In Embers (The Ember Series Book 3) Read Online Free Page A

thing.
    “Yes. You, for her. What do you say?”
    Letting the thunder speak for me, I nodded yes. Avery’s grin grew wildly. He quickly swiped the controls at his desk and the television monitor went black. His henchmen walked up to me, preparing for a fight. They nervously began to secure my hands as rain pounded at the wall of the facility. Avery shook his head, and waved the guards off.
    “Leave her be. Ms. Michaels is now officially a guest of ours.” His cold eyes watched mine. “She will not be any trouble.”
    I stepped forward. “Let Sam go. Now.”
    With a soft laugh he led me out of the room and down a long steel corridor. At the end of it was the first of three checkpoints that held Sam hostage. Each checkpoint with more security. Minutes later I found myself outside a room made of super thick glass. Inside was Samantha, scared and tired. She sat atop her bed with her hair hanging in front of her face.
    Without even looking up, she said, “Is Madison safe?”
    “Of course,” I said, surprised we could hear each other through the glass prison. There must be some kind of audio system.
    “Thank you, Asia,” Sam said, finally looking up at me. Her eyes were highlighted by dark circles. “I knew I made the right decision.”
    “I’m getting you out of here, Sam. You’ll be with Madi soon,” I said, calmly.
    “And Max?” she asked, standing up.
    I just watched her hard. Avery motioned for the invisible cell door to be opened. Without a sound the glass wall in front of us opened up quickly.
    “Samantha, you are free to go,” Avery said. Sam looked as if she might spit on him.
    “What’s going on? What are you doing, Asia?” she snapped.
    “Saving you. ” I smiled, and the storm outside growled.
    Quickly interrupting us, Avery reached for Sam, “Come on. This is your only opportunity.”
    Sam stuttered forward, stopping just before me. With a small hug she whispered in my ear. “You can’t trust him. This is a trap.”
    I handed her my cell phone with a new picture of Madison across the screen, taken just hours before. “Go. Now. When you make it out front, call the first number listed and don’t look back. Understand?”
    She stepped past me with a nod and got in the face of Avery. Sam angrily said, “You’re just letting me go? After all the fuss of kidnapping me, you’re giving me up…”
    He smiled, “I got what I needed from you.”
    “And what’s that?” Sam snapped.
    Avery pointed toward me. “Her.”
    “What?” Sam asked, shocked.
    “Samantha, this was never about you. This was never about some silly revenge plot like you see in those ridiculous soap operas.” Avery waved his hand and the glass panel slid back down in place, locking me within its walls. I pressed my hands against the cold glass, concentrating on Sam. Avery continued with his finger pointed my way. “This was about her.”
    “I don’t understand,” Sam said.
    “Well, it’s obvious Max didn’t care enough to come for you. Even locked up in prison, I’d find a way out to get to the woman I love,” he spoke, lethally. “That’s the only reason I took you in the first place, Sam, to get to him. That means I don’t need you. You’re dead weight.” He leaned down placing his cruel eyes just before Sam’s. “Maybe he’ll come for Asia. Maybe she’s the one he really loves.”
    “Screw you!” Sam cursed.
    “No offense, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings, it’s just the way it is. I’m in the business of weapons and bad things. Your precious Max will make the most magnificent bad weapon,” he said, and then continued, “This was never about punishing you for what you three did to my younger brother Devon. Avenging his death was just an added bonus.”
    “You’re a monster,” Sam whispered.
    “Yep. I always was. So was Devon, but he thought spending his time chasing you around was the most important thing to the Wahlberg family. He was so wrong,” Avery winked.
    “He was?” she