Collide (Entangled Teen) (The Taking Book 3) by Melissa West

that everything will be okay, so I can sleep without the nightmares taking me away.
    The door is unlocked, so I push the open button to find them both sleeping soundly. I edge over to Mom’s side and she wakes almost immediately, always the light sleeper. “Ari? Are you okay?” she whispers. I shake my head and without a word she scoots closer to Dad and pats the now open space. I climb into bed and she hugs me close, running her fingers over my hair. “What happened?” she asks.
    “I had a nightmare.” I can’t keep my voice from shaking. It’s like I can feel him down here, walking around, planning his first kill. “I’m afraid,” I whisper, expecting her to tell me there’s nothing to fear. That she will protect me.
    Instead, I feel her swallow hard, and without her having to say a word, her response comes to me.
    Me, too.
    …
    The interrogation room is colder today, the fake air blowing constantly from the vents in the ceiling, making it smell too sterile. Like alcohol or chemicals have been used to scrub every inch of the room. Goose bumps rise across my skin, and I remind myself that I need to calm down. I’ve stood up to worse villains, faced greater threats. Kelvin is no Zeus.
    The door to the room slides open but instead of Kelvin walking in, it’s just Law. He peers over at me and I feel his hesitation, all his thoughts, but I no longer care. He can feel sorry all he wants. That doesn’t change what he did—something I would never do.
    “Ari, look at me.”
    I didn’t realize that I’d focused on the view window, waiting for Jackson to appear, my heart in my throat with fear. What if they don’t bring him? What if something happened? What if yesterday was the last time I’ll ever see him and I didn’t say all I needed to say—that I love him, that I’m sorry, that it should be me in there instead of him? After all, I’m the one who went after Zeus.
    After an excruciating minute of me ignoring Law, the door to Jackson’s room opens and he walks in, but he isn’t clean-cut as he was yesterday. Today, his face is white, his right eye swollen, already turning black-and-blue. Xylem will heal the bruise quickly, but that isn’t the point. Healing doesn’t prevent the pain he felt when he was beaten, the pain he feels now.
    I race for Law before I can stop myself, throwing him back so hard he slams into the wall behind him. “What did you do? He’s your brother. Or don’t you care about loyalty anymore!”
    Law pushes off the wall and stands tall, and I almost laugh. “I dare you. Give me one reason. I dare you.”
    But he doesn’t fight; instead he walks slowly toward me, his arms out to show he’s no threat. “You know me, Ari. Seek inside your head, your heart. You know me.” Then I hear his thoughts. I’m undercover. My mother didn’t trust Kelvin. She asked me to spy on him, to expose him.
    I release a breath. “I don’t trust you,” I say, though I want to trust him. I want to believe he’s still my best friend.
    “Understandable. But that doesn’t really matter.”
    Then Kelvin enters the room, stopping as he takes in Law and me. “What is this? Why are you here early?”
    Law turns to Kelvin, the picture of ease. “My last session ended early, so I headed over. I did not realize they’d already brought Ari in.”
    Kelvin seems to be considering this, probing Law for the lie, but eventually he glances away from him to his real focus—me.
    “Please sit. We’re on a tight schedule today. Begin with your experiences as an RES trainee.”
    I think back to Jackson as a leader, to training to become a strong RES, like him. I’d barely received any training at all before we left Loge.
    My back tightens as I widen my stance. “No.”
    Kelvin stops midway to sitting in a chair. “No?” His eyebrow raises, his mouth curves up like he finds this funny.
    “I will not help you. I will not talk to you. I will not do a single thing you ask until you release Jackson.”