Page 17 of Restored

“Maddox, what the hell are you doing out here; you scared the shit out of me!” My whisper is shrill as I roll out of his embrace to face him.

“Oh, just having a nightly stroll,” he retorts. “What the fuck do you think I’m doing out here?! I go to check on you, and when I search your room, to no one’s surprise, you’re not there. I found your report with Oliver’s name on it and knew you couldn’t help yourself.” He continued, “When I get to their house, Thea is hysterical and tells me you were carried out of her house unconscious by two men! She pointed me in the direction they took you, and you’re about as quiet as a wild boar, so it didn’t take long to find you. I knew this would happen!”

I grimace listening to my foolish decisions as he finishes and then blurt out, “The prince snuck into my room last night asking me to go with him to Westray. He needs my power. I told him no and thought that would suffice, but clearly, he didn’t like that answer.” Maddox’s eyes bulge at my omission.

“You didn’t think to tell me that?” he questions, and I open my mouth to respond before he cuts me off. “Never mind, we have to keep mov?—”

Before he can finish, a branch snaps in the distance. I freeze.

“I nearly drained all her power; she couldn’t have gotten far. Mia, you go left. Arch, you go right. I’ll look around here. If you find her, you are under orders not to harm her, just restrain her and call for me.” I recognize Ledger’s voice.

Maddox gives me a panicked look and gestures to the tree next to him. “Climb it” he mouths. I shake my head furiously back and forth.

“I will not leave you, just turn us both invisible,” I mouth back.

“We will have a better chance if we split up. Listen to me for once, Lay.” The plea is barely a whisper in my ear. “I’ll distract them and be back for you.” He squeezes my arm before activating his power and blinking out of sight, invisible to all around him.

I gulp and start to climb the tree. Every muscle in my body contracts. I grab limb after limb, climbing as quietlyas I can, praying I won’t fall. My injured ankle rebels against the action but still responds to my requests.

My body freezes when I spot Ledger walking right beneath the tree. “Come out wherever you are. We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”

My skin pebbles much like it did the first time I heard him speak. Sweat trickles down my spine.Do not look up,I chant repeatedly in my head.

My tired legs tremble so violently as they hold my weight, I fear I’m shaking the tree. I attempt to readjust, moving as carefully as I can.

Without warning, my ankle gives out, my boot scraping a small piece of bark that falls in slow motion to the floor of the woods. I can’t make out where it lands but I can make out the moment Ledger freezes.

Oh fuck.I shrink into the tree hoping to blend in through the dark.

“You can come down, or I can bring you down; your choice,” he calls from below. I squeeze my eyes shut against the onslaught of panic.

After a few silent moments, he sighs, and I can hear the scraping of tree bark. I look down and see vines snaking up the tree. My eyes bulge, and my body begins to move.

He has two powers… that is almost unheard of.

I frantically grip the branches in front of me hauling myself higher. My feet scramble for purchase as the vines beneath me continue their ascent.

I’m a little more than halfway up the tree when the vines wrap around my ankles. A strangled noise escapes my mouth as they yank me back with surprising force.

The rough wood of the tree grates against my palms as my grip slips. With one more furious pull, I’m ripped from the branch. My body bounces and cracks off the tree as I fall to the earth.

The wind whips through my tangled hair and a scream tears from my throat. I brace my body for impact, ready to hit the hard ground.

Instead, I land with a huff caught by two strong arms. Instinctually, I throw my elbow out, catching Ledger in the face.

My ass hits the damp earth as he drops me, and I scurry back trying to get some distance in between us. Maddox screams my name in the distance, followed by sounds of struggling.

Vines tighten around my ankles, and I kick out trying to dislodge them. New vines rise from the ground, lashing out and wrapping up one of my wrists and forearm.

“Maddox!” I scream his name like a prayer, if I could just get to him, we could be each other’s salvation.

The vines grow too fast; they slither up my body like vicious snakes, and it isn’t long before they tighten painfully around both my ankles and wrists, binding me to the earth.

I struggle against the binds, but they seem to tighten with each movement until I’m completely entangled, kneeling in the dirt.

Ledger saunters over to me and crouches down so he is at eye level. I taste iron as warm blood drips over my split lip and down my chin.

“I underestimated you.” He studies me as I struggle. “I don’t want to hurt you further, but you need to stop fighting me.”

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