Bound by Prophecy (Descendants Series) - By Melissa Wright Page 0,14

It’s the only thing keeping her safe. If they find you—”

She cut me off. “You think I would tell them where she is?”

“I think you would rather die first.” I purposefully lowered the tone of my own voice to keep her anger in check. “But they wouldn’t need to ask. You could do nothing but tell them.”

Emily didn’t ask why. Instead, she said, “Those men, the two who were chasing us.”

I nodded.

“Those were Morgan’s men?”

“Yes.” I shook my head. “No. They weren’t…” I sighed. “Emily, I have to tell you something you’re probably not going to believe.”

The corner of her mouth pulled down in a grimace. “Go for it.”

“Those men weren’t like Morgan. The man in the car and the man in the hotel were only commonbloods.”

Emily looked a little sick. I hoped it was only the thought of their smashed bodies.

“They were merely men in the wrong place at the wrong time. And Morgan used them. Like throwaways.”

“How… what do you mean?”

“They were under his control. It’s like a trance, and they have to do what he wants.”

She didn’t even flinch. “They drove into a brick wall and climbed a building.”

“Anything,” I repeated. “Whatever he wants them to do.”

“He didn’t want them to die,” she said numbly.

“No, their goal was to get to us. Death was an unfortunate accident.”

She shifted slightly, reflecting on what I’d said. “Like a trance?”

“We call it sway.”

“And he can do it to anyone?”

I cautiously formed my answer. “All commonbloods can be swayed.”

Her eyes shifted to mine again, and then went slightly unfocused. She was silent for several minutes.

She said, “So they’re like zombies. Brainless zombies coming to kill us.”

Her description had me taken aback for moment, but I finally answered, leaving out that at the moment they only wanted to kill her, not me. “No. Definitely not brainless. They’re just under sway, under a direction they can’t stop heading toward until they’ve completed it. Their brains still function otherwise, they can use everything they already know to reach his goal.”

“Smart zombies,” she said.

I smiled wryly, conceded.

“And this Morgan, he can turn anyone with his sway, make them do what he wants.” She bit her lip. “An endless supply of smart zombies.”

The smile fell from my face.

“Well, I suppose it’s good to know what we’re up against,” she said.

I stared at her.

She nodded. “Yeah, well, my sister always makes me find the positive in any situation.”

She moved back against the wall and leaned her head and shoulder against me.

“And you called her Bri,” she murmured.

Chapter Six

Prophecy

For the first five minutes, I couldn’t believe she was lying against me. And then I recalled the ache in my injured shoulder. Where she lay. I was fairly certain she’d fallen right to sleep, but I still didn’t move for another half hour.

When I finally shifted, my arm gave a scream of relief and my shoulder a cry of pain. Emily mumbled something unintelligible and slid lower until her head rested on my leg and her shoulder against the floor. I attempted to adjust the blanket to better cover her, but she had it tucked up under her chin in a tight fist.

And then my arm just hovered there, over her. She was finally still. And cold. And had lost her sister.

Everything about her begged to be touched. And yet, even with her head against my leg, I hesitated. It seemed important somehow. My hand ached to wrap around her. I settled for an elbow, placing the length of my arm over hers to keep her warm, and she squeezed her arms tighter into her chest, and then snuggled closer.

It was becoming harder not to fall asleep. After so many hours, my breath began to match the slow, drawn-out rhythm of hers. Our body heat began to level out between the cover and carpet, and even the ache of my shoulder became a dull background noise to the dust motes that danced in the tiny rays of dim light filtering through the blinds. My eyelids were getting heavy, but I knew I couldn’t sleep. Not even here.

There was no way to be certain Morgan couldn’t find us. No guarantee that at any moment a dark figure wouldn’t pass in front of our window on its way to the door, leaving no more than a brief shadow in its wake… a brief shadow over the dust motes floating among the rays of afternoon light.

I cursed, suddenly roused from my stupor.

Emily jerked awake. I held her still for a moment, my