Prodigal Thorn

Chapter 28

"Are you alright, Sweetheart?" Mom asked as she tucked my hair behind my ear and rubbed my shoulder. After debriefing my father and his men on the picture and note left in my office, I was stressed and maybe a little scared. If Dad had his way, if be on the plane back to London, but that's not the plan.

Mom's always been able to soothe away my stress with her calmness and her touch and she insisted on me getting to bed early with some tea and a movie. "I'm okay, Mom. Today was just...a lot." I smiled weakly and rested my head on her shoulder as we watched The Devil Wears Prada. "Did anything happen with Killian?" She spoke softly stroking my hair and I closed my eyes, feeling relaxed.

"No it was fine, Mom. It's a little awkward right now, but we'll get back to being friends again." I yawned and curled into her side and she laughed. "Alright, Sweetheart, time for bed. Dad got you excused from school so I thought we'd have a girl's day tomorrow?" I nodded and padded over to my bed, my limbs feeling heavy as I slid under my sheets. Mom kissed my forehead and smiled at me, "Remember you are a fighter, Alexandra Charlotte Carson. You give them hell and nothing less. Goodnight, Sweetheart." She murmurs, her voice faint as I closed my eyes.

Someone's in my room. Even in my sleep, I feel it. The subtle change in the air, the sound of feet shuffling on my wood floor. My body begins the process of waking up, but even I know the danger I could potentially be in right now. However, my instincts tell me it's not an enemy now inching toward my bed. Their mingled scent throws me off for a second before my senses pick up on the person closest to me and his particularly warm woodsy scent. Luca gently brushed my hair from my face and I keep my body relaxed, not to alert the medic of the group of my conscious state.

"She's out." He whispered and his fingers find the pulse of the neck. "Pulse is normal, but we don't have much time before she wakes. I'm guessing Veronica didn't want to give her a stronger dose to completely leave her vulnerable for the trials." Another body stands beside him and judging from the peppermint scent with that clean undertones, Nathaniel Richards is in my fucking room while I'm asleep again. "Subdue her the old fashioned way before she wakes up. Killian, did you bring the rope?"

My body instinctively tenses at the mention of ropes and I shift as though it's the most natural thing to do in sleep to mask it. "Shhh. Yeah, but I thought we'd go with cuffs. Tyler fucking tied her to a tree and I'm sure she's gotta have some sort of PTSD from that shit." Killian whispered from the foot of my bed. If they were smart they use the ropes. "Luca, give her another dose and Killer tie her feet incase the little minx is waking up." Nate commands.

I feel my arm being stretched out and Luca's fingers tracing over the vein in my elbow. Killian gets to work securing my feet with rope tightly. "Are you sure she'll even wake by then?" Luca asked and I flinched as the needle pricked my skin. I ignore the burn of fluid rushing through veins, but every part of my body aches with the need to move, to fight. I shift again and this time the fingers on my skin circle around my neck and Nate chuckles at my feeble attempt to maintain consciousness.

"I've watched her sleep enough to know she's been awake since we walked into this room. She knows it's us and she trusts us enough to lower her guard for now." His voice drops to a whisper as he speaks, but my mind can't place who he's talking to, only the inevitable pull into darkness that awaits me.

My head aches when I wake and I groaned at the intrusion of blinding white lights in my vision. "Sorry about the lights, Alexandra. The headache and nausea will pass soon." A voice I don't recognize explained. "My name is Blake and I'll be assisting Mr. Rossi as he administers your Stim Trial." His tone is clinical and I wonder if he's a plant, designed to gather information personally now that they've been security breaches at headquarters.