no longer enter.
Selene gasped
for air, her mind whirling with what she’d done. And what she needed to do now. Survive.
“Good girl,”
Gideon patted her on the head. “Now, go sit next to them.”
Selene mimicked
the same robotic compliance of her parents and wondered if she’d share their
awful fate.
Gideon cleared
his throat and smirked, “You will abdicate your rule to me. Call the High Council
together tomorrow morning and tell them.”
Then he sent
Selene back to her bed.
The King and Queen
apparently complied the next day, for Gideon took lead of the Vyusher. He was
only ten years old, but he’d managed to seize complete control—and compliance—with
Selene’s help.
They started
with the High Council, one at a time, because that’s all Selene could manage. Gideon
had her hold their power at bay, and then he manipulated them. He worked from
the strongest to the weakest until all of the Council was under his control. He
then proceeded with the rest of the pack until every single member was a
submissive servant.
Selene never saw
her parents again and had always assumed that Gideon had them killed. Her
brother never did do the dirty work himself. That night with her parents was
the beginning of a nightmare that never ended. At first she’d been too afraid,
too young, too weak. And too alone. But as she’d grown both in age and in
power, she’d at least managed to hide her other developing gifts from her
brother. That had been her first form of defiance.
Once he had the
pack under his control, Gideon put into action the next phase of his plan. He
started by ridding the tribe of anyone who couldn’t morph into wolf form. Then
he methodically added more wolves, creating the pack, earning them the name of
Vyusher. The pack, under Gideon’s full control now without any forced
manipulation from Selene, was put into action against groups of other people
with powers, the Svatura . Gideon had used Sheila, a young wolf with
ability to find people with powers. Sheila had better luck finding groups
larger than about twenty, and Gideon had started organizing the pack to attack
groups that size.
Selene’s
involuntary role in the attacks was to turn off the most threatening ability in
the group. Fortunately, Gideon hadn’t made her fight or kill, and for that she
was grateful. He wanted her protected, as she was one of his greatest weapons.
As Selene’s
ability to control people’s powers expanded, Gideon increased the size of the
groups they attacked. Scenes started flashing before Selene’s eyes: scenes of
the carnage, the terror, the devastation she’d been forced to not only witness,
but in which she had to unwillingly participate. There was nothing she could do
to stop Gideon and no one she could turn to for help.
Selene heard
someone sob, bringing her out of her memories for a second. She felt the wet of
the tears on her cheeks and the pressure of the grips of both Aubrey siblings
squeezing her hands. But it was Griffin’s grip on her that gave her the
strength to keep going.
Selene gathered
her thoughts and concentrated on what had been her first ray of hope. In a short
period of time, she’d developed several abilities in succession. Selene already
had the ability to hide her emotions and thoughts from her brother and everyone
around her. In fact, Gideon wasn’t aware that Selene had never been susceptible
to his brainwashing. She’d been savvy enough, even at ten, to know that pretending
to be under his influence was key to her survival.
And then Selene
had made a discovery. Her ability to hide her emotions and thoughts wasn’t just
a strong will. It was the start of a different gift—the ability to hide things.
She kept Gideon from knowing she’d developed new powers. She even learned how
to hide people who possessed abilities from Gideon’s tracker, Sheila.
At first, she could
only apply it to one person at a time. She started secretly practicing on new
Vyusher in the pack as they
Selene gasped
for air, her mind whirling with what she’d done. And what she needed to do now. Survive.
“Good girl,”
Gideon patted her on the head. “Now, go sit next to them.”
Selene mimicked
the same robotic compliance of her parents and wondered if she’d share their
awful fate.
Gideon cleared
his throat and smirked, “You will abdicate your rule to me. Call the High Council
together tomorrow morning and tell them.”
Then he sent
Selene back to her bed.
The King and Queen
apparently complied the next day, for Gideon took lead of the Vyusher. He was
only ten years old, but he’d managed to seize complete control—and compliance—with
Selene’s help.
They started
with the High Council, one at a time, because that’s all Selene could manage. Gideon
had her hold their power at bay, and then he manipulated them. He worked from
the strongest to the weakest until all of the Council was under his control. He
then proceeded with the rest of the pack until every single member was a
submissive servant.
Selene never saw
her parents again and had always assumed that Gideon had them killed. Her
brother never did do the dirty work himself. That night with her parents was
the beginning of a nightmare that never ended. At first she’d been too afraid,
too young, too weak. And too alone. But as she’d grown both in age and in
power, she’d at least managed to hide her other developing gifts from her
brother. That had been her first form of defiance.
Once he had the
pack under his control, Gideon put into action the next phase of his plan. He
started by ridding the tribe of anyone who couldn’t morph into wolf form. Then
he methodically added more wolves, creating the pack, earning them the name of
Vyusher. The pack, under Gideon’s full control now without any forced
manipulation from Selene, was put into action against groups of other people
with powers, the Svatura . Gideon had used Sheila, a young wolf with
ability to find people with powers. Sheila had better luck finding groups
larger than about twenty, and Gideon had started organizing the pack to attack
groups that size.
Selene’s
involuntary role in the attacks was to turn off the most threatening ability in
the group. Fortunately, Gideon hadn’t made her fight or kill, and for that she
was grateful. He wanted her protected, as she was one of his greatest weapons.
As Selene’s
ability to control people’s powers expanded, Gideon increased the size of the
groups they attacked. Scenes started flashing before Selene’s eyes: scenes of
the carnage, the terror, the devastation she’d been forced to not only witness,
but in which she had to unwillingly participate. There was nothing she could do
to stop Gideon and no one she could turn to for help.
Selene heard
someone sob, bringing her out of her memories for a second. She felt the wet of
the tears on her cheeks and the pressure of the grips of both Aubrey siblings
squeezing her hands. But it was Griffin’s grip on her that gave her the
strength to keep going.
Selene gathered
her thoughts and concentrated on what had been her first ray of hope. In a short
period of time, she’d developed several abilities in succession. Selene already
had the ability to hide her emotions and thoughts from her brother and everyone
around her. In fact, Gideon wasn’t aware that Selene had never been susceptible
to his brainwashing. She’d been savvy enough, even at ten, to know that pretending
to be under his influence was key to her survival.
And then Selene
had made a discovery. Her ability to hide her emotions and thoughts wasn’t just
a strong will. It was the start of a different gift—the ability to hide things.
She kept Gideon from knowing she’d developed new powers. She even learned how
to hide people who possessed abilities from Gideon’s tracker, Sheila.
At first, she could
only apply it to one person at a time. She started secretly practicing on new
Vyusher in the pack as they
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