Saven Disclosure (The Saven Series Book 2) (43 page)

“Sadie.” I smile at the sound of obvious panic in his voice. “If you’re still in there, fight. Fight her off.”

I swing for his face. He darts to the side, narrowly avoiding my thrust. That angers the shit out of me. I lunge again and this time my fist impacts his jawline. He staggers back, clutching his face, eyes watering. I prowl toward him as he backs away. “There’s nowhere to run to,
Prince
.” I spit the hateful word out.

We move around the room in careful circles, and I’m enjoying this immensely. The hunter and her prey. Maybe I’ll spread this out, delay the torture, elongate his suffering.

“No!”
I scream inside.

“Sadie?” Logan looks at me with something akin to hope.

I throw myself at him, clawing my nails down his face. He screams, and we fall to the ground, tumbling and wrestling. “Feisty enough for you now?” I mock him.

The room shudders with the vibrating movement at the door. Strong, powerful thrusts start to break the hold. I climb to my feet and reinforce the seal. Frustrated shouts surround me, and I throw back my head and laugh raucously.

“Sadie. I love you. I know you’re in there. Fight it. Fight her.”

“Ah,” I say, feigning sympathy as I pivot around and face him. “Did the prince actually fall in love? How pathetic. You’re such a loser. I’m going to enjoy ending you.”

“No! Leave him alone, bitch! Logan!”

Visible hope blooms in his face. “Sadie?”

An acute pain rips up and down my spine, and I arch my back as the pressure takes over again. I eyeball him with calculated determination. “That won’t work. It’s time to accept your impending death,” I say, cracking my knuckles. “Playtime is over.”

I rush him, so fast he doesn’t see me coming. My hand juts out, and I slam into his gut, sending him soaring clear across the room. He lands on top of the dresser, his head hopping off the wooden top. He slinks to the floor, barely conscious. Heavy pounding on the door pleases me no end. “You’re all next,” I shout out gleefully. Ignoring the sting in my hand, I skulk toward him and pin him securely to the ground, my thighs squeezing the side of his torso. Blood oozes from the open gash on his forehead.

“No! Logan!”

“Sadie,” he says, eyes fluttering open and shut. “I can’t fight you, I won’t. I don’t regret a single thing. Do you hear me? I wouldn’t change anything. Certainly not loving you.” I scrunch his shirt up and place my hand over his stomach. Heat pools in my palm, and I derive strength from it. A faint rosy blush stains his skin as he gasps. “If I die now, promise me you won’t blame yourself. Have the courage to go on without me, to do what needs to be done. I love you so much, and it’s enough that your face is the last I’ll see.” His breath is raspy, his voice hoarse.

“Nooooooooooooooooooooo!”
My rage mushrooms inside me like a living, breathing entity. I draw on it, sucking it into my core, feeding it with every ounce of love in my heart. It sweeps through me, shoving the fire aside, angrily reclaiming my body and mind. My hand burns and Logan screams. Mustering every ounce of inner strength, I wrench my hand away, scooting back across the floor, putting as much space between us as possible.

“Finish him,”
the foreign voice inside my head taunts me.

“Go to hell.”

Logan’s wounded eyes flicker to mine at the sound of my real voice.

“You stupid, stupid girl. Do what you’ve been trained to do!”
the feminine voice shrieks.

“Like I said. Go. To. Hell.” Remnants of the power surge lick my insides, and my entire body quivers in urgent need, but I refuse to bow to it. I’m terrified she’ll regain control of me again. Sharp stabs of pain plunder my skull, but I throw up my mental shields, forcing the assailant from my mind. “No one takes control of me. I make my own decisions,” I seethe.

“Then you’ll die too. I’ll see the job finished myself.”

I slump to my side as the alien being slips away.

“Sadie,” Logan says weakly. “Is that you?”

With great effort, I crawl over to him. His eyes show clear alarm as I approach. “It’s me, Logan. I’m back.” I reach out for him and he flinches. A different kind of pain maims me on the inside. “Oh, God, I’m so sorry.” Tears cascade down my face. “I couldn’t fight it. She was in my head, controlling my thoughts. What she wanted was what I wanted. And … something happened inside me, to my body. I feel … different. I … Oh, God, Logan. I’m so sorry. Can you ever forgive me?” I bury my head in my hands and sob.

Arms tentatively curve around me. I look up at him. “Don’t,” I say, scuttling away. “I don’t trust myself fully.”

He sits back opposite me, mirroring my position. I can scarcely bare to look at him. “Are you seriously hurt?” I whisper.

He pushes his shirt up, inspecting the inflated red imprint of my hand on his stomach. I’m appalled. My body drowns in a deluge of self-loathing as the floodgates open. Despite my protest, Logan crawls over, cradling me protectively. “How can you bear to hold me? You should hate me!” I sob.

“I love you.” He caresses my cheek. “Whatever is going on, we’ll figure it out together.”

The woman’s last threat resurrects as the air rumbles outside the craft. My heart hammers against my chest in potent fear. “We need to get out of here. Now!” I’m screaming it at the top of my lungs as I jump up and rush to the door, trying to pry it open, but it’s welded shut. Lingering power loiters in my limbs, and I draw it to me, infusing my body with the additional strength. I slam my shoulder into the door and it loosens. A tiny fissure emerges in the red seal as the rumbling outside the window increases in intensity. I shove at the door again, paying no heed to the searing sting the motion produces.

A cool breeze flits through the room, raising strands of my hair. Logan limps toward me, sheltering me with his body. Quick as a flash, I reverse our positions, protecting him from the front.

