35. Eshe
Eshe
The screams jolted us from the bed that Norrah and I were sleeping on.
“What was that?” Norrah said in a shaky voice.
Another shriek split the air, and gooseflesh spread over my arms. Something didn’t feel right.
I laid a hand on her shoulder. “Stay here.”
Without wasting another breath, I snatched two daggers from Ezra’s bag and rushed to the door, ready to dismember anyone.
“Are you leaving me?” Norrah whispered behind me, but she seemed a mile away.
Whirling around, I saw the horror in her eyes. I couldn’t leave her. What if someone—Gabriel—was here for her? The thought of ripping his arm out of its socket sent a thrill through my hands. With as much gentleness as I could muster up, I reassured her, “Of course not.”
Clashing of metal sprang from outside in the hallway. Something heavy dropped against the door.
“Blow out the candle, now,” I murmured hurriedly.
She did as I asked, near the bedside, and fell to my side.
“He’s here for me, isn’t he?” Tears sprang to her eyes, and I could see the guilt rapidly building up in her, though none of this was her fault.
She didn’t deserve this—she didn’t deserve to be forced into a marriage with a monster.
Her arms snaked around mine, and I could feel the trembling in her body.
“We don’t know that…” I said, unsure.
“This is all my fault,” she whispered, almost choking with tears.
I faced her, tempted to smack the shit out of her.
“Don’t you dare say that. You are worthy of freedom.
You are worthy to have control over how you want your life to look.
Ezra is out there fighting, and if it is for your freedom, then that is an honor.
” I swallowed and stared into her eyes that were beginning to dry up.
“It’s an honor for anyone to be your friend. ”
She bit her lower lip, attempting not to cry, and then nodded.
With caution, I cracked the door open only to gasp as soon as I laid eyes on the dead body outside the door. But no one else was around.
This was real. This wasn’t practice at Garamgai’s studio or training at Ezra’s arena. There was a fight happening beyond the hallway, and people were dying. My heart pounded against my rib cage.
All I could think about was getting Norrah to safety so I could be of use. This oasis was under attack. For Ezra, for Norrah, for me, I didn’t know. All I knew was that Ezra was out there, but Norrah wasn’t safe. She didn’t know how to fight. She couldn’t defend herself.
I handed a third dagger in her palm, and she shook her head. “I can’t—I don’t even—”
“Norrah, I’m not letting you out of this room without one.
I can’t promise you’ll be safe without it.
Norrah!” I whispered-yelled when her eyes went wide, looking at the dagger in the palm of her hand as if it were a live Silver Snake.
She raised her fear-filled eyes to mine.
“You can do this! I need you to do this.”
There was a long, pregnant pause between us, with every second silently begging her to agree.
She nodded slowly and absently. “Okay.”
I swallowed the lump threatening to choke me and grabbed her free hand.
But I paused at the door and clarified, “The pointy end goes into a body.”
“Watch it, or I’ll use your body as a test subj—”
“Okay, oh—kaay,” I said defensively, “How am I supposed—”
“Let’s just get out of here!” She squealed in a whisper.
We quietly walked through the threshold and turned right, the opposite direction of the main hall.
We hastened across, and Norrah flinched when a voice bellowed in the main hall. It sounded like hell had made its way here.
Screaming, murderous sounds, grating through the halls, rattling the center of our bones.
“Eshe,” a voice panted nearby.
A gasp escaped me as I whirled toward the voice that had haunted me for years.
Ezra. I did a full-body scan before I rushed toward him.
It was dark and dimly lit from the hallway behind him.
I could see blood dripping down the side of his face as he held out his palms, still wrapped in daggers. “Go! Leave, take Norrah and get out.”
My eyes snapped to his. He didn’t linger for another moment before his hand wrapped around my neck and pulled me in. This wasn’t right—I tried to pull back from his kiss, but he wouldn’t let me. Anger surged through my veins. He had taken me from everything, and now demanded I leave him.
My tongue went heavy, and I didn’t say anything when his lips touched my forehead. Eight years went by, and I didn’t see him because of something like this—an attack in the night. My heart lodged in my throat as seconds went by.
I didn’t know when I’d see him again.
I went to reach around him, to return his embrace, but he left, rushing down the hallway where the voices of hell sang.
