Page 36 of Unbroken

“Stalking since day one,” I say proudly as she leans back and looks up at the sky with me.

Sunshine stays quiet for too long, I can almost hear the wheels turning inside her head.

“Sunshine, do I need to take you back downstairs?” I turn my head towards her, memorizing the outline of her face and the sparkle of her ember eyes. “I know you’re worried. I wish like hell I could walk up that mountain and bring her back to us. I wish we didn’t have to go into battle with Light Guardian robots. What I hate the most is that the weight falls on your shoulders and I feel helpless because I can’t fix this for you,” I say seriously, putting aside my humorous self for some real talk.

“I know. But we will do this together, no matter what happens.” She turns to face me and cups my chin and I lean into her touch.

“Ride or die, sunshine, ride or die,” I say those words with meaning because I will tear this world apart for her. We fall into an easy silence as we watch the sky, occasionally calling out constellations. All my nerd knowledge is finally paying off.

My sunshine yawns and I fall prey to the contagion as well. I’m about to suggest we snuggle up together and wait for Ty to get home, when a shadow streaks across the sky like an ominous comet of doom. We both sit up at the same time, watching whatever it is crash to the ground in the middle of Willow woods.

“That isn’t a Gargoyle, right?” Micah asks, her eyes widening in alarm.

“You killed them all,” I say matter-of-factly. “Plus, I didn’t see any wings. Did you?”

Sunshine shakes her head no as a Wolf bays long and loud, a howl filled with pain and sorrow. Oh, Sammie boy.

I grab Micah’s hand and we vanish to materialize inside our room as my instincts kick in. I can feel my other half’s panic and don’t waste another minute. “Get your shoes, sunshine. That was Sam,” I say to her as her phone begins to buzz.

“Put it on speaker,” I say as I shove my boots on as quickly as I can. Something is wrong.

Micah nods and answers. “Marcus, what’s—”

“Ty took Esme to the hospital. He says to meet him there. I’m running there now. She fell out of the sky, Mi. She just fell,” Marcus says in a rush before the phone goes dead.

“Esme,” Micah gasps. “I can feel it all. So much pain.” She rubs her chest as her knees buckle.

I don’t say a word as I catch her, wrapping her in my arms and I whisk us away to Lux Hall.

ChapterTwenty-One

BRYELLE

Istep out of the glittery blue portal with a box held in my hands. I feel like I’m dreaming. The kind of dream where you have no control. Like an out of body experience where someone else picks and chooses your moves, what doors you walk through and the paths you take. I’m just a passenger as I put one foot in front of the other. I move quietly through the trees undetected and I come to a halt as I reach a path. I try to resist, but there is no use as I turn toward a towering building at the end of the pavement. I crawl deeper into the recesses of my mind and weep over my lack of control. What I hold in my hands is not a peace offering, but a bomb. Michael wants his war, and he will get it.

What did he make me do? What have I done?

“You will do this, Bryelle. You belong to me. You are my soldier. Deliver my message and my gift to the Nephilim and your reward will be plentiful.” Michael towers over me as he looks down his nose at me. His smile is serene with an evil glint in his cold, blue eyes.

He reaches out and strokes my face affectionately, yet I want to recoil away. My feet are spread apart, chest out, chin up with my hands clasped behind my back like a good, robotic soldier.

“I need a new General now that your boyfriend is gone. You will be exquisite. Powerful and strong. Only the best will fight at my side,” he says as he grips my chin and leans forward to kiss my lips. I want to scream and rage but I just stand there stoically, trapped mentally within impenetrable walls watching on in horror.

“Open for me, Bryelle. Accept my kiss,” he purrs softly. Grip tightening to the point of pain. I can’t cry or react. Instead, my lips part and his tongue slips into my mouth as he takes what he wants from me.

This is not right. He’s an Archangel, our protector, and his behavior makes my heart break and belief shatter to pieces. How can God allow this flagrant abuse of power? Our will is not our own. This is the ultimate violation.

A muffled scream and the rattling of chains interrupts the kiss, and although I know she will be punished, I am grateful. Michael pulls away from me and turns abruptly to face his captive.

“I’ve tired of you, Verity. You’re such a waste and a disappointment,” he says as he brushes his hands down his cream linen suit jacket. “But I have one more thing I need from you. Then, and only then, will I allow you to die. Or should I bring her head to you first?” He taps his finger to his lips as if he is thinking about a decision he’s already made. “Yes, I will bring you both their heads.” Verity grunts but her body no longer has the strength to fight him as she hangs from the chains against the wall.

“Bryelle, come here,” he commands with a snap of his fingers and I am nothing more than a slave as my feet move my body across the room.

“Good girl,” he says as I reach his side. Headmistress Jones looks at me with tears in her eyes and I want to mirror her sentiment. I am so fucking sad, if I’m ever free of this nightmare I will never be whole again.

“Take her hand. Use your dagger and make it slow. I want her to feel it. I want her to remember how she violated her body and offered it up to my brother, Azrael, over and over again.” He turns his back to us as I slide my dagger from the sheath at my waist. “I hope he was worth it,” he says as he leaves the room, leaving me to maim Marcus’s mother.

Verity sobs, tears spilling down her cheeks. I feel so ashamed of my weakness as I begin to cut into tendons, veins, then bones. The screams, oh God, the screams. I will remember the screams and the blood that splatters my face.

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