Page 68 of The Tree of Spirits
Startled shouts cut through the Black Obelisk’s sterile silence. The pounding of marching boots. The rattle of gunfire. The singing of steel. The shattering of glass. And—I gasped into my hand—the thumps of falling bodies.
And then all the lights in the room went out. A moment later, I heard the door creak open, but it was too dark to see anything.
“Who’s there?” I rasped, gripping the shutters.
“We are,” a deep voice echoed, like it was speaking through something mostly solid.
I whipped around but got tangled up in the arms that grabbed me.
“Who are you?” I demanded as I felt a bag drop over my head.
They hefted me up in the air.
“We’re the Rebels.”
CHAPTER 3
THE INTERROGATION
The bag the Rebels put over my head must have been soaked in sedatives because I couldn’t remember leaving the room. Or the Black Obelisk, for that matter.
“She’s waking up.”
I blinked a few times, and my vision slowly began to clear.
“Already? She must be resistant to the herbs.”
The hood was gone. I saw I was in an ugly living room with raggedy carpeting, gauzy curtains, and walls painted poo-brown.
“She’s pretty tough for such a little girl.”
Something thick and braided scraped against my skin. They were tying me up with ropes.
“Ow! She scratched my face!”
“Hold her steady!”
More hands grabbed me, holding me in place. I couldn’t move anymore. The Rebels tied me to a very thick, very rustic wooden post at the center of the room, one of several support beams that was holding up the ceiling.
I focused on the pair of Rebels standing in front of me. One was a tall, slender girl with long silver hair and emerald-greeneyes. The other was a boy with violet eyes and black hair pulled back into a long braid. Both looked a few years older than I was.
“So, you’re Rebels.” I struggled against my restraints, but these guys really knew how to tie up people. “And this is your, what, hideout?”
“One of them,” said the girl. “I’m Angel. And that’s Cedar.”
“Why have you abducted me?” I asked, struggling to stay calm. It was kind of hard, though, when I was tied to a post like some kind of ritual sacrifice.
“Don’t worry,” replied Cedar. “We have no intention of keeping you here any longer than necessary.”
“So said every villain ever.”
He clenched his fists. “We arenotvillains.”
“Then why did you tie me up?”
Right now, I was seriously reconsidering every word I’d ever said in defense of the Rebels. And that made me mad. I really didn’t want the General to be right about them.
Angel tightened the ropes holding me. “It’s just a precaution. We’re not bad people.”
