Read Online Shattered Promises 02 - Fractured Souls by Jessica Sorensen - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Jessica Sorensen
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explanation of how I got here and where here is. The walk seems endless, though, and finally I sit down in the dirt.
As my skin ignites, I remove my hand from it and peek underneath it. My heart stops at the sight of a triangular symbol on my upper arm, black overlapping red. The same mark I had seen on Draven. Shit.
Panic soars inside me and something painfully alters in my heart. I feel different—powerful—like I can do anything. The power is stemming from the symbol on my arm. I slowly rise to my feet, ready to do whatever it takes to get out of here and knowing I mean it, even if I have to take another life.
There are so many terrible things flashing through my head right now that they practically swallow up my identity with a blanket of needles.
“Gemma…” Someone whispers behind me.
I turn around, glancing at the land behind me. I search for what seems like forever, feathers raining down on my head. When I give up and turn around something smacks me upside the head.
My ears ring and my skull feels like it cracks as I drift into the ground, into darkness.
***
When I open my eyes, it takes my brain a second to process where I am. There’s too much confusion. One minute I’m being fed on, then I’m in some weird junkyard, and the next thing I know I’m lying on warm asphalt, with a very dim lamppost shining down on me as I gaze up at the stars.
“Are you okay?” Laylen’s voice sedates me.
I turn my head to the side and find him kneeling next to me, the top of his shirt covered in blood, his eyes like shadows. I feel strangely calm, all things considering, and I have a suspicion Laylen has put the emotion into me.
“Where am I?” I croak, my fingers drifting to the area on my neck that’s coated with a warm, sticky substance. I turn my shoulder inward and glance at the place where the symbol was on my skin, but it’s gone.
It was just a dream. A nightmare. Thank God.
“We’re just outside of Adessa’s, in the parking lot.” Concern and guilt mask his face. “You blacked out.”
I gradually sit up. “Owe.” I wince, clutching onto my tender muscles.
“Easy,” Laylen says, his voice soothing as he traces his fingertips up and down my spine. “It’s going to hurt for a little bit.”
I bring my hand away from my neck and hold it up in front of my face. My fingers are drenched in blood. “What else am I going to feel?” I whisper.
“I’m not sure…” He struggles for words as his hand rests on the small of my back. “Gemma, I’m so sorry.”
I slope my chin up to meet his eyes, then reach up and brush his hair away from his forehead. I move robotically, as if I’m supposed to be doing what I’m doing, not of my own accord, but because my body needs to touch him. “It’s not your fault. I’m the one who said to do it.”
“But I didn’t have to do it,” he says and then shuts his eyes as I place a hand on his cheek and run my thumb along his jawline. “Part of me wanted to do it,” he admits, opening his eyes. “Part of me has wanted to… to bite you ever since you reentered my life.”
I’m uncertain how to take his revelation, whether I should be frightened or feel flattered. Honestly, I feel neither. I feel drained dry, subdued and emotionally empty. “What happened exactly? I just blacked out?”
He nods, smoothing his hand down my back. “It happens sometimes… from the loss of blood and emotional overload.”
“Did Draven tell you anything about my mother?” I ask, praying to God that all of this didn’t happen without a reason.
“Yeah, he… he told me… he said that she’s still there, in The Underworld, fully alive.” He looks like he’s unsure whether he should be happy or not
I’m not sure if I should be happy or not, either. Yes, she’s alive, but she’s also been down there for a very long time. I think of the dream, although now I’m starting to wonder if it was a vision I somehow entered without a crystal ball, something
As my skin ignites, I remove my hand from it and peek underneath it. My heart stops at the sight of a triangular symbol on my upper arm, black overlapping red. The same mark I had seen on Draven. Shit.
Panic soars inside me and something painfully alters in my heart. I feel different—powerful—like I can do anything. The power is stemming from the symbol on my arm. I slowly rise to my feet, ready to do whatever it takes to get out of here and knowing I mean it, even if I have to take another life.
There are so many terrible things flashing through my head right now that they practically swallow up my identity with a blanket of needles.
“Gemma…” Someone whispers behind me.
I turn around, glancing at the land behind me. I search for what seems like forever, feathers raining down on my head. When I give up and turn around something smacks me upside the head.
My ears ring and my skull feels like it cracks as I drift into the ground, into darkness.
***
When I open my eyes, it takes my brain a second to process where I am. There’s too much confusion. One minute I’m being fed on, then I’m in some weird junkyard, and the next thing I know I’m lying on warm asphalt, with a very dim lamppost shining down on me as I gaze up at the stars.
“Are you okay?” Laylen’s voice sedates me.
I turn my head to the side and find him kneeling next to me, the top of his shirt covered in blood, his eyes like shadows. I feel strangely calm, all things considering, and I have a suspicion Laylen has put the emotion into me.
“Where am I?” I croak, my fingers drifting to the area on my neck that’s coated with a warm, sticky substance. I turn my shoulder inward and glance at the place where the symbol was on my skin, but it’s gone.
It was just a dream. A nightmare. Thank God.
“We’re just outside of Adessa’s, in the parking lot.” Concern and guilt mask his face. “You blacked out.”
I gradually sit up. “Owe.” I wince, clutching onto my tender muscles.
“Easy,” Laylen says, his voice soothing as he traces his fingertips up and down my spine. “It’s going to hurt for a little bit.”
I bring my hand away from my neck and hold it up in front of my face. My fingers are drenched in blood. “What else am I going to feel?” I whisper.
“I’m not sure…” He struggles for words as his hand rests on the small of my back. “Gemma, I’m so sorry.”
I slope my chin up to meet his eyes, then reach up and brush his hair away from his forehead. I move robotically, as if I’m supposed to be doing what I’m doing, not of my own accord, but because my body needs to touch him. “It’s not your fault. I’m the one who said to do it.”
“But I didn’t have to do it,” he says and then shuts his eyes as I place a hand on his cheek and run my thumb along his jawline. “Part of me wanted to do it,” he admits, opening his eyes. “Part of me has wanted to… to bite you ever since you reentered my life.”
I’m uncertain how to take his revelation, whether I should be frightened or feel flattered. Honestly, I feel neither. I feel drained dry, subdued and emotionally empty. “What happened exactly? I just blacked out?”
He nods, smoothing his hand down my back. “It happens sometimes… from the loss of blood and emotional overload.”
“Did Draven tell you anything about my mother?” I ask, praying to God that all of this didn’t happen without a reason.
“Yeah, he… he told me… he said that she’s still there, in The Underworld, fully alive.” He looks like he’s unsure whether he should be happy or not
I’m not sure if I should be happy or not, either. Yes, she’s alive, but she’s also been down there for a very long time. I think of the dream, although now I’m starting to wonder if it was a vision I somehow entered without a crystal ball, something
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