through. Maura knew she couldn’t afford to lose her focus. There was something brewing within the compound and she sensed it was the elite stirring the pot.
Looks like they’ve had enough of living in your shadow...
Maura gripped her head and wished the little voice would shut up. She didn’t need reminding of all her problems, of the inevitable emotions that would soon burst from their cage.
Stripping off her jacket and jumper, Maura inspected the wound through her gut; it was turning black from the poison. She wondered how the poison had come into the hunter’s possession. Was her mother trying to kill her, or had the elite decided it was time she left them?
That’s a problem for later... Where is that freaking medic?
Shut up, Lexia!
There was a knock at her door. “Can I come in, boss?”
“Yes,” Maura barked.
He opened the door as she walked out the bathroom and immediately covered his eyes. Having left only her sports bra and trousers on in anticipation of the medic arriving.
“Marcus, control yourself. I do not have time for your silliness,” Maura snapped.
“Sorry, boss,” he said, taking his hands from his eyes.
“Where is the medic?” she asked, her irritation increasing.
“Well, erm… they wouldn’t come, boss,” he explained, wincing. “Said they were too busy with Lucy.”
“Human scum!” she spat. “Where is Belinda?”
“Don’t know. I thought she was with you?” Marcus replied.
“No, I sent her after you to inform them of the poison.”
“Poison?” Worry lines appearing on his forehead, Marcus pulled at his hair looking concerned.
“Yes, never mind that.” Maura slung her long jacket over her bra. “Well, I suppose we best go to the medical center before I die,” she stated matter-of-factly.
The door opened suddenly as she reached for it and Belinda and Derrick rushed in. Belinda’s lip bled and her brow was split.
“What happened?” Marcus gasped.
Belinda slumped into a chair, her expression weary.
“Derrick?” Maura snapped, becoming more irritated by the second. She wanted an explanation.
“It seems your little stunt has caused a riot. The elite are going around picking fights with anyone who supports you, and the rest of the soldiers are in total panic.”
“Well, who’s in charge?” Maura snapped.
“No one, Lexia!” Derrick snapped. “You’ve put Lucy in the hospital, shattered a fair few of her bones. She is going to be out for a few days at least.”
“She deserved it, Derrick. I’ve had enough of her treating me as if I’m her slave. I’ve had e-fucking-nough! Can you not see that? Can you not see she has brought this on herself? She wanted a monster. Well, now she has one!” As her emotions destabilized, Lexia stirred, growing stronger.
“Lex, you need to keep control of that anger. What you did to Lucy sparked something, something which has been brewing for a long time. You once told Lucy if you kept people down long enough, they’d rise up against you. Well, that’s what is happening, Lexia. Except the elite are rising up against you. You’re not one of them, yet you think you’re better than them.”
“I am,” Maura snapped, the urge to punch Derrick a potent one.
“There are many of them and one of you. Are you sure you want them as your enemy?”
“What do you want me to do, Derrick? Stand back and allow them to walk all over me?”
“You need to align with Lucy. Show them you are with the hunters, not against them.”
“You want me to stand at my mother’s side while she reigns as queen and I’m used as nothing but a commodity?”
“I want you to show Lucy how sorry you are before we have a war on our hands and unleash chaos onto the world.”
“I honestly couldn’t give a shit about the world or the hunters,” Maura snapped.
Derrick’s face hardened, his jaw clenching with frustration. “That is Maura talking, not you!”
“I. AM. MAURA!” Derrick’s words circled around her, mixing with the poison swirling through her blood. Head becoming foggy, the tug of her two sides pulling apart coursed through her. Join Lucy. Kill Lucy. Join Lucy. Kill the hunters. Kill them all. Protect Linc. Protect Linc. Protect Linc. Will joining Lucy protect Linc?
“Hey, boss, you feeling all right? You’re not looking so flash.”
With great difficulty, Maura’s eyes focused on Marcus. Will joining Lucy protect Lincoln? A thought she shouldn’t care about, after all, she was Maura, continued on a loop in her mind. She felt nothing. But it was there, fleeting, but there. Maura was falling apart and only one thing mattered. Protect Lincoln…
“I-I poison,” she stammered, feeling suddenly dizzy.