Page 60 of Tangled Hearts

Gray came back with a blanket, while we all looked at her.

“Easier said than done,” Gray said. “But we will try for you.”

“That’s all I ask.” Her voice was so soft. “Just don’t be like them.”

The tension in the room grew. We all knew who they were.

“We’d rather die than be like them, Sol,” Max said, as we all looked at Max in the doorway.

Oria lifted her head, looking over her shoulder at Max when her body went completely still, her eyes rolled into her head and she went limp.

“Blondie!!” I roared.

17

ORIA

Iscreamed for my mates when I realized I wasn’t in the room with them. My heart beat fast as I realized I was back in the tower that had held me captive for so long. This had to be a dream, this couldn’t be real. I got up from the floor when she walked in.

My entire body screamed for me to run, but for some reason I knew there was no way we were actually together. She had pulled my mind somewhere. I didn’t know how she did it, but she had managed to steal my mind or come into my consciousness

We stood staring at each other for what felt like forever.

“After all that I have done for you, this is how you repay me?” Her voice held no emotion.

“Done for me? You tricked me, you stole me, you led me to believe you were my mother who was taking care of me,” I said, swallowing down the tears. “You used me for your production, for your own gain, so you can cut the mother bullshit.”

My heart pounded loudly in my ears as I felt nauseated. I had never spoken to her like that and even though this was just in my mind, she still intimidated me.

“I wondered if he would be able to shift after so long,” she said, walking close to me as I backed away from her. “We should have killed him, but Taylin couldn’t go through with it. He was too soft. He still is.”

“It’s his brother, his blood,” I snapped.

“He knew the risks before we started this journey together,” she said calmly. “It was all part of the plan.”

Her face was devoid of any emotion, and I wondered how I had never noticed she was so robotic, so emotionless.

“To start—” I stopped myself from saying too much.

She raised a perfectly arched brow at me. “To start what?’

“To start producing Oria. Was it just for the money?” I asked, trying to come up with something believable so she would try and see what I knew.

“Money and Oria have always been my goal,” she shrugged. “I couldn’t figure out a way to pull the power from you, so the next best thing was to use you. Taylin was foolish enough to give you the flower of the gods to save you, but I supposed it was for the best.”

“The best? To treat me like your slave? To imprison me for most of my life, to take me away from my family?” I yelled.

“Watch your tone.” Her eyes flashed with magic.

“I’ll speak to you how I wish to speak to you, like a thief,” I spat.

She laughed, making me feel self-conscious. “Like your mates?”

“They are nothing like you,” I growled. “You keep them out of this.”

“Oh, Oria, you don’t even know who they are,” she said with a gleam in her eyes. “They do everything for their own gain, they have no morals, they take any job if it's the right price. Even stealing a lonely woman in a tower.”

My blood ran cold. “Excuse me?”

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