Read Wicked Thing (C.O.A Series Book 2) for Free Online Page A

plight as he’d been trained to. He took a step towards her, cupped both of her cheeks in his hands and looked into her eyes, giving her a gentle tug back towards him with only contact from his loving hands as he whispered, “I’ll bring you back after they’re in the Testing. If you need to go, you can go.”
    She wasn’t gone…not completely. Lexy knew she couldn’t. She had to see one of them off. Lexy met Grey’s eyes to let her Handler know she was still there and then her attention turned to the sound of whirling wings. Hummingbirds had always fascinated her. They always appeared to be working so hard and getting nowhere . She observed the lone hummingbird buzzing around one of the lower branches of the towering tree she was standing beside. His fight for survival mimicked her fight to stay with them for only a moment or two longer. Lexy could hear the sound of their muffled speech, it was growing closer and there was a perfectly timed flicker in her heart. An image of each of their faces popped into her head and even though she tried to blink them away she’d found a happy medium. Her emotions were dulled but not off . She heard Lily and Grey talking but could not allow herself to be involved in their conversation. She had to stay where she was, somewhere in the middle of lost and found. As long as she kept periodically looking at Grey with his endearing mannerisms and allowing herself to feel the pull towards him a part of her would remain by his side. They were a strange pair. She was the girl that was meant to feel almost nothing and he was the boy that felt absolutely everything. Lexy quietly observed the conversation between Lily and Grey.
    Lily whispered, “All we can do is drop them into the Testing and pray that they find their way back out.”
    Grey quietly responded, “I’ve always felt like these three might actually make it out of there. Maybe, it’s because there’s three of them. You know, just like when I went into the Testing with Lexy and Arrianna.”
    Lily grinned and said, “I don’t want to get your hopes up, but I have it on good authority that if the events play out as they’re supposed to in there they will.” She paused and then started to laugh.
    He gave her a weird look and questioned, “What’s so funny?’
    Lily grinned and said, “When does anything go according to plan? If you can tell me one instance, I’ll stop laughing.”
    Grey nonchalantly leaned against a tree, gave her a dirty look and sighed, “I was feeling all warm and fuzzy for a second there and then I got smacked down by reality.”
    “That’s life,” Lily teased as their clan’s three unsuspecting sacrifices appeared on the trail in the distance.
    And it was everyone’s life. It didn’t matter whether or not you were mortal or immortal you still found yourself sitting there wondering why life kept testing your sanity. With perfect timing her emotions evened themselves out.
    They’d been waiting in front of the Ankh crypt nestled at the base of the mountain for a while when their sacrificial lambs arrived. The three did not venture to greet them nor did they do a group hug to say goodbye, they couldn’t. The guilt of where they were sending them was too much in this moment, even for her with her emotions still in the somewhat stifled state that she’d managed to attain. If she felt this way she knew her Handler was dying inside. This is what kept a part of her with him. If only in these painful moments she could give him just a touch of her ability. The unspoken sadness in his glistening eyes created a window into his tender soul. He’d lost too many people over the years and his heart was broken as he placed his hand under the lip of the rock and the staircase into the darkness became visible. Grey went in first, so his tears would be hidden by darkness as he casually touched each torch, lighting them up as he passed by. The light from the dancing flames revealed the long stone corridor ahead.