Free The Enemy Within (Daughters of the People Series Book 3) by Lucy Varna

edged
closer and held her arms out, waiting patiently, maybe for the trust that had
never really developed between them. Indigo couldn’t let it go, couldn’t bypass
a chance to make amends with her twin, the woman who should’ve been her other
half. She twined her arms around India and sniffed back the tears sparking in her
eyes. They’d never been close. At their age, wasn’t it time for them to be?
    Booted footsteps
thudded on the stairs. Indigo tensed and tried to draw back, and was restrained
by the hard band of her sister’s embrace.
    “I’ll always love
you, my sister. Truly, I will,” India whispered. “But I can’t allow you or the
Son to stand in my way.”
    India shifted
her grip and yanked Indigo around until she was secured across the shoulders,
her back to India’s chest. Indigo struggled briefly against the confinement, and
lost her breath when Bobby appeared at the top of the stairs.
    Fear stabbed at
her, not for herself, but for him, for what India might do to him. “Bobby, no!”
    Bobby’s gaze
zeroed in on India as he fell into a defensive stance, his lean form beautiful
and deadly.
    “My, my, my, if
it isn’t the Enforcer.” India stepped back, dragging Indigo with her. “We were
just talking about you.”
    “Let her go,
India,” he said, his voice low, his expression like granite. “She’s the
innocent here.”
    “There are no
innocents among the People. Remember that, Bobby Upton.”
    India released
Indigo and shoved her toward Bobby, then took off at a dead run down the
hallway toward the staircase at the other end.
    Indigo caught Bobby
as he made to follow her sister, and threw all her strength into holding him
back. “No, Bobby, please. She’s my sister.”
    Bobby halted in
mid-stride and pinned her with an incredulous stare. “She betrayed the People
and tried to hurt you.”
    “She was only
trying to distract you.”
    “You’re too
kind, Indigo.” Bobby glanced down the hallway and sighed. “I can’t believe you
let her go like that, knowing what she’s doing.”
    She eased her
hold on him one stiff finger at a time. “She’s my sister.”
    Bobby cupped her
shoulders with warm, work-roughened hands and rubbed gently. “That doesn’t
excuse anything. You know what she’s capable of, honey. You have to let me shut
her down.”
    “I know.” She
sighed and looked up into his lean face, that hard, compelling face that filled
her heart and dreams, and her thoughts whirled into chaos. First India and now
Bobby. What was it about the two of them that sent her into turmoil every single
time they were near? “I can’t think about it now.”
    Bobby squeezed
her hard. “You have to. She’s dangerous.”
    “I know, I
know.” She brushed a hand over her forehead, willing her scattered brain cells
into some form of coherence. “Look, come inside and we’ll talk. I was going to
make you supper anyway.”
    “Now who’s
trying to distract me?”
    “Is it working?”
    “For now, but
only for now.” He dropped a kiss on her forehead and let her go. “Sooner or
later, you have to face this, Indi. You can’t run from it forever.”
    Indigo sucked in
a breath as his words struck home. She’d come back to Tellowee not to face her
past, but to at least stop running from it. Maybe it was better that he never
knew how hard she would run from something she couldn’t face.
    Then again, that
was a lesson he’d already learned.
     

Chapter Five
     
    Indigo woke
early Saturday morning with a pounding heart and dread lodged heavily in her
gut. She sat up in bed and searched through the groggy fog in her head for some
meaning, some rhyme or reason behind the disquiet. When it failed to appear,
she threw back the covers with a  huff and took a long hot shower to clear her
head.
    Half an hour
later, the fog hadn’t lifted, but at least she was clean. She made her bed and
took a moment to admire its fine craftsmanship. Bobby had done a good job with
it and the matching chest