Invincible (The Aerling Series Book 3) by DelSheree Gladden Read Free Book Online Page A

that I can’t place you.”
    “I can place you.” He grins and steps
closer to me, clearly enjoying this. “The exact moment I took notice of you was
quite memorable for me, and really, it should be for you as well, since it was
the very second you revealed your Aerling to me.”
    All the fight I had left in me suddenly
evaporates. Not jumping up or running or just throwing up is almost impossible
as what he just said sinks in. I kept trying to remember every moment with
Olivia, find that split second where I must have seen this guy. My mouth goes
dry as I realize my recognition had nothing to do with Olivia. Closing my eyes,
I bring back the day at the skate park… the day I met Levi.
    “I had already begun to suspect there was
an Aerling in the area,” he says. His tone is mocking, relishing the pain he’s
causing me. “There had been a few strange occurrences at the skate park, and I
just happened to be watching that day. The second you bumped into what seemed
like nothing, I knew.” He laughs. He laughs at me for unknowingly putting Levi
in his sights. “Then, you made it even worse by talking to him, and all those
little Caretaker kids ran over looking so excited, babbling over each other. I
couldn’t believe my luck.”
    He laughs again, a sick, twisted sound.
Even the other Sentinel is smiling as he enjoys watching me sink in on myself. How
many times did people try to tell me it wasn’t my fault? The Sentinels just
found Levi. There was nothing I could have done to stop it from happening. No
one blamed me for what happened, but they should have.
    My stomach turns, and I have no doubt I’m
about to lose everything I ate a few hours ago. I probably would have if not
for the other Sentinel stepping up and saying, “If you want to stop any more
Aerlings from dying, all you have to do is answer our questions.”
    I know I shouldn’t trust them, but Levi’s
dead eyes stare up at me from my memories, haunting me, blaming me. Slowly, I
lift my head and look at the Sentinel. “What do you mean?”
    He knows he has my attention now. Crossing
his arms over his chest, he holds my gaze. “The Aerlings don’t belong here on
Earth, and neither do we. All we want is to go back home.”
    “But,” I say slowly, “your creator, he…he
wanted to come here, right? He wanted to get away from his parents and the, uh,
darkness they had to live in.”
    “The darkness?” Levi’s killer asks.
    The other guy nods, but at me, not his
companion. “Tū wanted to escape, not a literal darkness, but the
confinement of being under absolute control by his parents. They watched over
the Earth, protecting it from a distance, but denied their children any chance of
interacting with humans or leaving the Aerling home. They were prisoners in
their own world.”
    This guy obviously wants me to feel bad
for Tū and all the Sentinels, but all I can say is, “Most people don’t get
to go hopping between worlds. He chose to leave his world and come down here.
Why is he trying to get back now?”
    “Tū did not choose to banish himself
here,” the one Sentinel snaps. “He escaped his parents to have freedom! Instead
of being free to make his own choices, he was imprisoned here on Earth, locked
away from his home and family. Cast out for wanting more than a life of
slavery.”
    I just stare at him. Part of me knows I
have very little knowledge about what’s actually going on with the Aerlings and
Sentinels, but this guy is really tough to just believe straight out. The
basics of this story isn’t unique to the Māori. It’s in every culture and
religion around the world. Good and Evil, God and the devil. Tū seems to
want to be cast in this righteous light, but I’m not buying it.
    “He rebelled. What did he think was going
to happen?” I ask.
    “Rebellion,” Levi’s killer scoffs. “That
word is a matter of whose side you’re on. You, little Aerling Escort, have no
idea what’s really going on, no clue who is right or