The Skylar Experiment : The "X" in Apex

Chapter Forty-Two - Adrift

This chapter is longer, heads up!

The world twirled and whirled around me. The wind was wiping my forehead, as if to comfort me after so much effort. I hadn't budged an inch, just let the blood flow from my open mouth.

One Eye was an okay companion when dead. An arm of his was stained in my blood. His expression had frozen into that of an ashy snarl, rows of teeth and wicked canines exposed.

Twigs snapped beyond my peripheral and I thought another one had found me.

I peered toward the sky. Hiking boots were looming amid the grass, and then a woman gasped overhead.

"What did you do?"

I couldn't zero in on her face, but it was Amelia with that attire. Now, I was really going to die.

A hand grabbed my collar.

"So that's what you are," she bristled, glaring through breathtaking white pupils. "No wonder you're still alive."

She held all of my weight in her iron grip. I was rattled back and forth, and I learned I could still scream.

"Who did you take?" she demanded but it rang awfully closer to a lament. "Did you even know their name?"

Realizing I wouldn't respond, she dropped me. The back of my head thudded near One Eye, sending shocks throughout my spine. As I tried to curl into a miserable lump, I wondered if begging would get me anywhere, because I was so completely helpless.

I began to form the words—

Wham.

It resonated throughout my skull, made me see multicolored dots. Liquid flooded up my throat again.

"Amelia!"

A heatwave blasted across the woods, and I was vaguely aware of someone crouching in front of me.

"Oh shit..." he said softly. Those eyes, they were stormy, but they were Luc's.

He tried to move me into his arms. My instinct was to block, to reject the incredible pain shooting down my nerves.

"I can fix everything," he promised, hovering a radiating hand. "Hey... Fuck, stay with me. I'm—"

Amelia rushed him sideways. I took the brunt of the impact and the two of them were wrestling in a whirlwind of flames and electricity bolts. One shadow picked something up from the ground, splintered it and drove it straight through, causing the other to falter.

"You knew!" she yelled and twisted further. A razor-edged stump jutted out from Luc's waist. Her voice cracked. "You knew she's just like Clare!"

His shirt was darkening around it. The evil woman yanked the wood out and stabbed closer to the heart, and I had to witness his shudders as if I was miles away.

No, no, no... God, please, no...

She added, "You brought her straight to us so we can go through that again? Who did she kill? Who did you decide wasn't worth a damn?"

The sounds allowed me guess that Amelia just moved. I lied under her wide stance... then it became clear why Luc didn't flinch. His eyes had lit up to match hers.

"Amelia..." he heaved under labored breaths. "If you do this... so help me."

"You've gone insane."

His arms were braced against the soil. I could see muscles tremble in an attempt to hold him up.

"This isn't like before. She has nothing to do with that."