Page 68 of Twisted Gift

One of the white coats steps forward. “I have a feeling you’ll change your mind once the procedure is successful.” He pauses, arching a brow at me. “Unless youwantto remain fae.”

“What Iwantis to not be held against my will. To have a say in what happens tome. To have a fuckingchoice.”

He turns away from me without a word.Coward.

I’m forced to stand by and watch while the two of them set up a tray with a colorful lineup of glass vials and needles. My stomach churns at the sight of the purple and blue liquid. I can’t even imagine what that shit is. There’s a good chance I don’twantto know, considering they’re about to force it into my body. My vision blurs as my chest tightens. I look away, trying to breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth. It doesn’t work. The anxiety has its claws in me so deep, I can’t escape it.

When Richelle and the man approach the table from either side of me, I use my last bit of strength to attempt escape. I manage to get one arm free, but the bindings on my legs go from my thigh to my ankle. I struggle until I’m dry heaving and sweat is covering my forehead.

Richelle shakes her head at me and pushes my arm back into the restraint, tightening it to the point it bites into my wrist, making me yelp at the burn of iron against my skin.

“You can’t do this,” I say through my teeth, my jaw locked tight.

She ignores me and reaches across the table for the syringe the man is holding out to her. “Take a deep breath,” she tells me in a calm voice. When her eyes meet mine, and I see nothing but cold, calculated focus, I know it’s over. It probably was the moment I chose to go after Marisa.

I blink, and tears fall from the sides of my eyes, sliding across my temples into my hair. I try to swallow the lump in my throat, but it doesn’t do any good. I clamp my mouth shut, keeping my sobs inside, and when she lowers the needle to my skin, I close my eyes and pray it’s over quickly.

Inhaling a sharp breath through my nose when the sting comes, I try to shift away from it but can’t move. My body knows the second Richelle pushes on the end of the needle. I can’t keep my lips together as my skin ignites painfully. I scream, hurting my own ears. As my eyes fill with tears, the chemicals racing through my veins feel as if they’re burning the skin off my bones, licking each part of me as the elixir makes its way through my system. Black dots cloud my vision as I start to slip out of consciousness, but then there’s another needle and more elixir that releases a freezing into my veins. It’s the complete opposite sensation to the previous cycle, but it’s just as painful, if not more so.

The room spins. My throat is raw, but I’m still screaming as the rooms slips away into darkness. Peaceful, comfortable darkness.

18

Iopen my eyes and blink a few times, confusion flooding through me.What’s going on?I scan the room, but there’s nothing to see. No windows, no furniture, just plain white walls and the bed I’m lying in.

I throw myself into a sitting position, sucking in a breath as memories flood through me. My entire body flashes with pain, and I fall back against the pillows with a sharp cry. The room fades in and out for a few minutes as I force myself to focus on my breathing, willing the pain to subside.

The Experiment.

My eyes bounce around the room in a panic as my pulse ticks at an uneven pace. I drop my gaze to the blankets I’m tangled in and kick them away. I’m wearing a white long-sleeved shirt and gray sweatpants that I don’t remember putting on. I frown at my bare feet.

My head shoots up when there’s a loud succession of crashing noises and then shouting somewhere on the other side of the door. I purse my lips, debating whether I should investigate.Yeah, that’s a good idea. Gotowardthe loud noises when you have absolutely nothing to defend yourself with.

But I do it anyway. I slide off the bed and walk to the door. I hold my breath as I reach for the handle, praying to anyone who will listen that it’s not locked. Crossing my fingers, I wrap the other hand around the metal and turn it. My stomach flips when the handle gives, opening the door. The Experiment no longer sees me as a threat, it seems.Does that mean the procedure worked?I don’tfeeldifferent, at least not yet. Everything just feels fuzzy right now.

Pain-filled screams erupt nearby, and my bare feet slap against the white tile floor as I bolt down the hall, following the sound. My heart pounds in my ears, and my lungs are strained with each step I take.

When I reach the end of the hall, I slam my palms against the door, ignoring the flare of pain in my hands as I push it open and enter the room.

My hand flies to my mouth, and I cry out at the sight of Max. His face is bloody and bruised, and the rest of him—held up by cables hanging from the ceiling in the center of the room—doesn’t look any better. My nose wrinkles at the coppery scent of blood mixed with antiseptic.

Flicking my gaze around the bright room only makes things worse. Several people in white coats stare at me with wide eyes; they weren’t expecting to see me. Everything in the room is white: floors, walls, the cabinets lining the room. I don’t even want to think about what’s inside of those. There’s a cart of metal instruments sitting next to Max, and my pulse spikes at the sight of blood coating several of them.That’s where the smell came from.It’s also seeping through the material of his gray shirt and pooled on the floor at his feet, staining his shoes red.

Anger boils through me faster than I could’ve imagined possible. I’m out of breath, and still I find the power inside to scream at the top of my lungs as I charge toward the white lab coats. I grab the first one and shove him with as much strength as I can muster. He stumbles into a glass cabinet on the wall, shattering it and the vials of liquid inside, knocking the guy unconscious on the floor. Talk about an adrenaline rush.Holy shit.

Two more lab coats turn to face me, while one of them flees from the room, most likely to call for help.You’ll be too late, I want to shout, but I don’t waste any time. I advance on the next one, a petite blond girl whose eyes widen when she sees the fury in mine.

She raises her hands in front of her. “Wait—”

I shove her aside before she can get another word in, and she cries out, colliding with the tray of instruments. She collapses to the floor, and I watch the red stain on her stomach grow bigger, spreading through the white of her coat. I frown, pausing as I come to the realization that I don’t care whether she dies.

They think I’m a monster, so maybe I should be.I want them to suffer for what they’ve done—for what they’re doing. That might make me worse than some of these people, but I can’t find the will to be affected by that right now.

Only one person stands between Max and me, and something tells me I will take pleasure in getting through him.

“Aurora,” Carter says in a low voice. “You shouldn’t be out of bed.”

My lips peel back in a snarl. “Get the fuck out of my way, or so help me, I will kill you with my bare hands.” I offer an icy smile. “I’ll enjoy it, too.”

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