I stood there, every cell in my body screaming for me to be with him, to fight by his side.
Something wasn’t right. I was supposed to be with him, not leave.
With Norrah’s trembling hand searching mine, she gave me a little squeeze.
I met her eyes, and my heartstrings pulled.
We jumped as we heard the screeching persist. Something snapped inside of me.
I couldn’t leave her, and without waiting another moment, we sprinted to the side of the next hallway and pushed on the door to the outside.
Without letting her go, we hurried over to where the horses were yanking against their reins, tied to their posts.
Norrah and I swung onto one horse, ensuring there were enough for Ezra and Casimir when they escaped. And they would.
“We’re just going to leave them?” Norrah asked with glistening eyes.
I didn’t know what to do: listen to Ezra and leave, or find safety for Norrah and come back to fight.
Each second felt like a lifetime.
I swallowed dryly. “I… Ezra is the strongest fighter I know… They will survive,” I said, mostly for myself.
I felt so guilty not being there with them, but I couldn’t be in two places at once, like Ezra said.
Right now, I had to protect Norrah. She couldn’t be by herself.
She wouldn’t know the first thing about how to defend herself.
I whispered words to quicken the pace of the beast beneath us, forcing myself to keep going.
After riding for a while, we both turned our heads over our shoulders.
The oasis’s trees and cliffside were a beautiful silhouette against the dark blue night sky.
I could faintly see the building with the torches around its perimeter.
My breath felt empty, as if there wasn’t enough air in my lungs.
I couldn’t wrap my mind around Ezra being gone.
He and Casimir, with a few servants, against a prepared attack.
My eyes stung, but Norrah’s warmth kept me going.
With each minute that passed, guilt trickled down my veins, sickening me.
After riding all night, nearly falling off the horse multiple times, the sun began to rise. I didn’t know where we were going. I didn’t know how long we’d been riding for.
I could feel Norrah asleep behind me, her small body lying forward on my back. I tied a rope around her body to mine a few hours ago when I felt her swaying too much.
The sky was clear of dust and clouds, making it easy to see further ahead.
With the winds thankfully calm, the dunes were a lovely pattern of short waves from the day before.
I didn’t know what we would do if we entered a sandstorm.
I tightened my robe around me and felt Norrah’s head lulling on my mid-back.
Scars from surviving a sandstorm without proper equipment were no small thing.
The horse neighed, and suddenly its front hooves were off the ground. I immediately wrapped my arm behind me, clutching Norrah as we nearly toppled over. As soon as the horse met the sands again, I heard hooves nearby.
“W—what’s going on?” Norrah startled from her sleep and pulled herself closer.
The first thing that went across my mind was that Ezra was gone. Casimir. My stomach churned. The raiders, or whoever they were, followed us.
With the reins in my hand, I twirled us to the sound, dagger in my other palm, ready for just about anything.
But not for this.
My heart almost broke in half.
Salazar.
The moment my eyes fell on him, my heart cracked. It was like seeing a past version of yourself. Recognizable, but too distant to be called yours.
But right now, he was my angel.
He was with a couple of men, one I remembered from the tavern in Urnaz.
Salazar’s horse stopped abruptly near us, and my eyes stung, and it wasn’t from the sands enveloping us.
His brows furrowed in horror and confusion, and he let out the deepest breath.
“Eshe,” he drawled. “I found you. I can’t believe it. I found you.”
“Salazar.” My voice broke into a whisper.
My eyes watered as he swung his leg over the saddle and trudged through the pillowed sands toward us.
I gave the reins to Norrah behind me and slid off the saddle to greet him.
His heavy body wrapped around me, and I let out the deepest breath.
Since when did I start becoming emotional?
The version of myself felt unfamiliar and raw.
Growing up, Salazar was my mentor, my teacher, but he always seemed more than that to me.
Like my father, Salazar was there through my tantrums and supported my wishes, but put me in my place when I should have known better.
The feeling immediately brought me back to the death of my father, and I forced the lump in my throat down.
Although no one could compare to my father, Salazar came pretty close.
“I was so afraid, I was so afraid.” My heart was hurting with a wave of relief.
“Oh my God, I thought you would be dead.”
I forced myself not to tear up. I wasn’t a child.
“Thank God you’re safe. Thank God you’re safe,” he repeated. “I’ve been looking for you for days.”