Page 88 of Forged in Flames (Made of Steel 2)

I let him guide me through the hall of the building where I'd normally have class. I hadn't attended. This was all for show. Sadie Davis always seemed to know where I was. And she was always waiting for me to spot her in the crowd before she disappeared. It wouldn't be the first time she had appeared after one of my classes.

As we stepped outside, Eli dropped my hand. He went left and I went right. I had turned right out of this building dozens of times before. I glanced around. Sadie Davis wasn't in my line of sight. I squinted up at the building where V was supposed to be. There was a glint of his arrow in the sun, but anyone else would have missed it. I only recognized it because I knew he was there.

This is a terrible idea. I quickened my pace. The sooner I got to my mark, the sooner this whole thing would be over. Sadie Davis appearing made me stop in my tracks. She looked frazzled today, like she had gotten fashion advice from Liza. Her hair was unruly and her shirt was hanging off one shoulder.

A smile spread on her face as she lifted up one finger. Liza's words from last night came back to me. Was it three-two-one-go? Or was this it? The way she was smiling made it seem like this was the grand finale. I thought everything was supposed to slow down when you were about to die. But it felt like everything was speeding up. I saw Eli running up behind her.

"Can we talk?" I said, taking another step forward.

She shook her head and then turned around. She stopped when she saw Eli running toward her and turned back to me. Her eyes grew wide, like a caged animals'.

"I just want to talk," I said. "Please. I know who you are."

She ran to the side, off the path and screamed when an arrow landed in the grass in front of her feet. "You don't know what you're doing," she mumbled as she stepped backwards.

"You're my only family," I said. "Please, why are you doing this?"

"You don't know what you're doing," Sadie Davis repeated. "You don't know what you're doing." She sounded like a broken record as she backed up and collided right into Liza's hand.

Sadie Davis' body started convulsing and she fell to the ground, still shaking.

"Oh my God was that exhilarating," Liza said. She was holding out the taser she had just used on Sadie Davis. It looked like she was studying it.

I probably would have laughed if I wasn't in shock. None of that had been part of the plan. Where had Liza gotten a taser?

"What the hell, Liza?" Eli said as he sprinted up to them. "You were supposed to distract her until I got close enough to put her under, not tase her." He knelt down next to Sadie's body. "Where did you even get that thing?" He pulled a vial out of his pocket and placed it against the side of Sadie's neck. Her body immediately stopped shaking. She appeared to be unconscious.

"You walk around with a gun and V walks around with a bow and arrow," Liza said. "I thought I should have protection too."

"We have to get her out of here." Eli leaned down to lift up Sadie Davis' unconscious body.

"Class is about to let out," Liza said. "You have to make it look more natural. How about a piggy back ride?"

"Just fucking help me, Liza."

The two of them lifted up Sadie Davis and got her to look semi natural on Eli's back.

"You coming?" Liza said.

I just stood there. They had just unceremoniously kidnapped the person threatening me. Did that mean I was okay? Was I going to make it out of all of this alive? The hairs on the back of my neck prickled and I looked over my shoulder. Why did it still feel like someone was watching me?

"Don't you want to meet your aunt?" Liza asked, pulling me out of my thoughts. "What are you waiting for?"

I quickly caught up to them. There was no way I wanted to be left alone in the open like this. Just because Sadie Davis was unconscious didn't mean I was in the clear. I glanced at the woman on Eli's back. Up close, she didn't look as much like my mom. My mom had never grown old enough for wrinkles. My mom never crawled out of the bed looking like death either. I had to separate the two in my head if we were going to get through questioning. Because despite the differences, I wanted to hug Sadie Davis. I missed my mom every day. Seeing this woman who resembled her hurt my heart. It made me wonder what my mom would have looked like with wrinkles. Or if she had forgotten to comb her hair. Or if she was just still fucking alive.

I clenched my hand into a fist. Right now this woman wasn't my last living relative. She was my key to a puzzle I didn't understand. She was my last hope at getting some answers before the clock stopped.

Chapter 35

Thursday

"Let me speak to her alone first," I said.

Everyone was talking at the same time, trying to figure out how best to question Sadie Davis. No one even noticed that I had spoken. I quietly slipped away from them.

Sadie was tied up to some pipes on top of a building nearby V's place. That was one thing we had all agreed on. It was too dangerous to bring her to V's lair. We couldn't risk Don figuring out where it was. Seeing Sadie slumped forward with her wrists bound behind her reminded me of Eli being tied up several days ago. He had been proven innocent. Would she? Had we misjudged her too?

I looked over my shoulder. No one had followed me. No one had even noticed I was gone. I tried to push aside the eerie feeling that I was already slipping away as I walked toward Sadie. It didn't look like she was quite as out of it anymore. I sat down on the concrete a few feet away from her.

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