Read Holocaust (The Deadwood Hunter Series Book 3) for Free Online

neck, Derrick released a long low breath, then faced her. “She’s lost interest in me. She wanted something from you.”
    “Just spit it out!” Lexia snapped, her head pounding.
    “You are to join Lucy. Be by her side. You’re to be a team so no one else will dare question your authority. You are to stand united.”
    Lexia stared at him. She stared and she waited to be sure this was a nightmare. Surely, she was going to wake up any moment. “United? You agreed that I would stand by her side? Mother and daughter ruling as one?”
    “Well, that’s a little extreme. She just wants you to stop killing off her best soldiers, and to maybe stop questioning her every order. But she said you’d be her equal. She’d share her plans and knowledge with you.”
    “And if I don’t agree?” Lexia knew it was bad before he even spoke. The guilt on his face was there for everyone to see.
    “She’ll take her anger out on us.”
    “By us, you mean me and Belinda, too?” Marcus piped up from the back corner.
    “Yes,” Derrick mumbled.
    “Wonderful, what exactly does, ‘take her anger out on us’ mean?” Belinda asked.
    “What he means is you’ll all be dead, and if she can get her hands on Lincoln or any other shifter I used to know, she’ll kill them too! Perfect, Derrick, just freaking perfect.”
    “Don’t get mad at me. It’s not like I had much choice. I couldn’t just let you die.”
    “Yes, Derrick, that’s exactly what you should have done. God knows it’s what I deserve,” Lexia shouted.
    “Well, there could be an upside to all of this, boss,” Marcus said, stepping forward.
    “What, we all get to die together?” Belinda muttered.
    Marcus cast her a look of annoyance before continuing. “Well, Lucy said you’d be her equal. You may finally be able to learn something of use to us.”
    “And what is it you hope I will learn?” Lexia asked.
    “A way out of this God-forsaken place! And not just a life on the run, but a real plan to bring this compound down, and to make sure no more hunters are ever made again.”
    Lexia looked at him shocked. Is this what they expect from me?
    “Oh, come on, boss – there’s a reason why so many follow you, and it’s not just because they fear you. It’s because they made it through the tests with their humanity intact and now they wish for a way out. You’re our best chance.”
    “And here I was thinking you were my friends,” Lexia muttered.
    “We are your friends, but we still hate it here as much as you do,” Belinda said.
    “You’ve all forgotten one thing. I could agree to this but there is no guarantee Maura will.”
    “Lex, I wish you wouldn’t talk like that. You sound insane,” Derrick mumbled.
    “I am insane, Derrick! I’m a passenger within my own body. I might have control right now, but there is no telling when Maura will resurface and I can tell you now, she’ll not follow Lucy and she has no interest in leading.”
    “What does she have an interest in then?” Marcus asked.
    Before Lexia could answer, a voice crackled loudly over the PA system.
    “ATTENTION, THIS IS BELEMY. I HAVE A MESSAGE FOR MAURA. I’VE ROUNDED UP YOUR PEOPLE. IF YOU CARE AT ALL ABOUT THEM, YOU’LL COME UNARMED AND ALONE TO THE MESS ROOM. YOU HAVE TWENTY MINUTES BEFORE I START SHOOTING.”
    The message finished with a laugh, which crackled and faded to static before an eerie silence settled over them.
    Lexia felt sick. She wasn’t in any position to go to the mess room, let alone fight, and what would they say when they saw her eyes were now blue?
    Derrick broke the silence. “Belemy thinks you’re either dead or wouldn’t care if he started shooting anyway. He’s trying to undermine you, so everyone follows him. He wants control of the compound. He’s the one behind your poisoning.”
    Lexia took a deep breath. Biting her lip with the pain of the simple task, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood. The world tilted.
    “Whoa!”