Chapter 37 #2
“We don’t have much time,” he said urgently, grabbing my arm. “You have to decide. Do you trust me or not? There’s more…so much more, but I can’t tell you unless you let me put that string in you. I have to protect the people I care about.”
I hesitated briefly, but now that he’d opened these floodgates of truth, I had to know more, desperately needed to know more.
“Ok,” I whispered. “Ok, I’ll trust you, but I swear if you?—”
“I won’t,” he interrupted fiercely. “I swear.”
His hands settled on either side of my head, and shadows filled his eyes, slowly swallowing the blue until there was only black—just like Clarity’s power. Then I felt it, a shimmer of darkness sliding through my veins, and it felt so similar to the Shadowbane that I almost jerked away.
“Wait,” he suddenly spoke sharply, and his voice sounded both close and far away, crackling with power that made the hair on my arms stand up. “You have?—”
“Em? Em, please wake up. Please. Please don’t be dead!”
I dragged my heavy eyelids open and stared at the sky, slowly lightening with the dawn through the bars of a cage.
I tried to move, but my body was still partially paralyzed by the narc.
I managed to turn my head to see Roe sitting beside my cage and gripping one of my hands.
Relief filled his tear-stained face when he met my gaze.
“Em!” he sobbed. “Are you ok?”
“M’ok,” I mumbled.
“They killed Sax,” he said through sobs.
Sax. Sax was trying to help us, but he failed. He killed Zana, and the Voiceless killed him, and now it was just me and Roe.
Roe let out a squeak of terror, and Talmar crouched beside him. He was frowning, an icy anger crackling in his eyes. Fuck.
“Ember,” he began, and the cold tone of his voice made my hands start shaking, “running was a grave mistake. You cannot escape your destiny, and all you have proven is your own weakness and lack of understanding. As you continue to delay the inevitable, you bring more suffering upon yourself.”
“Is it inevitable if it can be delayed?” I mumbled without thinking, then winced. I’d gotten too used to speaking freely.
Talmar stood, towering over us with a furious expression. Then he turned and kicked a booted foot hard into Roe’s ribs. All the air rushed out of Roe’s lungs with a pained gasp, and his hand was ripped from mine as he fell backward. Before he could get up, Talmar was kicking him again and again.
“No!” I shrieked, forcing my numb body to lurch upright. “No! No! Stop! Please stop!”
Talmar withdrew, and with horror, I noted there was blood on his boot. Roe didn’t move.
“I had hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but your defiance comes at a cost. There are consequences to each act of rebellion.
If you persist in this, the consequences will be severe.
” He gestured at Roe, who was curled in a ball, gasping sobs.
“Do not mistake my mercy for weakness. The child will suffer if you continue to challenge your divine purpose.”
Tears streamed from my eyes as I clung to the bars of my cage and stared helplessly at Roe. I knew better than to run my mouth, especially with Roe here.
“I’m sorry.” I forced the words out, the lie bitter in my mouth. “Please forgive me, Talmar.”
He stared at me, his expression unreadable. I couldn’t tell if he believed me, but I put my all into keeping my expression contrite.
“This is your last warning, Ember,” he finally said. “You will accept your fate or suffer the wrath of the God of Death. The decision is yours but know that we are watching and will act accordingly.”
I bowed my head in what I hoped looked like an act of submission.
“You shall remain here until we are ready to depart,” he finished before standing and striding away.
I waited until he was a safe distance away before scrambling to the corner of the cage closest to where Roe lay.
“Roe, can you hear me? Roe!”
He moved agonizingly slowly but lifted his head and looked at me. His face was already swelling, and his nose and lip were bloody.
“Oh my gods,” I sobbed, horrified. “I’m so sorry, Roe. Can you come here?”
Roe pushed himself up, tears sliding down his cheeks, and managed to drag himself back to me, one arm wrapped around his ribs.
As soon as I could reach him, I took his arm and let my healing power flow.
Talmar had broken two of his ribs, his nose, and a part of his skull was fractured.
Relief filled his face as my magic healed his injuries.
Once fully healed, I pulled him as close as possible, hugging him through the cage. His body trembled as he clung to me.
“Roe, listen to me,” I said in a low voice. “You have to get out of here. They’re going to keep hurting you. You need to get away and run. Don’t stop until you literally can’t keep going. Then find a small shelter and sleep a little, but don’t make a fire.”
“Em—” he tried to interject.
“Don’t make a fire for at least three days; you have to run as far as possible. Pick a mountain and go toward it to make sure you’re not going in circles. Try not to leave tracks.”
“Em, I can’t!” he whispered through tears.
“You can, ” I said firmly. “You fought a horrible sickness that was tryin’ to kill you for ten years , Roe. You are so much stronger than you think.”
He stared at me, shaking.
“My friends from the Vault might be searching the woods. Or my brother Wolf and his crew. You can trust them. Do not come back here, no matter what you hear. Even if you hear me screaming, do not stop. Do not trust the Voiceless, no matter what they say.”
“I don’t want them to hurt you,” he whispered, eyes huge with fear.
