The Bleed: Book 2: RAPTURE David Moody (the red fox clan txt) 📖

so much anymore.” Sam made sure she was looking at her mother as she answered Thistle.

“Before you get all high and mighty in your opinion of Maddie, what do you think is going to happen to all those people once those monsters get through?” Sandra asked.

Sam was tight-lipped. She’d heard the term “a necessary evil,” but until now, she’d never had a reason to know how it was applied.

“There was no choice; don’t make this worse than it has to be,” Thistle told her.

Sandra looked her up and down. “What do you know? You’re hardly above a peasant.”

“Mother!”

“Look at her. Looks like she got her clothes at a farmers market.”

“What is wrong with you?”

The room swayed as the aftershock of the downed wall reached them; as of yet, they had not been able to see any sign of Kalandar or Maddie, the dust was too thick. Sam and Thistle waited impatiently for either to appear and show that they were all right. Sandra was walking around the room, looking for something that would give her an advantage when, and if, the time came it was needed.

“There they are!” Sam had her finger pressed against the screen. “Is Kalandar dead?”

“It looks like he’s sleeping, or trying to.” Thistle was as close to the screen as she could be without putting her nose through.

“Oh, for the love of God. You both realize you can enlarge that portion, right? Well, you wouldn’t, probably don’t even know what a wheel is. End of the world, and I’m stuck with a hick. Although I would imagine, sometimes it must be nice being that ignorant.”

“If you want to punch her, I won’t stop you,” Sam told Thistle.

For a while, nothing happened. And the young women turned their attention to the bogalites and the devastation they were bringing on the people who were running away. They made sure to pull the invisible lens away from those scenes.

“Still think they were helping? All I’m seeing are hundreds, maybe thousands, of people being slaughtered. Maddie might have been an unwitting participant, but that demon, he knew what he was doing. What better way to get rid of the last piece of resistance than have those bugs kill them.”

“The mountain had to come down, the temperature was soaring,” Sam said the words, but she wasn’t sure how confident in them she was.

Sandra put her hands out, palms up as in a balance maneuver. “Hmm, a demon and extra heat, seems like those two go together like caviar and champagne. Now all those poor people are needlessly dying.”

Sam stopped what she was doing to look over at her mother. “You almost had me there for a second. Yes, it is difficult to trust a demon, but between the two of you, I’ll take Kalandar until he proves me differently. You’ve already shown your only allegiance is to yourself. It was when you pretended to care for the people out there, I knew you were lying.”

“It was sarcasm, my sweet naïve child.”

“If you say so. Now, if you could, by any chance, keep your psychopathic mouth shut for a while, I, for one, would appreciate it.”

“As would I,” Thistle added.

“How dare you speak to me that way! I’m your mother!”

“Oh, I think you lost the right to use that against me the second you decided you were going to leave me behind at the station.”

“To fight?” Thistle asked.

“Oh, nothing quite so heroic. It was about to explode and she wanted to get to safety before it did.”

“That’s rough.”

“You’re telling me. I always looked up to her as a strong, independent woman. I just didn’t know that it was actually narcissism in disguise.”

“You can think of me how ever you want, you will anyway, but nothing you say changes the fact of what is going on out there. People are being killed, and your demon friend is taking a nap like he doesn’t have a care on the world.”

“She’s right, and I don’t like that she is.” Thistle had come over to whisper in Sam’s ear.

Sam was unsure of what to think. “Should we put the wall back up?”

“Can’t put the cat back in the bag, my dear. What you can do is make sure they don’t make it back here to finish what they started.”

“Maddie is out there.”

“And she’s a part of it, unwittingly or not. If she makes it back, so does he. I don’t think any of us want that,” Sandra pressed. “Right?” She looked to Thistle for an ally.

“Maddie is doing something…they’re moving!” Thistle pointed.

“What is she doing?”

“Looks like she’s trying to get back. You need to do something!” Sandra’s voice was rising toward shrill. “Kill them now.”

“Stop! I’m not—we’re not—going to kill them. I don’t know about Kalandar, but Maddie, she’s my friend. She saved me, saved all of us. Now if you can’t shut your mouth for five minutes, I’ll shut it for you!” Sam raised her hands as if in preparation to use magic, although she had no idea if that would work or what she would do if it did.

“They look like they’re in some sort of shield. Look at the way Maddie is holding her hands, and Kalandar is moving without moving.”

“Like he’s a passenger,” Sam said. “That proves they’re not working with the tick monsters. No need to protect yourself from your friends. Just your relatives.” She smirked at her mother.

“Is she…what is she doing?”

“Looks like she’s trying to crush them or something.” Sam enhanced the image.

“The one on top wasn’t crushed.”

“Electrified, maybe?” Sam couldn’t figure out exactly what Maddie was doing. She understood the desire to help, but she’d never be able to do enough to make a difference. There were so many of the monsters. Maddie was cutting a swath through them, but it was like trying to pick up all the rocks on the moon.

Thistle zoomed in closer. “She looks exhausted…she won’t be able to do this much longer.”

“They’re stuck,” Sam said flatly. She felt powerless. “Will they be all