Page 89 of Revenge of the Forgotten

Amusement rippled through Marlena’s cackle. “Everything. This isn’t even close to over. We’re just getting started. I am going to break you both down until you have nothing left in you, until you’re too tired to keep fighting, until Vega is nothing more than a shadow of the person you knew. A memory.”

Bridger spoke before Vega could find the words. “You’ll never get away with this.”

“I already have. Who’s going to stop me? The people of Tolevarre that matter are on my side, leaving you with no one. Other than maybe the people Vega tried so dearly to protect, with their sad little abilities. Where are they now, huh?” Marlena made a point to look around the room. “I see no one on your side. Not a mouse, not a deer, not a sparrow.”

Vega’s face fell, sorrow filling her soft features. “What did you do to them?”

Bridger didn’t know what was going on, his eyes darting between the two sisters. Their mirrored eyes had vastly different emotions pooling in them. One sad, the other filled with pleasure.

“They’re dead. Just like everyone else who conspires with you will be. Just like you’re about to be for the second time in your sad, pathetic existence.” Marlena said the last words with such excitement.

“No,” Bridger growled, standing in front of Vega. “You won’t lay another finger on her.”

Marlena’s smile stayed lethal. “You’re right. I won’t.”

The world seemed to stand still, her words and their meaning sinking in.

A dagger appeared out of thin air, and Marlena tossed it at Bridger. It clattered against the cold and cobbled floor until it landed at his bare feet. “But you will.”

“No,” Bridger said again. The dagger on the floor was his. He could feel the draw to it, a thread pulling at the inner connection with his bonded blade.

“Yes,” Marlena replied, staring at the couple. “And since I know you’re going to give me a hard time…” She turned her attention to the stairs, and on cue, the sound of a body tumbling down them pulled their attention away from each other. “If you don’t, she dies too.”

Olenor Fera… Khort’s mother.

The woman groaned as she came to a stop at the bottom of the staircase. Her body convulsed with a wet cough, blood splattering out of her mouth.

“How can you do this to the people who love us?” Vega asked, the tears still pouring out. She didn’t dare move from Bridger’s grasp.

Marlena cackled. “Those people never loved me. They loved the idea of the power they could have if I continued to be their lapdog for the rest of my life.”

Bridger reached for the dagger, the pull between him and the bonded blade the only thing he could feel of his powers.

“Kill her, Bridger,” Marlena hissed when the blade settled in his grip.

“No!” he bellowed. Slower than normal but still with smooth warrior grace, the blade flew across the room—straight at Marlena’s head. It was aimed perfectly at where the center of her head should have been, but it wasn’t.

Marlena was on the other side of the room, her hand gripping Olenor by the throat, dangling in mid-air. Her sandy blonde hair was matted with blood, and her eyes were slits from how badly she’d been beaten. Every part of her body with exposed flesh was littered with a rainbow of bruises.

“The clock is ticking, Dimico.” She squeezed Olenor’s throat harder, the woman coherent enough to claw at Marlena’s hand.

“Bridger,” Vega cried, forcing his eyes away from Marlena and Olenor. “You have to.”

“Are you insane? No!” Bridger jerked away from Vega like she had two heads.

“We cannot let Khort lose his mother. Khort can’t lose his family too… not because of me. Please, Bridger.” Vega looked at Marlena, who watched the scene impatiently.

“Think faster.” She dropped Olenor, her head hitting the ground with a pop—her body was too mangled to catch herself.

“I don’t care about Khort! I care about you. I’m not killing you!” Bile sloshed a blistering trail up his throat.

Vega retrieved the dagger from the floor and hobbled back to Bridger.

He couldn’t do this—he couldn’t lose Vega again. There had to be a way out of this.

Bridger’s throat tightened when she pressed his dagger to his chest, the hilt flush against his skin.

“You have to do this. You promised to help me, to fight with me. That means keeping our people safe too, not just me.” Vega spoke through her tears.

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