Rise: Populations Crumble, Book 2 by Gandy, A. (read book .txt) 📕

of the short hallway, so I walk down it as quietly as I can. Light pours into the dim space from an open door. They are making no attempt at subtlety, here. What is with these people?

I flatten my back to the wall and breathe shallowly as I listen to an unfamiliar woman’s voice, and one of the dangling nets tickles my cheek.

“. . . your team operating with minimal casualties, given the odds stacked against this mission. It was tight, but we got there in time to pull it off. In the end, that’s all that matters.”

Anger rolls over me in a hot wave, but I force myself to focus. You can be angry once you’re safe.

“Now, Mav tells me we’re only about 20 minutes out, so we’ll need to keep a tight perimeter at all times until our precious cargo is out of our hands. We’re not out of the woods yet, and we need to stay sharp.”

Twenty minutes out, from what? Are we still— My thought is cut off by a sudden dropping sensation of the ground beneath me, which causes me to stumble forward abruptly. I catch myself on the netting, but there’s no doubt they heard me. Chairs scrape backwards, and I scramble back a few steps, but they’re faster than I can move on my still-shaky knees. A black-clad woman with shining blonde hair appears in the doorway. Her garb is identical to our abductors; only her mask is missing.

“Sadie, fantastic. You should join us,” she says, then spins on her heel and disappears back into the room.

I stand there, slack-jawed in my shock. That’s it? You should join us? What in the ever loving heck is happening here?

“Sadie’s awake?” I recognize the feminine voice that responds, but my brain is moving too slowly to piece this together.

I take a numb step forward, right as Nell comes barreling out of the room and nearly crashes into me.

“Sadie! Thank God you’re awake. Are you okay? I mean, the doctor checked you and said you were okay, but, it’s good to see for myself.” She’s rambling, and it’s not helping my confusion or temper.

“Nell, what is going on? Did they kidnap you, too? And where are we?” I rub my still-pounding head—praying for relief and clarity—as she clasps my other hand in both of hers.

“Come on, Hel and Atlas will explain everything,” she says confidently.

“Atlas is here, too?” I ask, following her into the bright room with a wince. The light feels like it pierces into my brain, and I barely stifle a groan.

The room has a conference table, surrounded by chairs, mostly filled with who I can only assume are our abductors. The blonde woman has taken a seat at the head of the table, and Atlas sits to her left. Nell leads me to his side.

“Atlas, what is going on? Do you know these people?”

He nods. “I do, but I didn’t expect to see them so soon.” His voice is even, unconcerned—and it’s pissing me off.

“Care to explain why the heck these friends of yours ambushed us, and you’re sitting here having a freaking cup of coffee with them?” I gesture accusingly at the steaming mug sitting in front of him.

“Allow me to introduce myself,” the blonde woman purrs as she rises from her seat, interrupting us. “I’m Helena, but most everyone calls me Hel.” She gestures at the men sitting around the table, several of them eyeing me warily.

“What do you want with us?” A small voice tells me I should back off, given they’re probably all armed to the teeth. But anger has made me brash, and I find myself stepping forward until I’m toe to toe with Helena. Something about her rubs me the wrong way, and I am itching to blame what happened today on someone. She’ll do just fine.

The mountainous man in the chair to her right rises, towering over us. She waves him off. “It’s fine, Brock. She’s understandably angry.”

He settles back into his seat but doesn’t take his eyes off of me.

“Since I can see you’re not in a chatty mood, I’ll cut right to the chase. Atlas reached out to us about scheduling an extraction and getting you four to a safe house.” I dart a glance at Atlas, who nods once in confirmation. “We agreed it was best if this extraction happened in a way that would make the resort staff think one of the cult extremists had finally succeeded in grabbing you, valuable genetic prize that you are,” she says drily. “So, when we heard rumors that another kidnapping attempt was going down today, well, we had to insert ourselves earlier than anticipated to snatch you before they did. They almost succeeded, too, blowing up the bus like that. They must be desperate to get you if they’d risk killing you to do it,” she muses.

My mind is reeling. If they aren’t the extremist kidnappers, who the heck are they?

“Anyway, we couldn’t let them succeed, knowing that you have the information we need, never mind you being the only known Polymorph in existence.”

I stiffen at her words. How does she know about my polymorphism? My accusatory glare lands on Atlas, but he gives me a minuscule shake of his head.

“Don’t blame him. My people are well connected, and we found out through our own channels. We do our homework before stepping into something this big.”

“Who are your people, exactly?” I ask, tired of beating around the bush and running on fumes. My adrenalin is finally wearing off, now that I know we’re not in immediate danger.

“This, my girl, is the uprising. The only question now is if you’re ready to rise with us.”

TO BE CONTINUED

Before You Go . . .

Thank you so much for reading Rise! Are you on the edge of your seat yet? The final book will be releasing later this year! I can hardly wait to share it with you.