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

wrong or which side you
should be on.”
    Tensing up at the mere sound of his voice,
I force myself to face him. “I know precious little about the war between you guys
and the Aerlings, and you’re right that I have no clue who’s in the right,
though I don’t think you’ll ever be able to justify killing innocent children.
What I do know, is whose side I should be on.”
    Levi’s killer twists his mouth into a vile
grin. “You would choose the Aerlings just because you were born to serve
them? Are you truly as sheep-like as we’ve been told so many times?”
    “I’m not choosing the Aerlings,” I growl,
hating him more and more with every word that slithers out of his mouth. “I’m
choosing my friends. I choose to protect their lives over my own. No one is
forcing me, no compulsion or duty is choosing for me.”
    The other Sentinel laughs. The harsh,
abrasive sound of it makes me want to turn away from his poisonous self, but I
turn to face him instead. His laughter mellows into a condescending smile. “You
only think you are making the choices. That is how the Mother and Father work.
The let you believe you have free will. They are clever enough to give you just
enough freedom to make it believable, yet the leash only gets tighter the more
you fight for independence.” He grabs my chin, yanks me forward until we are
inches away from each other, and then shoves me away in disgust. “Humans are
weak and foolish, but the Aerlings and their toys are even more pitiful because
they willingly subject themselves to a life of slavery and dependence.”
    “Sheep,” Levi’s murderer spits.
    Struggling away from my captors, I force
my aching body to stand, to face them head on. “You want to talk about sheep?
Look at your own reflections, you delusional lemmings. You’ve never even set
foot in the Aerling world, none of you! The Sentinels were created on Earth .
You don’t know the truth of what happened between Tū and his parents any
more than I do! All you have is what your master has told you, and you follow
it because you’re his creations and you have no other choice, no other purpose
in life. Tū never wanted freedom, he wanted control, and he has it over
you. All of you. But it isn’t enough. No, now he has to gain control over
everyone else, too. Over humans, over Aerlings, over whatever he touches. You
all were just the first stepping stones to his empire of subjugation, and
you’re all too stupid to see that .”
    Knuckles meet skull before I can even
process the sight of the main Sentinel’s punch winding up. My legs turn to
jelly immediately and I crumple to the ground. I can feel the pain, but after
three days of being tortured, this is hardly the worst I’ve endured. Suffering
through it, I stare wide-eyed and slack-jawed at my captor’s scuffed tennis
shoes. For some reason, it seems off to me that he’s wearing tennis shoes, but
my thoughts are too fuzzy to think of why.
    Another pair of shoes joins the first.
Then two pairs of knees appear just above me. All I can do is stare, blink, and
suck in labored breaths that seem to hurt more than the Sentinel’s blow. I
don’t resist when hands grab beneath my shoulders and lug me back into the
chair. Throbbing begins the second I’m upright, forcing my hands to my head to
cradle it, though it does no good.
    Hayden .
    My head jerks up at the sound of her
voice. The movement sends me reeling, but my eyes search as my vision swims. I
don’t understand when all I see is the gray block walls of the interrogation
room filled with two Sentinels, myself, and the chair I’m sitting on. Where is
she?
    Hayden , her voice
whispers again. My heart is racing now, verging on full blown panic.
    Hayden , she says, her
voice stronger than before, we’re coming .
    It makes no sense, but if there is one
person in this world, or any other, that I have complete faith in, it’s Olivia.
The pain and fear all slip away as her words settle over me. Whatever