Page 80 of Taken

“Our leader has always kept his own counsel.” Serena’s voice sounds normal, though I feel the strain of her speaking words I feed her. “Although these precautions seem excessive, even for him.”

“After the tower incident, can you blame him?”

“Guess not,” Serena says, glancing up into the rearview mirror.

My heart stops.

Elena. My daughter. She’s sitting in the backseat behind us. This is the mission they’ve been planning for.

“No!” I choke out. “No, I won’t do this!” I shake my head so wildly that my hair flies about my face.

“We anticipated this from you,” Emerson says, jerking her head at the guard beside the door. He opens it, and I see Hargen standing there. There’s regret in his eyes.

“I’m so sorry, Lila.”

“You…” I glance at Emerson. “If you think he’ll convince me, you’re wrong.”

“Really?” Her lip curls. “Show her we mean business, guard.”

Hargen gives a stumbling step forward, and I see that there are two armed men behind him. One of them holds a weapon to the base of his skull, a finger on the trigger.

“I’m sorry, Lila,” Hargen says.

“Take control,” Emerson barks, monitoring my vitals. “Stop passively observing. We need hands on the target. Do it. Now.”

“I will not!” I growl out.

“Fine.” Emerson nods at the second guard. “Do it,” she says.

The guard angles his weapon almost casually and pulls the trigger. The explosion in the small room tears a scream from me. Hargen lets out a guttural cry and staggers forward, clapping a hand to his shoulder where blood is now blooming through thefront of his torn uniform. The bullet has passed right through him, leaving torn flesh and gore in its wake.

“You… You shot him!” I gasp, feeling my eyes widen with horror. Nausea churns in the pit of my belly.

Hargen sways but stays on his feet, blood pulsing through his fingers where he’s clamped them over the wound.

“Yes,” says Emerson coolly. “And we’ll do it again if you don’t cooperate. It takes a long time for a man to die if you don’t hit anything vital. But I can assure you, it hurts.”

God! Oh, my God!

I swallow hard, feeling the tremor build in my hands. They’re using Serena to get to Elena. Using me to control the dragon to trap my own child. And using Hargen to force me to do it.

A savage desire to resist rises in me—to break the connection, to refuse. But I have no doubt that they’ll kill Hargen. And before they do that, they’re going to torture him.

“I’m okay, Lila,” Hargen grits out through clenched teeth. Although the sudden pallor of his blood-spattered face tells me he’s anything but okay.

I have to do it. Better to maintain the illusion of compliance while sabotaging from within.

“Okay,” I say hoarsely, turning my attention back to the Shard.

Pull over,I command Serena. Her hands tighten on the steering wheel, but she signals and guides the car to the curb. I feel her fighting the compulsion, struggling against the Shard’s influence.

“What are you doing?” Lydia asks, surprise evident in her tone.

I feed Serena words, deliberately leaving gaps for her to resist. “Need… to check something.”

Through Serena’s eyes, I watch Lydia’s expression shift from confusion to suspicion.

“What’s wrong with you?” The older woman’s hand moves subtly toward her coat.

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