Read Rock Bottom (Dragon Within #4) for Free Online Page B

I don’t know. Too much. If only my parents had a
place like this to go to, maybe they would still be alive. It was so unfair
these kids I didn’t even know got to keep their families while mine was torn
apart. A terrible, selfish thought, I know, but I couldn’t help it.
         At the
end of the hall was yet another door. This one opened onto a ledge with a
railing around it which looked out over a cafeteria style room filled with
people. A panicky feeling fluttered in the center of my chest. I tried to back
up, but Brandy and Curtis were right behind me.
         “Don’t be
shy girl.” Megara grasped my wrist and pulled me forward. “Everybody is waiting
to meet you.”
         “What?
No.” Pulling out of her viselike grip proved impossible. “This is not... I
don’t want...”
         “Attention, everyone, please,” Megara called out, raising her free hand.
The crowd below fell silent as forty some odd pair of eyes looked up at us. I
swear my stomach dropped clear to my feet.
         “Here she
is, Abigail Freeman. Just like I promised.” Megara gestured to me like we were
on one of those TV game shows and I was the prize.
         I won’t
lie, I kind of felt like throwing up. Or else pushing Megara over the railing.
She might have warned me she was going to do this, but then I might not have
come so easily if she had.
         Someone
started to clap and the rest of the room joined in. The sound was like muted
thunder. I cast a panicked look at Megara. “What did you tell these people
about me?”
         “Only the
truth.” She started toward the stairs, her fingers still wrapped around my
wrist. “It’s time to address your adoring public.”
         I planted
my feet and grasped the railing. “No. Please, I don’t want to do this right
now.”
         “Don’t be
a child,” she said, “these people need to meet you.”
         “She said
no.” Zack laid his hand on Megara’s arm. “Let her go.”
         Their
gazes locked. I didn’t think for one minute she was afraid of him, even though
the tension in his body fairly radiated threat. But trouble right then wasn’t
what she wanted and I guess she could see if she refused, trouble was exactly
what she was going to get.
         Megara
released her hold on me. She even smiled, though it was a tight thing that
never touched her eyes. “Fine. If all this is a little much for Abigail at the
moment, I suppose it can wait a bit. I’ll take you to my office so we can talk
in private. Then you’ll understand.”
         Zack stayed
close to my side as we followed Megara down the stairs. I was a little scared
that, as we crossed the far side of the room, all those people might crowd in
trying to get close to me like I was some kind of celebrity, or something. The
thought made the panic butterflies flutter harder.
         But they
didn’t come anywhere near us. They just kept clapping, and I really wished they
would stop because it made me think whatever Megara had told them was most
certainly not the truth. Otherwise they wouldn’t be reacting to me this way.
         I didn’t
breathe easy until we’d left the cafeteria room behind. This new hall was much
larger than the others. Two good sized trucks could have easily driven through
it side by side. Zack, who’d been so close to my side we were almost touching,
moved away from me. I immediately missed the comfort of his nearness.
         “What is
this place?” Derek asked.
         “It’s
appears to be governmental,” Brandy said. “Some sort of military base?”
         “Smart
girl,” Megara said. “It’s been abandoned a good long while, judging by the
state it was in when I came here, but I managed to get a couple of the
generators running and it makes a right nice little hideaway.”
         “You
aren’t concerned someone from the government might discover you’ve taken over
one of their installations?” Brandy asked.