The ARC 03: Fractured

by Alexandra Moody

  April puts her arm around me and rests her head on my shoulder. ‘You can’t blame yourself for what happened,’ she says.

  ‘I don’t,’ I whisper in reply. ‘There is only one person who did this and I wish I’d killed him when I had the chance.’

  ‘Don’t say that!’

  ‘Why not? I was beginning to think I was a monster, but compared to Joseph I’m not bad at all. He needs to be dealt with.’

  April pulls back from me and eyes me seriously. ‘He will be, in time. Right now, we need to focus on the cure and getting M back.’

  I nod and try to calm my breathing, but the cure is the last thing on my mind right now. I feel so angry over what has happened, all I want is revenge.

  ‘Are you any closer to working out how Joseph found us?’ I ask.

  April sighs and rubs her forehead tiredly. ‘No. A few people still haven’t reported back. Someone may have been taken in and questioned, or worse, one of our own could have given us up. We don’t know yet.

  ‘So where do we go from here?’ I ask.

  ‘We will have to relocate. We have a backup location, but with M gone and the culprit who gave us away not found, I don’t think it’s safe to go there yet. We’ll have to find somewhere else.’

  ‘How long will that take? Will we be safe here?’

  She shakes her head. ‘I don’t know. I think the South Hope ruins are our best bet until we find somewhere safer.’ She seems worried, but I don’t know what to say.

  I take her hand in mine. ‘That sounds like a good plan for now. We just need to focus on getting everyone away from here as quickly as we can.’

  She nods her head along with me, as though wanting to believe it’s true. ‘You’re right,’ she agrees.

  She looks over at Aiden and Sebastian who both stand, leaning on their shovels, looking at Will’s grave. ‘We should probably head back,’ she says, addressing the three of us.

  ‘You guys go. I wouldn’t mind a minute alone,’ I reply.

  The boys move to leave, but April hangs back. ‘I almost forgot,’ she pulls an inhibitor band from her pocket and passes it to me.

  I take the device and hold it lightly between my fingers. ‘Thanks,’ I reply, looking between the inhibitor and April.

  She gives me a small smile and turns to follow the others back into the forest. Once they’ve gone I walk over the Will’s grave and sit next to it. I brush my hands over the dirt and place a flower that I picked on top of it.

  I haven’t been near a grave before. I’ve never been there when anyone has died. I try to think of what words I should say aloud to Will, and how I could possibly say goodbye, but I don’t believe he’d hear me now. It wouldn’t change what happened and it certainly won’t bring him back.

  I continue to toy with the inhibitor in my fingers. A part of me wants to put it back on and to feel it safely around my wrist again, but something stops me. The band keeps me in control, but it weakens me. It keeps the beast inside me tame, but maybe it shouldn’t be caged.

  I feel a mixture of feelings at war inside of me, but as soon as I think of Joseph and what he’s done to Will, my insides turn cold.

  ‘Goodbye Will,’ I whisper, placing one hand on the soil of his grave in farewell.

  I slowly stand and move away, refusing to look back at the beautiful meadow, for fear of changing my mind. I already know what I’d see there—the sun dancing across the smooth glass surface of the inhibitor band I’ve left behind.

  END OF BOOK THREE

  See what happens in the stunning conclusion to The ARC series…

  COMING IN 2016

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  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I would like to express my gratitude to you, the reader. You are the reason I write and I am so pleased you decided to continue with Elle’s story in Fractured. I hope you have enjoyed reading these books as much as I enjoyed writing them.

  Thank you to everyone who has posted reviews and used social media to help promote the series. I appreciate each and every review and post, and any success I have is in large part a result of your endorsement.

  This book would not have been possible without the encouragement of my family. I am so lucky to have the support of such amazing individuals.

  Finally, to Pete, your contribution has been immeasurable. You inspire me to be a better writer each and every day—not to mention, when my writing sucks you fix it!

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  ALEXANDRA MOODY is an Australian author. She studied Law and Commerce in her hometown, Adelaide, before going on to spend several years living abroad in Canada and the UK. She is a serious dog-lover, double-black-diamond snowboarder and has a love/hate relationship with the gym. She can often be found on Twitter and Facebook, or you can visit her website at alexandramoody.com for further details on upcoming projects.