straight line and offered to go with him. After a few stumbles they both left the Manor.
“So, what now?” I asked while plopping back down on the chair. Mia’s mouth was open, her soft snores filled the room.
“Now, we rest,” Jacob replied with a yawn. He slumped down the side of the wall and jetted his muscular legs in front of him. Soon, he, too, was asleep. At first, I thought it was because he cradled me for the entirety of the trip here, but I noticed that the others were drooping with drowsiness.
“Are you all okay?” I asked while watching Maverick’s head bob in his chair. “Hello?” I asked.
Before anyone could answer, the front door opened with a jolt, startling me. I stood to address whatever was attacking us, but just as I started to make out the tall frame of an armored man, I was shot with a piercing needle in my right leg. While I looked down at the tube-shaped object attached to a needle, static heat moved up and down my leg in frantic intensity. The corners of my vision turned white before I was immediately knocked out.
Chapter Twenty-Three
A bright light pierced my closed lids and made my headache throb with intensity. I tried to crawl to the surface of my consciousness, but each time I almost woke up, something dragged me back down the rabbit hole of my sluggish and exhausted mind.
“Ash, you’ve got to wake up,” a voice pleaded. The tone was familiar but echoed throughout my mind in a dizzying manner that made me nauseous and confused.
“Please, Ash. Please. Wake up!” The voice shouted with an intensifying anger that shook me. Pain radiated throughout my leg, and I felt ice cold fingers on my stiff neck.
A hot slap from an open-palm gave me the last bit of energy I needed to pull myself out of the nothingness. My cheek stung with the impact, and a disconnected cry rung out from my cracked lips.
“Ash, we’ve got to go,” the voice said. I opened my eyes and my blurred vision revealed Josiah’s hazy outline. “Ash, if we don’t leave now you’ll be stuck here,” he pleaded while rubbing my cheek where he slapped me awake.
“Stop touching her,” someone groaned beside me, and I turned to see Patrick struggling against clear chains that kept him firmly bolted against a thick metal wall.
“I have to get her out of here, Lackley will be back any second,” Josiah said while punching a code into a lock and releasing the cuffs from my raw and bloody wrists.
“She’s not going anywhere with you,” Patrick groaned while kicking Huxley next to him, trying to wake him up. Patrick had a black eye and his shirt was bloodied.
“Jo, what’s going on?” I asked. My voice sounded foreign in my ears. It felt like sandpaper was rubbing against my vocal cords. Instead of answering me, he jolted from his spot and walked over to the door. After peering outside, he walked back over to me.
“Look, I can’t help all of you but I can get her out of here. You have to trust me. We don’t have time,” he urged. His hair was sticking straight up, as if he spent the last twenty-four hours yanking it from his skull.
“Why the fuck should we trust you?” Patrick sneered. He kicked Huxley harder, and Hux groaned. My still blurred vision saw that Hux was even more hurt than Patrick.
“Because I would do anything to keep her alive,” Josiah cried out while grabbing my arm and yanking me towards the door.
I struggled against him, still feeling confused and disoriented from the drugs circulating my system.
“Just stop struggling, Ash, I’m trying to save you!” Josiah yelled.
“Well, isn’t this just peculiar,” a calm yet snide voice said while the main door slid opened. Emperor Lackley walked in with a sinister grin. He appraised the situation, and Josiah sighed in defeat.
“Josiah, my boy, I wasn’t expecting to see you in our guests’ quarters,” emperorLackley said while rolling up the sleeves to his crisp white dress shirt. Josiah released his hold on my arm and slipped into a cool facade of indifference.
“Yes, well, I just assumed that the Walker was useless for what you had planned. I decided that since she was originally my property, I would just bring her back to the Stonewell Manor,” Josiah explained politely. I wavered where I stood and almost fell. Emperor Lackley surprisingly grabbed my arm to steady me.
“Poor little Walker, you should have