…but I’d never had the strength of will to go through with it. I couldn’t.
I craved my freedom. I was terrified of becoming their slave.
But at a deep, fundamental level…
…I truly loved them.
Torelli sees my anguish, and he smiles.
“That’s right, little one. No one’s coming to save you anymore – and you’re the only person who’s ever come to try and save your sister.”
He snorts bitterly.
“Well, good news. I’m selling you both as a package deal. Identical twins. I know it’s not strictly true, but it’s close enough. Men love that – enough that they’ll even kid themselves into believing it.”
I sob, and Torelli grins as he watches the tears roll down my cheeks.
“Enjoy the rest of your life,” he growls, and then he gives me one more kick for good measure. I feel his sharp-tipped shoe sink hard into my side and hear one of my ribs crack. Pain shoots through my body.
I clutch my side, groaning in agony, as Torelli turns and leaves.
As soon as he’s gone, I rip the gag out of my mouth. It’s only an oily, dirty rag.
I throw the fabric down and crawl to Lilac, grabbing her and holding her closely as I sob into her shoulders.
After a moment, I lift my head - grabbing her shoulders, forcing her to look me in the eyes.
Nothing.
She’s like a ghost – empty and spiritless.
“Lilac,” I sob, “it’s me! It’s your sister! Please! Remember me. Please, Lilac! Please remember me!”
I’m pleading to her – but I know she’s been through so much abuse and pain that I can barely see anything left of humanity in her glassy eyes.
It breaks my heart.
I feel my stomach drop. I look around this bare, metal room and realize we must be in the hold of a spaceship. It’s takes off – I can tell by the sinking feeling in my stomach as the artificial gravity struggles to compensate.
Clutching Lilac close, I weep for my little sister. My eyes flood with anguished tears. The teardrops splatter on the cold, steel flooring of this cargo bay – all that pain and anguish dropping, wasted, onto the floor.
“Lilac,” the one thing I never do is stop talking to her. “It’s me, Lilac! It’s Allie! It’s me!”
Suddenly, her eyes focus.
“A… A… Allie?”
It’s like she’s awakening from a trance. My sister gasps in a broken, horse croak.
“Yes!” Now my tears are those of happiness. “Yes, it’s me!” I hug her tightly. “Oh, thank the Gods! You recognize me!”
“Allie!” My sister croaks. “Allie! You have to be careful! He’s… He’s evil.”
She clutches her knees, bobbing her head up and down, repeating those same words over and over.
“He’s evil... Evil!”
She must be referring to Torelli – and, sadly, I’d discovered that already.
I have to think.
I look around desperately. So, we’re in the cargo bay of a ship. If it tries to Orb-Shift, I could use the augmentation in my left arm as soon as I feel the gut-wrenching lurch.
But where would we be going? We must be flying somewhere. Probably to the home of some rich bastard with a fetish for twins.
“Aurelians are evil,” Lilac murmurs says, rocking her head back and forth.
I gently sooth her. “No. They’re not all evil, Lilac.”
I feel a gut-wrenching twist of anguish – thinking of Daccia, Kitos and Hadrian – and how I’d betrayed them.
I shake my head.
“We don’t need to worry about Aurelians, anyway, Lilac. We’ve got each other. Now, I’m going to find a way out of this, I promise. I’m going to save us.”
I grab my head. I hadn’t noticed it earlier – I’d been too distracted by Torelli, and my sister – but there’s some type of helmet on my head.
No, not a helmet – just a ring around my ears. However, it’s skintight – and I can’t pull it off.
Whatever it is, it must be the reason I can’t feel the triad in my mind.
But even if I could… Would they still come for me, after I’ve betrayed them?
But I know, deep in my heart, that they would.
“Fuck,” I growl. “If I could just get this thing off, I’d have a triad of Aurelians rushing to come save us right now!”
Lilac gasps and crawls away from me like I’m trying to hurt her. Panic fills her eyes as she starts hyperventilating. She must have suffered horrific abuse at Torelli’s hands – and, as such, Aurelians have become her worst fear.
I’d thought my sister was dead. I hoped, every single day, that somehow I’d find her alive again.
Now I have – and I’d always thought this moment would be one of pure joy.
Now, instead, I feel pure hatred for the man who did this to her.
Lilac sobs silently.
“Lilac,” I sooth her, “it’s okay. The Aurelians won’t hurt us.”
She looks up at me with those big eyes. “Promise?"
I smile and nod. “See here? See this, in my right arm? If I press that, I can knock anyone out – even an Aurelian. And see this? In my left arm? This will disable their ship engines. No Aurelian will be taking us anywhere. I’ll protect you, Lilac – I promise. Okay?”
She nods, and the trust in her eyes breaks my hearts.
She was only seventeen when she was taken. Now she’s barely twenty – but she’s acting younger than the day she was taken. It’s as if her personality had been beaten down completely, reducing her to the mentality of a child.
I hold her tightly, singing softly to her, trying desperately to bring back the vibrant, powerful young woman I’d one known.
“It’s going to be okay, Lilac,” I promise her. “It’s going to be okay.”
Suddenly, the ship rocks, and fear grips my heart. That wasn’t the lurch of an engine firing. It was an evasive maneuver.
We’re under attack!
The poison of hope wells up inside me once again.
After everything I’d done to hurt that triad of loyal, devoted Aurelians, something tells me that they’re the ones causing this chaos.
Beyond the
