“Do you live here with your family?”
“Yes. My mother works in the kitchen, and my father is a handyman.”
“I don’t see any walls separating the city from the outside.” I could not help observing.
“We don’t have any crawlers here. We’re too high in the mountains. There’s no way up from the ground.”
“Do you have any people living here?”
“We have some. Not many. Under the previous clan leader, many of them got pushed out of the city.”
“How so?”
“Lady Darragh was all about the purebloods.”
“Lady Darragh? Tynan’s mother?”
“Yes. But, I better get going and help the others,” the girl said, evidently not willing to spread gossip.
When she was gone, I stripped my dirty dress off and lowered myself into a bathtub. The copper tub was shaped in such a way that you could only sit upright. The design used less water, and I could not help but think it was a very practical way to save time and resources.
I leaned back, enjoying the heat of the water on my skin. My eyes closed and the images from my dreams filled my head. Every day I saw more of what Tynan told me. It felt like we had been in this place before. I could clearly envision the vast fields filled with wildflowers, and walking, my armsstretched out in front of me, as the palms of my hands touched the delicate buds. Frid was telling me something, and from time to time, I could hear that irresistible laugh of hers. Victor was walking beside her, watching her profile with a half smile on his face. Tynan was on the other side of me, my hand in his, our fingers intertwined. Sol walked right behind us with a serene look on his face, an unfamiliar girl with beautiful dark eyes walking beside him.
The next vision came, and I saw Grace with her sophisticated updo and the carefully thought out dress. She was smoking her long pipe, and playing with the beads she wore around her neck.
I sighed, picking up the soap that smelled like lemon balm and honey. Carefully I lathered my hair and removed all the remains of blood and dirt off my body.
When my hands touched the light outlines of the monster’s bite on my ankle, I remembered those final moments in the palace and could not believe that Ty had rescued me, and we escaped.
Maybe that was what was weighing on Tynan’s mind. He could not easily forget because he was the one who had to deal with the circumstances alone. He had to guide everyone out of the capital while I was turning.
A sudden knock on the door made me return to reality.
“Come in,” I said, wrapping myself in a towel.
“This just came for you.” Cara walked in with a wrapped package.
“What?” I could not believe my eyes.
It must have been a mistake. No one knew I was here. I picked up the package which looked like it had been repeatedly exposed to moisture as the writing was barely legible. Yet the address still read:To Aly Webber. My hands shook as I peeled away the crumpled paper. Underneath was a shiny new flying suit, black as the darkest night.
CHAPTER THIRTY
TYNAN
Ifound Hanoch in his study buried in his papers. The room appeared just the way I had seen it in my visions. It was an uncomfortable reminder of what could happen next. I shifted my eyes back to my brother. He looked exactly the way I remembered, as if everything from my dream truly took place. He scowled when he saw me in the doorway. I could clearly see so much of my mother in his eyes, except now I knew for certain, he was nothing like her.
“Ty?”
“Morning.”
“Come. Walk with me.” Hanoch put down his pencil and stood up, stretching his back.
We entered the long corridor, heading toward thebalcony on the upper floor. My eyes kept darting around to the rooms I remembered, unable to stop comparing my memories to what I was seeing. But something darker kept creeping in.
How much time did we have? What could be done?
“I understand that you and your friends need a place to stay,” Hanoch began as we went up the stairs.
