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And they attack without warning. Long, rusty machetes gliding through the humid air, driving straight through the woman’s chest. Cracking into bone. Plunging past muscle. I fumble back into Dessin’s arms as the blood sprays across my face.
“No!” I scream, but Dessin holds me to his chest.
The mother falls in a wet, bloody heap. And they keep stabbing, as if the more marks they leave, the more cheers they’ll receive.
Bile surges up my throat, at my pain, at Dessin’s pain, and at this violent, awful murder playing out before my eyes.
“She’s already gone,” Dessin whispers in my ear.
Tears blur my vision, smearing the color of her skin with the rich red streaks spilling out across our bare feet. Her body jerks, jerks, jerks, and she stops breathing rather quickly.
But through the combustion of disapproval, sentinels whip us back in line, kicking elderly prisoners to the ground to keep moving…
Dessin and I look at each other. An ancient knowledge revealing itself to us. A clarity as pure and old as time.
DaiSzek and Knightingale.
Dessin and Skylenna.
One and the same.
Born to fight.
When there is battle of great evil…
God sends two warrior angels.
24. Switching Cages
Marilynn
I can still taste the flavor of Niles’s tongue.
But the yearning relaxing deep in my bones is quickly replaced with concern as a small whimper escapes Skylenna’s mouth. Dessin watches her with anger brewing in his deep brown eyes. He’s hurting, too, but it seems that seeing the wounds on Skylenna’s back hurts more than his own.
“What can I do?” Dessin asks.
Skylenna thinks on this. “Got any juicy gossip to distract me?”
“I can’t say I do.”
“Wait!” Ruth cries, rushing to stand in front of her cage door. “We do need girl time.”
Dessin looks slightly disgusted. “Why?”
“To discuss the small girth of your penises!” Ruth shoots back. “And we’ll clean Skylenna’s back and take care of her.”
Skylenna chuckles, then winces, and I can’t help but grin at the way Warrose narrows his eyes at her.
“Small?” Niles gasps with a hand on his chest.
“Yeah, so we need time to ourselves to chat,” Ruth adds with a shrug.
“She really said small,” Warrose comments to Dessin in disbelief.
“Beat it!” Ruth waves her hands so they can pick the cages furthest away from mine. “And no eavesdropping!”
The boys saunter over to the last three cages as we hear Niles mutter, “I have a huge penis, just so you both know.”
