Page 56 of Midnight Whispers

“Why not?”

“Eventually, if it's something you really want, I will. I won’t take away your ability to choose this life willingly.”

“But…”

Asher comes into the room, interrupting my sentence.

“Hey. We got the summons. The pilot said he will have us in the air tomorrow morning, but they want ourmortal companionsto come.” He taps the door frame and gives a tight-lipped smile.

“The summons?”

“Yes.”

“And they want Flora and I to come?”

“It would appear so.”

“And you’re angry.”

“The Counsel, especially Octavia, doesn’t care much for the human species.”

“Oh. I see.”

“Flora’s coming in with your food. I will leave you be.”

She walks into the room with a bowl and a glass of iced tea on a tray, placing it on the table next to my bed. As if I’m incapable of doing anything by myself, Flora spoon feeds me soup.

“I didn’t make it myself. That’s why it’s so good.” We stare at each other for a second before we both break out in laughter.

Tears stream down my face as the laughing comes to an end. Logically, there’s no reason it wasthathysterical. I look at Flora, really look at her, and I can’t imagine a life without her in it. My chest tightens when I realize the fear she may have been feeling that I was going to be out of hers.

“You should get some sleep, Lill.” She says, brushing my hair out of my face.

“I really need to shower.”

“Let me see if I can track you down some clothes or something.”

“They say we’re going to Ireland tomorrow.”

“Yeah, Ash is pissed that they want us to go.”

“Ash?” I raise an eyebrow and look at her with agive me deetslook.

“Asher. Whatever.” She scoffs, rolling her eyes.

“You have to give me more than that.”

“Later.” She responds and points to her ear, mouthinghe can hear us.

I nod in understanding and mouth backoh okay.

Just like that, the conversation was dropped. I know she’ll talk to me about him when she’s ready to be happy about it. Whenever that will be.

She leaves the room in search of clothes so I can shower and before I know it, my body feels heavy, and I drift away into the darkness of sleep.

I open my eyes to see nothing but black around me. It’s so dark that I can only see my own hand if I hold it out in front of me. A sinister laugh echoes throughout my ominous surroundings. Rising from the mattress, I realize I’m no longer in the room. The mattress beneath me is incredibly thin. There’s no way that I was taken again.

The sound of footsteps coming closer reverberates through the air around me. Through the darkness, a hooded figure is nearing me. I try to move backward, away from the man, but my back hits a wall. A snarl escapes their lips, exposing fangs. I scream in hopes that someone, anyone, could hear me.

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