All Chapters of The Glass Rose : Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

Alessia’s POVThe green mist was spilling out from the cracks in the ancient stone floor of the Forum and it looked like the ground itself was breathing out poison, and I stood there with my hand over my mouth while I watched the vapor curl around the base of the broken marble columns. The sound of the pumps was a deep and heavy thumping that I could feel in the soles of my boots and it seemed to be coming from everywhere at once, and Lucien was standing next to me with his rifle raised while he scanned the shadows for any sign of the Architects' guards. We couldn't just walk through the front entrance because the main gates were swarming with drones and armored vehicles, so we had to find another way into the guts of the city through the old drainage systems that most people had forgotten even existed."We can't stay out here in the open for more than a minute because the air is getting thick and my eyes are already starting to sting from the concentration of the agent," Lucien sai

Matteo’s POVThe static in my ears was turning into a series of sharp, rhythmic pulses that made the air feel like it was vibrating against my skin, and every time I blinked the colors of the room shifted until the shadows looked like deep purple bruises and the light from the monitors was a blinding, electric blue. My eyes felt tight and itchy in their sockets and when I caught my reflection in a dark screen I saw that the brown of my iris had vanished completely and was replaced by a glowing, unnatural sapphire color that didn't look human anymore. Alessia and Lucien were huddled over a thermal map near the shattered console and they were arguing about the fastest route to the central hub but their voices sounded slow and distorted to me, and the thumping of their hearts was so loud in my head that I had to step away just to breathe without feeling like I was being choked by the sound."I'm just going to check the corridor to make sure those scientists didn't have a backup securit

Lucien’s POVThe heavy doors of the ballroom hissed shut behind us and cut off the sound of the orchestra in a single second, and we were left standing in a corridor that was so white and sterile it made my eyes ache after the dim red light of the alcove. I adjusted the weight of my rifle and looked at Alessia who was still smoothing down her hair but her expression had shifted back into that cold and focused mask she wore when she was ready to kill, and we started walking down the hall but we didn't get far before the walls began to change. Instead of plain metal panels there were glass displays built into the sides of the corridor and I felt a chill that had nothing to do with the air conditioning when I saw a wooden toy horse that I had played with when I was five years old sitting right next to a photo of my mother from the summer she spent in Capri."He’s trying to get inside our heads before we even reach the door and he’s using our own memories as a way to distract us from th

Alessia's POVThe elevator ride down felt like we were being lowered into a grave and the air turned stale and metallic as the doors opened to reveal not a sleek train station but a dark, concrete tunnel where a massive armored transport sat idling on the tracks, and the vehicle looked like a jagged block of iron with narrow slits for windows and heavy rivets along the sides that made it look more like a submarine than a luxury maglev. Lucien held my hand so tight it hurt but I didn't pull away because the sight of that iron beast made my skin crawl and I could see the guards in Valenti black standing along the platform with their hands on their holsters and their eyes hidden behind dark visors."He called it a maglev to make it sound like a miracle but it’s just a cage on wheels and we’re being shipped off to Sicily like cattle for the slaughter," I whispered as we walked up the metal ramp and the heavy hydraulic door hissed shut behind us with a sound that felt very permanent."It's

Matteo's POVThe walls of my bedroom in the fortress were moving in a slow and sickening rhythm and the blue light in my eyes made the shadows look like they were crawling with insects, and I could feel the heat in my blood rising until my skin felt too tight for my bones. I tried to stand up but my legs were shaking and the sound of the ocean hitting the rocks outside was like a hammer beating against my brain, and I just slumped back against the headboard while I gripped the sheets until I heard the heavy click of the door opening. My father stepped into the room and he wasn't wearing his formal jacket anymore but he just looked at me with a calm and steady gaze that made the buzzing in my ears go quiet for a second."The sickness is just the old part of you fighting against the new and you have to embrace the change because it’s the only thing that’s going to make you strong enough to lead this family when the others are gone," Francesco said as he sat on the edge of my bed and pla