“I know, but they’re gonna hurt me whether you’re here or not, and it will kill me if they hurt you. ” My voice broke, tears brimming in my eyes.
“I’m scared,” he confessed.
“I am, too, but we both need to be brave, ok?”
He took a deep, shaky breath. “Ok.”
“If you take off Sax’s jacket, you can prop it up here and make it look like you’re just sleepin’ under it.” I glanced around the camp. They still had probably an hour before the camp was packed up. “How good are you at throwing?”
“I’m pretty good.” He puffed out his thin chest a little. “I killed a prairie dog with my slingshot.”
“That’s amazing,” I whispered, trying to muster a smile.
“Ok, I need you to find a small rock and throw it as hard as possible at the mules to create a distraction. As soon as the mules freak out, you go straight to the woods and don’t stop running, ok?
” I reached through the bars and squeezed his hands.
My voice wobbled, but I managed to continue, long-forgotten words suddenly surfacing in my head, “You can do this. My brother used to tell me that bein’ brave doesn’t mean you aren’t scared; it means you’re scared, and you do it, anyway. ”
He squeezed my hands back, tears still in his eyes. Then he let go and found a small rock in the dirt.
“I’m gonna keep looking at you so they don’t suspect us,” I whispered. “Make sure no one’s watchin’ you.”
He sat, quiet and alert, for almost a full minute before he moved, chucking the rock hard and then huddling down. It clattered somewhere in the distance, and he winced. “I missed.”
“It’s ok. Count to a hundred and try again.”
I watched his face as he concentrated. A Voiceless walked past us, carrying buckets of water.
Their eyes scanned us carefully, but then they moved on.
Roe’s fingers dug another rock out of the dirt.
He bounced it in his palm, testing the weight, before closing his fist around it.
He scanned the camp without moving his head, and I pleaded with my power, the universe, the gods, and whoever would listen that Roe would get safely away.
Roe moved swiftly, flinging the rock as he bit his lip in concentration. I heard the mule bray, and chaos erupted.
“Put the jacket up and go,” I hissed at him as I turned around and moved to where I hoped I was blocking him from most of the Voiceless’ view.
I held onto the bars and craned to see where the mule was trying to break free of the pack line, hoping I looked appropriately surprised and curious.
Several of the Voiceless glanced at me, but then they went back to struggling with the mule.
I forced myself to count to a hundred before I turned back around like I’d lost interest. Sax’s jacket was propped up like Roe had curled into a little ball; I lay in my cage next to it and closed my eyes, straining my ears for any sound of alarm.
Please. Please. Please. I begged to the rhythm of my pounding heart.
It took the Voiceless at least half an hour to get the mule line back under control.
A Voiceless approached at one point, and I sensed them standing over me.
I kept my breaths as even as possible, clenching my shaking hands.
It felt like they stood there for an eternity, but finally, they moved away.
It was another hour before they had everything packed up, and as I watched them secure the final things to the mules, I prayed I’d given Roe enough time.
I couldn’t forget how fast the Voiceless had moved through the woods with their cybernetic limbs.
Someone approached my cage. “Wake up, Ember.”
I sat up, rubbing my gritty eyes as he unlocked the door and beckoned me to crawl out. I did so, watching as the Voiceless glanced at Sax’s jacket.
“Get up, child.”
I stood, shakily stretching my cramped limbs and watching the Voiceless stare at Sax’s jacket. When nothing happened, he walked closer.
“Boy! Wake up.”
He nudged the jacket with his foot, and it collapsed inward. He snatched it up and stared at the empty spot beneath it before his eyes flashed to me. I had planned on acting shocked, but I couldn’t help the victorious smile that crossed my face.
There was no sign of gentleness or compassion in Talmar’s face as the Voiceless, furiously holding my arm, explained Roe was gone. His metal hand grabbed my arm hard, yanking me toward him.
“Where is the boy?” he hissed.
I didn’t answer, and I heard the pistons in his arm move as his grip tightened until I was gasping in pain.
“I don’t know!” I shrieked when I couldn’t take the pain any longer.
For a moment, I thought he would hit me, but he just shoved me back into the cage and locked it.
He shouted orders at the three with cybernetic legs to search the surrounding woods.
Seeing them run in the daylight was even more horrifying than in the dark.
They moved so inhumanely fast. I huddled in a ball in my cage, my arm aching with pain and straining my ears for any noise of Roe screaming or crying.
After about ten minutes, the three returned empty-handed.
The Voiceless had a fierce argument, half out loud and half with signed gestures, but I understood enough to figure out they were trying to decide if they should stay and search for Roe or keep going.
When they landed on the decision to keep going, tears of relief filled my eyes, but my stomach sank at the dark look on Talmar’s face.
He jerked me out of the cage by the wrist. “It seems you have not yet grasped the severity of your situation, Ember,” he snarled as he marched me to my horse. “We have given you every opportunity to accept your role with dignity, but come evening, you will face the wrath of the God of Death.”
We stopped beside my horse and leaned in close, his eyes flashing.
“You have chosen this path, and now you will face the consequences. By evening’s end, you will learn the price for defying your God and beg for the mercy you so foolishly squandered.”