A swirling distortion in the air causes my breath to snag painfully. Logan is in obvious agony behind me, and I don’t know how long he’ll last on his feet. The others continue to pummel the door. A cylindrical sphere grows more defined in shape in front of us, billowing and churning like a washing machine, as it swirls round and round in the air. A powerful blast of wind hits us full frontal, whipping my hair back off my face.

Three forms jump out in front of us, and terror wedges in my throat. The swirling wormhole hums as the aliens straighten up and stare at us. It’s like looking into a mirror. The tall male has silver blond hair that cascades the length of his spine. His angular face is pale with pink eyes and ruby red lips. He gapes at me in satisfied fascination. A female, of similar age to me, glares at me through near identical features. Without thinking, I reach up and touch my lips, my hair.

Oh, God. No! No!

The older woman that steps out from behind them examines me with obvious contempt. She shares the same features. Giant goose bumps sprout on my arms at the sight of her. My body trembles in repressed fear. Images swarm my mind—years and years of them. Remembered taunts whisper in my ears. “You … you’re a monster,” I snarl.

“I’ll grant you one final chance, Sadie.” She peers coldly at me. “Kill him now and I’ll forgive your insubordination.”

I flatten my back against Logan, stretching my arms out on either side of him. Heat radiates from his skin, and I can sense his flagging spirit. He needs urgent medical attention. “I will not harm a hair on his head.” I strengthen my mental shields as a three-pronged assault launches at me full throttle. The alien male frowns, a worried look etched on his face. The girl merely looks bored.

“Fool.” The woman turns to her colleagues. “Kill him. Be as creative as you like. I want her to see this,” she commands, making it obvious who’s in charge.

The girl grins maliciously as she reaches back, extricating two glistening silver daggers. She swaggers toward us, hair streaming behind her, her hands skillfully clasping the weapons, poised and ready, looking for all intents and purposes like the universe’s greatest assassin. My throat constricts and adrenaline mixes with something foreign inside me.

“Leave … Sadie … alone, Griselda,” Logan manages to stutter in between exhausting breaths. His dark gaze is focused solely on the older alien. It’s so like him to worry about
my
safety when it’s
his
life that is in imminent danger.

She shoots a venomous look at him. Clicking her tongue, she waves her hand dismissively through the air, blatantly ignoring him. “Proceed,” she barks out the order.

The girl takes another advancing step forward.

“Stay back. I’m warning you.” I grind my teeth in determination. Her answering smirk solidifies my rage, and I thrust my hand up, blasting her with a powerful burst of fiery heat. Her tortured screams ring throughout the galaxy. The alien male takes a cautious step back, as Griselda fails to hide the quick flicker of horrified surprise that skims her face.

I pitch forward as the door splits open. Haydn and Rylan charge into the room, sending Logan and me tumbling to the ground. Sturdy arms snatch me up, and the cool metal of a blade meets my throat. Griselda is helping the injured alien girl to stand. “Stand down or I’ll kill her,” my alien male captor says, slowly backing up toward the whirling circular opening in time and space.

Haydn is propping Logan upright. “No,” Logan wails, clutching his waist and reaching for me. Sweat coats his pale forehead, and there’s an unnatural pallor to his skin.

Forcing my panic aside, I address Neve. “He needs immediate medical treatment.” She nods and scurries out of the room for supplies.

I’m dragged backward at a slow, steady pace. “Now,” Griselda says to the male. He hauls me to the edge of the eddying wormhole. Logan takes a step forward, and I feel the bite of the dagger at my throat. Blood trickles down my sweat-soaked neck. Logan’s bloodshot eyes fill with horror.

“My heart beats only for you, Logan. For all eternity.”
I take one last look at his beautiful face, committing it to memory. Anguish explodes behind his eyes. “
You can’t come after me. This is goodbye. I will never forget you.”

As I’m thrust headfirst into the swirling dark hole, the sound of Logan’s agonized screams are the last thing I hear before my world disappears.

I’m guessing that right about now you probably hate me or at the very least want to scream and shout and throw a few things around the room? I know I would if I was reading this book for the first time! I don’t insert cliffhangers into my books just for the sake of it. I use them where I feel they are necessary to tell the story the way I want to, and when it comes to the conclusion of a book where it’s the right place to end the story. I’m an avid reader myself, and I adore books with cliffhangers because they are so
memorable
, and for weeks afterward, I constantly think about the story and where it could possibly be going. So, as an author, if it makes sense to insert a cliffhanger then I will do that, because I want to generate that inherent connection, but not purely for the sake of having a cliffhanger as I don’t intentionally want to upset my readers! If you are upset now, I hope you can forgive me, and that the below announcement makes it a little easier to tolerate.

In consideration of my wonderful readers, I am releasing the next part of the story on May 21
^st
2016. I have worked very hard to have the next installment available quickly so you are not left hanging too long.
Saven Denial
is a novella which continues the story right from where we left off. This novella is not an optional read if you intend to continue with this series. It focuses on Sadie and what happens to her after she is taken into the wormhole. You can read the book description below.

Join my Saven mailing list today to receive this e-book for free. Relayed solely from Logan’s point of view, this short story collection includes: My Angel, The Library, The Lady in Red, Drop-Dead Gorgeous, First Kiss, Keeping her Safe, and She’s my Eterno.
Exclusively available to subscribers
. Click
here
. Subscribers also receive a monthly newsletter, other free books, access to discounts and giveaways, and are the first to read samples and quotes from impending new releases.

Thank you for downloading
Saven: Disclosure
. If you enjoyed reading it, I would be grateful if you took the time to post a short review on the site of purchase. Reviews help spread the word about books and are very important to all authors.

Thank you so much for your support.

Best wishes,

Siobhán.