Page 39 of Revenge of the Forgotten

“They can try.” Her eyes twinkled with challenge. “Don’t slow down. Keep running.” Arlet didn’t wait for Vega to agree—there was no time.

Arlet darted between a few trees, light on her feet. Vega crept forward to follow and took a giant breath, steadying her nerves. She’d barely taken three steps when a hand caught her by the collar of her flannel. Vega yelped as she flopped to the ground with enough force to knock the wind out of her.

Bridger stood over her. Shadows hid most of his face from view, making him look like a fallen angel with a disastrous plan.

She scurried back, trying to get out from underneath him. Darkness settled behind his gaze as he stepped into the moonlight, and when their eyes locked, Vega froze.

“Hi, Kitten.” Confidence oozed through every pore of his body.

The air was back in her lungs with a frantic gasp. “It’s you.”

His forehead wrinkled as his brows creased together, but her comment didn’t faze him for long. The look was gone in a blink. “Ah yes, your worst nightmare. Here to bring you home,” Bridger declared.

“No, I—” She never got to admit she’d been dreaming of him because Arlet came out of nowhere, tackling Bridger like a linebacker on the hunt for a Super Bowl ring. The sound of Bridger’s surprise rolled through the trees.

Arlet pinned Bridger, and hope filled Vega’s chest when she saw her reach for a hidden dagger. But he didn’t let her have the upper hand for long, flipping Arlet off like a sack of potatoes.

Vega jumped to her feet, ready to help her friend fight with the pocketknife she suddenly remembered having, when the man from earlier popped up in front of her with the smile of a devil on his lips.

“What’s your plan, huh? It’s best you stay out of this one.” The warning rang in her ears.

“Let me guess. You’re one of my sister’s henchmen.” Vega hated that she couldn’t remember this man, that he knew all her secrets and she didn’t even know his name.

“Not quite,” he answered, starting to circle her like the prey she was. “But do go on. I’d love to hear who you think I am.”

Vega kept her eyes on him. “Trash, obviously,” she spat.

He distracted her with his circling, and Vega didn’t expect him to lunge. She almost got herself out of the way, but he moved with unearthly speed. She was in his grasp, his arm sliding around her neck in a chokehold. He squeezed with enough force that black dots began to sprinkle into her vision almost immediately.

His breath tickled her ear. “Sleep tight.”

Vega clawed at his arms, but he had her held tight with such little effort that Vega knew she was going to die. Blood seeped under her fingernails, but the man didn’t loosen his grip.

Vega fought until she couldn’t anymore, until the man choking the air from her lungs whacked her into a tree, knocking her out and into the abyss she’d come to know too well.

The real world floated away, and Vega settled into a world she’d never get the chance to see again.

The girls giggled, grabbing their light jackets and bounding down the stairs as quickly as they could.

Arlet fixed Vega’s floral crown and from somewhere behind her back pulled out another to place on Marlena’s perfectly styled updo. The dark red flowers popped against her bright blonde hair.

Marlena beamed as Arlet settled the crown onto her head. “Where did that come from?”

Arlet shrugged, a smile turning her cheeks pink. “I made an extra just in case.”

Vega opened the front door of the Aeris estate, looking over her shoulder at her sisters—one by blood, the other by fate. Their faces fell when the door opened wide. “What’s the…” Vega began, her words sticking in her throat when she turned to face her parents on the other side of the door. Their arms were crossed, expressions serious.

Arlet waved apprehensively from behind Vega. “Hi Ryanna. Hi Jonan.”

“And where is it you think you’re going?” Ryanna asked, eyes scanning the three girls dressed in bright colors.

Vega’s brow furrowed in confusion at her mother’s annoyed tone. “Uh, it’s the last day of Floralia? We’re going for the closing ceremony.” The last day of the spring festival meant games, prizes, and baked goods at half the price.

Jonan strode his way through the door, plucking Marlena’s crown from her head. “You two might be, but she isn’t.”

“Dad,” Vega protested. “That’s not fair. She hasn’t been able to go all week, and you promised?—”

Ryanna closed the front door. “We promised nothing, Vega. We said that if your sister catches up with all of her work this week, then maybe she could go.”

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