Free The Violet Awakening (The Elementum Trinity Book 2) by Styna Lane Page B

ears, and covered her in a white sheet from the couch. It was the closest thing to a proper burial I could offer.
    ‘Al?’ Jason’s shaky voice asked in what sounded like a plea.
    Al’s chest heaved with a sigh as he dropped to his knees, removing the sheet I had just placed so carefully on the corpse of one of my best friends. He responded to my look of confusion with one of anguish and appeasement. My coldness faltered as tiny orbs of white light—much smaller than those we used to heal—drifted down from his free hand and seeped into Paula’s body. For a moment, radiant specks illuminated her entire being just beneath the surface, before she began to dissolve into glowing ashes. I didn’t know exactly what it was, but I knew that it was beautiful and peaceful.
    ‘Thank you.’ I wasn’t sure who I was actually thanking, but uttering the thought was enough to pull me back to my feet.
    Al seemed weak, but we continued our trek downward in The Facility. William’s men had done a pretty decent job of making sure everyone was very dead, but we checked every single body for life. I watched as Mattie and Jason sighed with mourning at the confirmation of each death, both wishing so strongly that they could save these strangers. People they didn’t know, people who had devoted their lives—many, unknowingly—to capturing our kind, and these children wanted nothing more than to help them.
    My breath caught as we stumbled onto a very familiar floor, where the streets were lined with white picket fences, perfectly-tended lawns, and identical houses. Remnants of the decorations from my birthday party still littered the ground. Apparently, I had not given them enough time to clean up before I earthquaked the place to pieces.
    The computer-generated sky had given way to dark gray panels, and blinding security lights beamed rigidly downward, giving The Village the structured feel of a prison. These surroundings were one of the many truths that The Facility had worked so skillfully to deny—that all within its walls were hostages, even the ones who chose to be there.
    Before we made our way to the first house, something in the middle of the street caught my eye; a small box, wrapped in silver and blue paper. It took me a moment to realize why I recognized it, but the memory slowly crept through my mind, as if my brain were desperately trying to suppress it. Eric had dropped it when he saw me in Al’s arms. I had completely forgotten about it by the end of the party.
    I bent down, reaching for the box as if it might explode at my touch. Mattie and Jason took a couple steps toward me, but Al held up his arm and shook his head. The wrapping came off easily and fell to the ground, leaving a dark, velvety box in my palm. I remembered it vividly from when Eric had proposed to me. Popping the lid open, I found the ring I was expecting to see, but it was tucked into a note scrawled in Eric’s nearly-unreadable handwriting. It reminded me of when we were younger, and we’d sneak notes to each other under the dinner table. They never really said much, but it made us feel mischievous, having a secret conversation right in front of Emmy and Eddie. The notes had immediately ceased, of course, when Emmy intercepted one that mentioned something about her meatloaf tasting of dead skunk. Not that her meatloaf actually tasted of a dead skunk. Emmy was, really, quite a good cook. But we were young, and it seemed like an appropriate thing to complain about in a dinner-time note.
     
    Angie,
    I just wanted to say I’m sorry for freaking you out.
    I won’t pretend I don’t love you. But the thought of you with Al   I can’t. I know you don’t feel the same way. I hope we can still be friends   I’ll miss you.
     
    All the best ,  Love,   Goodbye,
    Eric
    P.S. I spent all my money on this ring, and I don’t have any use for it    I still want you to have this.
     
    I dropped the note to the ground, holding the cold ring between my