I lowered my lips to Alina’s ear.
“We have to get into the building,” I whispered.
She looked at me for a moment before giving me a short nod.
I grabbed her hand and focused on the dragon who sniffed the air as it walked slowly through the open area. As soon as the creature turned the other way, I ran out, tugging Alina behind me.
We were by the door to the store when suddenly, a crawler appeared out of nowhere and then a loud growl shook the whole area. With one well balanced, explosive motion, I plunged my knife into its temple, pushing the girl to enter the building through the broken window.
I could hear the flapping of wings behind me and when I turned back, I saw that the undead dragon was closing in on us. His talons were pointed directly at me, its white eyesfocused on my torso as if he was envisioning tearing me in half.
I jumped through the opening and grabbed Alina’s hand, pulling her further into the building. We ran through the corridor, trying the doors, one after another, that were all locked. We ended up in a small storage area with multiple wooden boxes and a couple of chairs. I locked the door behind us and piled the boxes and furniture against the door.
“I don’t think that will do anything,” Alina whispered.
I placed a finger to my lips, positioning myself by the entrance. Seconds stretched into minutes and nothing happened. I released a slow breath and slid down to the floor, closing my eyes.
I didn't even notice when Alina sat on the floor beside me.
My eyes remained on the unfinished wooden panels as I strained my hearing, not able to believe our luck. Everything seemed quiet. Slowly, I relaxed my shoulders and rubbed my eyes.
“What was that thing?” Alina whispered.
“Undead dragon.”
“I didn’t know that was even possible,” the girl added.
“Yeah.”
My gaze landed on Alina, noticing she was hugging her knees, and her loosely braided hair draped over a shoulder. She was beautiful, and so out of place here. Looking at her now, it was hard to believe that I ever thought that she was from Talman.
I did not believe in gods or spirits, but we must have done something to deserve this hell. Maybe we were being punished for becoming too proud, too arrogant. For detesting other species and considering ourselves the only valued descendants of the gods.
When I thought about the things I have done in the past five years, and even before then, I could see why I deserved all this. I traced my hand through my hair, staring at the worn out wooden floor. I spent my days buying time, waiting for the inevitable end that was coming for all of us.
How long before my luck runs out and I get injured or infected? What was I doing here? Spending my short time in this life following the orders of the council? What would I have accomplished in the end? Contributing to the prosperity of the lucky few who lived in the capital surrounded by luxuries and abundance?
I covered my eyes with my hand. Still, the girl who sat beside me was not part of any of it.
“It will be alright, you know,” Alina whispered and her hand landed on my shoulder.
I looked at her for a long moment, more lost than ever before.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
ALINA
It pained me to see his quiet despair. Tynan was always confident and strong, surrounded by loyal and fearless friends, but right now he seemed lost and strangely vulnerable. My heart broke seeing him like that. His pain tormented me and I could not understand why. I barely knew him, I did not know his motivations and thoughts. But I had seen the intensity of his distress, and it did something to me. In this moment, I wanted nothing more but to soothe his discomfort and remove his anguish. As soon as my hand landed on his shoulder, Tynan looked at me in a way he never had before. Our eyes locked and I saw the rawness of his stare, his restlessness, and dozens of emotions he tried to hold back. In the back of my mind, I had the sudden realizationthat I was reading him as if he were an open book. The revelation did not alarm me; on the contrary, I felt enormous relief knowing that I could help. And I wanted to help.
His expressive dark eyes searched deep into my soul and I welcomed the new intrusion, the connection that somehow formed between us.
A sudden noise came from the front of the store and Tynan’s hand drew a knife from his belt.
Something was walking through the storefront, throwing furniture around, taking slow heavy steps. I knew what it was, so did Tynan.
I looked at him. Slowly, he moved his hand down. He leaned his head back against the wall, and closed his eyes.
The dull, paralyzing fear I felt almost every moment made me want to scream, cover my face and refuse to move, or do anything. Yet Tynan, Frid, Victor, and Sol lived this way. I could not imagine going on like that for days, months, years.
