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“Out there, you’re ours. That will never change.”
I nod because I know they believe that right now, but they have no idea what they’ll be facing. A life with me means they’ll always be looking over their shoulders. They’ll never know a moment of peace because the second we let our guard down, someone will try to tear us apart. I lean my head against Zig’s chest and sigh. I know I can’t hide forever, but I can’t shake the feeling that we’re not ready.
Oz presses a kiss to the back of my neck, making me shiver. “You deserve a life, and hiding out in the jungle, sleeping in half a plane, is not living. We did that for a reason, but it was only ever supposed to be temporary.”
“I know.” I frown when I smell something so out of place that it takes my brain a second to figure it out.
“Can you smell smoke?”
I lift my head and look around. I feel Oz and Zig tense almost at the same time. I look at them, sharing that same damn expression that always makes me feel like an outsider. I’ve never bought into the whole twin telepathy thing, which is hypocritical given my gift and all, but I swear sometimes there is almost something otherworldly about the way these two are so in sync with each other.
“What’s wrong? You don’t think it’s another plane crash, do you?”
I mean, what are the odds?
“No, not a plane,” Oz murmurs, turning to look in the direction we’ve just come from before turning back at Zig.
“Then what?” I ask, but then I finally figure out what they aren’t saying. “The village.” I gasp before I yank myself away from Zig and start running.
I half expect them to grab me, but they don’t. They keep pace beside me as I run, praying that I’m overreacting. We’ve only been gone a few hours, leaving later than normal because we’re familiar enough with the area to navigate it in the dark. Nothing too terrible can happen in just a few hours, right?
I realize how wrong I am when we reach the clearing and the bottom drops out of my world.
The huts are all on fire, the orange flames dancing into the sky, reaching for something else to devour. Thankfully, it rained all last night and this morning, so the ground is wet. It might be the only thing that stops the fire from spreading and destroying everything.
“Where is everyone?” I scream, searching for the people I’ve already come to care about. Did they leave to run to safety? If so, where would they go?
“Don’t get too close. Stay behind me,” Zig yells as we make our way to the end of the pathway, to the house where the radio was kept. It’s the only house that isn’t engulfed, but it won’t be long before it’s destroyed too.
Oz kicks the door down and disappears inside. I move to follow him, but Zig holds me back until Oz returns.
It feels like hours before he steps back out the doorway, but it can only have been minutes.
When I get a look at his face, I know it’s bad. “Oz?”
“We need to leave. Now.” He stalks toward me, his face carefully blank, but his skin is pale even underneath his tan.
I yank free from Zig and dart around Oz, running for the house. Oz roars at me to stop, but I don’t listen. I run through the door and drop to my knees and scream.
Everyone is piled on top of each other in the middle of the room. But they’re not hiding. They’re dead. I sob as hands grab my shoulders, but then I catch sight of a small foot underneath a larger one.
“Oh God, no.” I yank and pull myself away from Zig, but he holds on tight to me. I drag my fingers across the floor, digging in as I feel my nails break. “Let me go. Let me fucking go,” I yell, twisting and struggling to reach her.
“I can heal her! Dammit, let me go!” I scream until my throat is raw, but they don’t. They crowd around me and hold me tight.
“She’s gone, Salem. You can’t help her. You can’t help any of them.”
“You don’t know that. She could be okay. Look at them. They’re protecting her. Please. I have to try.”
“Salem—”
“I have to try, Oz,” I whisper, and even through the roar of the flame outside, I know he can hear me.
“Just do it, Oz. But we need to hurry,” Zig tells him.
Oz clenches his jaw and drags himself over the pile of bodies, gently moving them out of the way, offering respect and honor to the men and women who, even in death, tried to protect a little girl.
When Oz finally pulls her free and lifts her into his arms. I swallow hard at how small she looks. Small and still. Only hours ago, she was so full of life and joy, and now it’s just gone. I know before he even lays her down in front of me that it’s too late. There is a darkness here that can only come from such a bright spark being snuffed out.
