I barely feel the pain in my raw fingertips as I climb up the lattice. Barely notice where I’m placing my hurried footsteps as I negotiate the wall; barely feel the shock that ratchets through my legs when I leap off the tree from halfway down, landing in a crouch on the esplanade below.
I dash through the streets, pausing on the outskirts of the busy market square where I lean against a wall amongst a swirl of people, the chaos and smells nothing but a haze on the fringe of my new reality.
There was a kinship with Gael—like our threads ran unnaturally deep for the short amount of time we’d known each other. The sort of bond I’d imagine sisters would have.
Now I know why.
We’re sisters in death—both victims of the same tragic end that changed our lives forever. Took from us the people we loved most.
Her papa took my brother from me. I took her papa from her. In a way, I took her mother, too.
Took her naïvety. Her childhood.
How will I ever be able to look her in the eye again?
* * *
The world is spinning—churning around me in a blur of black and light. Face tipped to the drizzling sky, my hands wobble around like tentacles.
“I’m a jellyfish riding the ocean!” I giggle, moving my hips and my arms and twirling on the ball of my foot. “I’m freeee …”
I stamp my heel down, and I think my body stops, but my mind keeps going round and round andround.
“Wow,” I mutter, dropping.
Dropping …
My knees crack against the stone, and a bubble of laughter pops from between my numb lips that still taste like cinnamon and cloves and rich, merry things.
I smack my tongue against them …
So many merry things.
“Damn, I taste good.”
Clambering to my feet, I battle gravity as it tries to tip me to the side again. I don’t want to be down, I want to beup.I want to be high above the sky, dancing with the stars …
I swirl again, around and around and around, before slamming my foot to the ground and peering down the tight alleyway to the bright blur of babbling merriment churning beneath the twinkly mail tree.
I need more wine.
It takes me a flurry of unsteady steps before I realize I left my bag atop the wooden crate I was drinking by, including my coins. Probably my dignity, too.
My shoulder knocks into something hard, and the entire alleyway rocks to the side.
“What thefuck,boy!”
My arm is snatched, and I’m spun so fast I giggle, catching a glimpse of a tall, scruffy male. I somehow manage to dodge the meaty fist that comes barreling toward my face with a swift arch of my spine. Impressive, considering my current circumstances.
The man snarls, sparking me full of recklessthrill.
I twist my body and rip away, then dance back, hopping from foot to foot, weightless like a mail sprite as I size him up.
I whistle low.
He’s big.Hugeeven—dressed like a sailor, arms tree trunks and his weather-worn face twisted with fiery wrath as he sneers at me.
But right now … I’m bigger.
