The Rise by H. D. Gordon Read Free Book Online

body had gone stone-still as well. He had felt it, too. At the speed we were going, it was a wonder that we weren’t stuck in a ditch somewhere.
     
    It took me a minute, but I slowly realized that the touch I’d felt had been familiar to me. Very familiar to me. My lungs stopped taking in air, a small, pain-filled gasp parted my dry lips, releasing the last of it. Nelly. Something was wrong with Nelly. Somehow, she had reached out to me. Somehow, she had Searched me from over a hundred miles away, and something was wrong .
     
    “Kayden,” I said, and that was all. Kayden’s foot smashed the gas petal to the floor. Our bodies slammed back against the leather seats. I reached up and put my seat belt on, wishing that we could lift the Mercedes into the air and shoot off through the space separating me and my sister, like some spaceship built for warp speed.
     
    “Kayden,” I repeated, and my voice broke on the last syllable, cracking like a heartsick child’s.
     
    “I know,” he said, through clenched teeth. “I know.”
     
    I bit down on my lower lip hard enough to taste blood, looked over at the speedometer, and felt terror, cold and sharp sweep over me. The needle on the dashboard was pushing 120 mph.
     
    And it was not fast enough.
     
     
     

 
     
     
     
    Nelly
     
    I stood rooted to the spot, as if the soles of my tennis shoes had sprouted arms and dug themselves deeply into the earth. Around me, my companions had frozen as well, some with mouths agape, others with eyes as wide as saucers. The Lamias had us encircled and were subtracting from the circle’s diameter inch by precious inch. My nine followers huddled near me, Gavin at the ready, his Warrior’s sword clutched in his cold hands. Tommy and Daniel had taken up positions on either side of me, their stances fierce and protective. Simon still held Bethany, but looked as though he would toss her aside to protect me if need be. I realized that a second circle had formed around me; Queen Camillia, Simon, Tommy, Daniel, Gavin, Victoria, Patterson, Catherine and even little Soraya had fanned out to keep me from harm. This warmed my soul, but my temperature rose further still. These Lamias were a threat to my people. And no matter if my actions were right or wrong, they were my people. I’d brought them here, I had to protect them.
     
    I felt myself move forward, pushing through the shoulders of Tommy and Daniel, who shivered as I passed. Tommy’s hand reached out for mine, and his soul cried out to me as well.
     
    Please. Let us protect you.
     
    I turned my head so that I could look into Tommy’s cool blue eyes, and they softened when he met my gaze, nearly transfixed by the gleaming, endless blackness he found there. Shh, I told him, I told all of them. It will be okay.
     
    I wasn’t as sure as I hope I sounded, and of course, they knew this. Our souls were linked together like the chain of a charm bracelet, locked arm in arm, each individual thrum of feeling and thought rolling through us as one, rippling like disturbed water. They knew as well as I that I was slipping down some sort of deep slope, some dark road.
     
    The Lamias moved in.
     
    Having faced Lamias before, their speed didn’t surprise me. I will admit that a flicker of fear flared somewhere deep in my stomach, and I couldn’t be sure if it belonged entirely to me or to my comrades collectively. Yes, I had faced Lamia before, but Alexa had been by my side. I pinched the fear out as one might snuff the flame of a candle between thumb and index finger. My companions’ minds eased as well. They trusted me. They trusted me too much.
     
    Almost as if I had blinked and missed it, the scene in front of me changed, the Lamias seeming to move instantly from one place to the next. I stood in shock as they seized my people, chalk-white cold arms wrapping around their necks, holding them all in hostage positions. I saw Soraya, so small, with tousled dark curls dangling around her