minds, and so far it, it had proven useful.
She stepped away from the map, admiring her view of the island of Elysia.
