Page 88 of Revenge of the Forgotten

“You have no idea how I was raised! How our parents are raising me!” Marlena’s demeanor changed quickly, her temper palpable. “You’ve been sheltered inside a tiny bubble and have never taken a moment to see what it’s been like for me!” The girls were nose to nose, Marlena swift on her toes to close the distance. “You live inside your own world. Don’t pretend to know what I’ve been through, what they do behind closed doors to me you know nothing of. Because if you’d open your eyes, just a little, you’d see the differences. You’d see that you might be more gods-blessed in your abilities than me, but I have always, will always, be smarter than you.”

Vega stepped back, stammering, “What are you saying, Marlena?”

Marlena took her own step back, creating space between them. “I have been raised to rule, not you, and the next time you forget that, I’ll happily remind you.”

A door slammed, and the vision was over. But this time Vega didn’t startle awake—her body continued to float into nothingness.

32

“Are you awake?” Vega’s voice traveled through the room, filling Bridger’s ears. His smile was weak, but the sound of her voice—the fact she was still alive—sent a wave of happiness through him.

His eyes fluttered open. “Barely.” After seventeen days with little to no food and just enough water to keep them alive, Bridger, Khort, and Vega could barely find it in themselves to move from their sleeping spots.

The crumbling stone under their bodies was all they had in their cells. No beds, no bathrooms—they were caged like abused animals. Khort had stopped talking ten hours ago and only grunted to let them know he was alive.

“I want to touch you.”

Bridger could tell Vega was crying, her voice shuddering. He could picture the way her lip quivered.

He pushed himself off the floor, his body feeling heavier than ever. “Come to the corner of your cell.” Bridger reached his hand out, waiting for hers to slip into his. The two did this every night, willing the other to last one more night—just one more night, and he’d figure out a way to get them out of here—to stay strong, to think of the future they would have together when they made it out of this alive. “I love you,” Bridger whispered, wrapping his hand around what little bit of hers he could.

“I love you too.” Her response was soft. “I don’t know how much longer of this I can take.”

Bridger shut his eyes tightly. “Hold on just a little longer. I’ll get us out of here, I swear.” Who was he if he couldn’t keep Vega safe?

They’d been fighting every single day for the last year and a half. Arlet and Khort had found a way to get Vega’s memories back to her. They came in pieces, but they were back. Marlena killed the Fraus-born who’d helped them and then used the information she’d beaten out of her to track them down. Vega only had three days of mental freedom before being thrown into the dungeon of her childhood home.

The two fell asleep hand in hand, but their slumber didn’t last long.

“How cute.”

A heeled boot tapped against their connected hands, jarring them both awake. Startled, Bridger jumped back, stumbling under his weak body. Marlena stood in front of them through their closed cells.

The cell across from him was empty—the one Khort had been in. “Where’s Khort? What did you do to him?” Bridger raced to the edge of his cage and gripped the bars.

Marlena stared him down, her eyes glimmering like ice. “If you two weren’t so busy cuddling, you’d know what was going on.” The sneer on her lips was always there when she looked at them, but it slowly faded when the familiar scream echoed down the stairs.

“What are you doing to him?” Vega’s voice cracked, her outcry rattling off the walls and down the hollow halls. “Marlena! Marlena, look at me! What are you doing to Khort?”

Marlena’s eyes never left Bridger as her sinister smile formed. “I won’t do anything if your boyfriend here does what he’s asked to do.” There was always a trade-off with Marlena—except she could never be trusted to follow through on her end. The locks on their cells clicked open with the flick of Marlena’s wrist, and at the same time, Bridger and Vega bolted out of them—free for the first time in seventeen days. Bridger hurled himself at Marlena, while Vega dashed down the hall after Khort.

Neither one made it to their destination. Marlena used her power to trap them in place, slamming a shield over and around them. Vega screamed in frustration.

“Vega! Bridger!” Khort’s voice echoed down the stairway from above. His voice strained as the sounds of a fight followed. “They found Arlet! They have Arlet!” Khort roared in pain, and then the echoes of his voice died.

Marlena let her power drop, taking one large step back from Bridger. “Both of you are too weak to fight me, let alone win. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. You choose.” Marlena’s arms crossed over her chest, head cocked to the side.

Vega crashed into Bridger’s side. “Don’t fight. Hear her out. She has Arlet. We give her what she wants to ensure she’s safe… that Khort’s safe.” Her voice was panicked, pleading. Vega was still trying to hang on to the hope that Marlena would snap out of it and be the girl she grew up with—Vega couldn’t see that the sister she’d known was gone and she was never coming back.

Marlena looked bored when Bridger forced his eyes away from Vega, who was so beaten and broken that she hardly looked like herself anymore. “Whatever she has to say isn’t going to be what we want, Vega. Marlena will never let us have what we want.”

Marlena smiled at his words. “Ever the smart warrior.”

She took a step forward, and Bridger noticed that she had no weapons on her. Marlena didn’t see them as a threat…

Vega clung to Bridger, half using him for support.

“What more could you possibly want from us?” Bridger rasped.

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