The Girl Who Dared to Think Bella Forrest (best classic literature txt) 📖

shot me an annoyed look, and I smiled, pleased that I had found a partial flaw in his argument. Truthfully, though, his doubts about Jasper were making me nervous, and with each step I took up, I became more torn between the need to rescue my friend, and the need to turn tail and run. Because Grey was right—I was putting my trust into a computer that I had barely interacted with.

Even as it was happening, it all felt too easy. Like he had been too easily convinced. Which meant that he might not be on our side, and might very well be leading us into a trap. It took every ounce of my willpower to keep myself moving forward, and even then, it wasn’t my trust in Jasper that propelled me, but hope.

We climbed up four stories, and as soon as we drew near a door at the top of the landing, it clicked open, allowing us entry. The lights in this hall were significantly dimmer than the ones on the other levels, and I immediately sensed that this was the right area. It was too gloomy, too depressed, too devoid of color to be anything but where they held twos. And now threes.

The green lights, dimmer now, led us down the hall to our right, and I followed them as they curved around. Another left and right, and the lights dead-ended at a section of wall where a doorway stood.

Slowing, I looked down the hall behind us, and then back up ahead. I couldn’t hear anything coming from either direction, but the stupid design of this place made it difficult to tell whether we were alone. Grey didn’t seem to notice, and drew nearer to the closed door.

He came to a stop in front of it, facing the doorway.

“I really hope Jasper remembers about the door,” I heard him say as I turned and cast another glance down the hall behind us. “Because if not, I— Oh. Hello.”

A click sounded, and I turned just in time to see Grey’s expression change from surprised to fearful in front of the opening door, and then the next thing I knew, he was down on the ground with Zoe’s small frame straddling him, her fists flying.

“You killed my best friend!” she screamed, lashing out, and I winced at the loud noise as it went reverberating down the walls. Grey got his arms up over his face to protect his head, but Zoe didn’t seem to care as she let loose, her fists smacking loudly against his forearms. I started to move toward her when, to my surprise, Eric stepped out of the room and plucked her gently off of Grey.

Grey groaned as her weight was removed from him, his arms lowering. And then Eric’s heavy foot came down on his chest, pinning him in place.

“Zoe seems to think you killed Liana,” he said slowly, calmly. “Did you?”

“He didn’t,” I said, seizing the opportunity. “So get your fat foot off of him.”

Eric’s and Zoe’s heads snapped toward me as I spoke, and froze as their eyes widened in surprise. Eric was the first to move, taking a step back, removing his foot from Grey’s chest. For several heartbeats, no one said or did anything.

Then Zoe moved. She pulled free of Eric’s hands, the mix of emotions on her face making it nigh unreadable, and then began to cross over to me, her gait steady and sure. She came toward me so fast that I couldn’t help but flinch away, afraid of receiving the same treatment Grey had just gotten.

Then her arms were around me, and she was holding me tightly. I almost broke down crying right there. I was so happy to see her, had been so afraid of her rejecting me after I’d treated her so horribly, and was so mortified that my supposed death had affected her so much, that where we were escaped me for a moment.

“I’m so sorry,” I said, wrapping my arms around her. “I’m so, so sorry, Zo. I didn’t mean to—”

“Shut up, Liana,” Zoe sniffled, her shoulders shaking slightly. “All of that stuff can wait. I’m just so happy you’re not dead.”

God, as messed up as it sounded, those words meant the world to me. Even after our fight, there was hope. She was going to forgive me for what I had done in leaving her alone like that.

Just as soon as we got out of here.

My eyes snapped open, the moment shattered into a thousand pieces. “Zoe, we can’t stay here. You can’t stay here. You need to come with us.” I withdrew a pill from my pocket. “This will mask your rank enough to get you out of here, but it won’t last long. You need to come with me if you want to live.”

As I spoke, Zoe stepped away, her brows drawing together in a thoughtful expression. “You came to break me out?”

“Yes,” I said hurriedly, looking around. Well, I had now. Originally the plan had been to get her the pill, but now all I could think of was getting her to come back with me. “And we have to go now.”

“Indicators are back on,” Grey announced, and I looked over Zoe’s head to see him nodding toward the lights on the ground. “We have to go, Liana. The longer we stay here, the sooner they’ll catch us.”

Zoe exhaled and looked at Eric. “Looks like you picked a good day to visit,” she said dryly.

“Shut up and take the pill, Zoe,” Eric said, and I blinked at the harshness in his voice. He met my gaze, his eyes heavy, and I had a sneaking suspicion that Zoe had told Eric what was happening to the ones.

“Do you know?” I asked him.

He hesitated for a fraction of a second, and then nodded. “She told me right before she went into the Medica.”

From the look on his face, he had been having a rough time. I empathized, but there wasn’t any time to