Oblivion by Lauren Barnholdt, Aaron Gorvine Read Free Book Online Page B

she’s not
    slowing me down. She doesn’t feel heavy at al , and
    I’m running faster than I’ve ever run. Even faster than
    the time I was going for the winning touchdown in
    that game against Hol iston. That time I had three
    linebackers chasing me, and this time I’ve got a
    bunch of witches trying to incinerate me.
    I blow through the trees. In the distance, I can hear
    screams and explosions, like World War I I has
    broken out.
    “Cam?” Natalia says.
    But I keep running, stil with no voice, stil unable to
    answer her, determined to get us back to the car.
    But I’m confused about which direction to go, and
    whatever that thing was, that strange energy that
    al owed me to break those bonds and get free to
    help Natalia, is draining from my body.
    After another minute of aimless running, I’m total y
    spent. I drop down and let Natalia go. She’s
    unsteady on her feet and her face is pale. Another
    explosion shakes the ground. She gasps and I grab
    her hand, motioning toward the forest.
    “You stil can’t talk?” she asks.
    I shake my head, frustrated.
    “Hold on, give me a second.” She closes her eyes
    and moves closer to me. I watch her forehead
    wrinkle in intense concentration. I feel a warm bubble
    up in my throat, and then a second of sharp pain in
    my neck.
    “Thanks,” I try, surprised when it real y comes out.
    Nat nods in satisfaction. I look around. I don’t see
    anyone, but who knows how long that’s going to last.
    “And now we need to get out of here.”
    “What the hel ’s going on?” she asks.
    “One of the guards hit you and knocked you out,” I tel
    her. “And while you were unconscious, there was an
    attack. A whole army invaded the theatre and started
    wiping out everyone in the compound.”
    Natalia puts a hand to her mouth. “ Killing them?”
    I nod.
    “Who was it?” she asks.
    “I don’t know,” I say, and shrug. “Probably Raine’s
    side. But whoever it was, it’s bad. Real y bad. Reed
    told me to get you out of there, so you know he must
    have been desperate.” I look around again, but I
    don’t see anything except smoke and trees. “The
    only problem is, I have no idea where we are.”
    Another explosion rocks the forest, shaking the
    ground underneath our feet.
    There’s a flash of red-orange light from the direction
    of the amphitheatre, and a large plume of black
    smoke starts pouring into the sky.
    “Come on,” Natalia says, taking my hand. “I know
    where we can go.”

Chapter Two
Natalia
    I take Cam back to the cottage, the one where
    Danata and her friends were practicing their magic. I
    don’t know that it’s the best plan – we should
    probably be trying to get out of the woods and back
    to our cars – but with the compound being under
    siege, I don’t know what else to do.
    We dart through the trees, staying close to the
    ground, ducking when we see firebal s shooting
    through the sky. It’s terrifying, but I’m able to take
    smal comfort in the fact that whatever kind of attack
    this is, it’s obviously bigger than me and Cam. With
    the amount of destruction that’s going on, it seems
    like Raine’s side is set on destroying the whole
    compound. I’m not even sure they know that Cam
    and I are here – but if they figure it out, who knows
    what they’l do?
    “What is this place?” Cam asks as we climb the front
    steps of the cottage.
    “Some of the younger witches live here.” I hold my
    breath and knock, not real y expecting anyone to be
    there. Most people were back at the amphitheatre,
    watching the bond breaking ceremony. After a
    second goes by with no response, I turn the knob,
    open the door, and step inside.
    I’m standing in the living room. It’s smal , but nicely
    furnished, with an ivory couch, and two oak rocking
    chairs. The wal s are covered with black and white
    prints of beach scenes, and a red and green striped
    shag rug sits on the shiny hardwood floor.
    “How do you know who lives here?” Cam