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“Just answer it,” I say tersely, hands going to my head as I start to pace, not sure what to do now that I’ve failed in my revenge. “That’s the quickest way to stop it making noise.” I’m furious and upset, and all I want to do is climb back into Kharon’s arms because he’s the only thing that makes sense in this stupid world.
“Answer?” He stares down at the thing, befuddled.
I push the green button, then hand it back to him.
“Finally!” I hear a voice shout from the other end. I accidentally put it on speakerphone, but that might be easiest.
“Romulus?” Kharon asks.
“Brother, get back here! Now! We’re under attack!”
Chapter Thirty-One
KHARON
My attention is divided. I’m still trying to keep watch over the top of the building to see if we are being followed—Ksenia must be kept safe at all costs—but my brother’s words finally sink in. My eyes widen. “What do you mean. Who? How?”
Hannah’s voice comes next over the small device. “We don’t know who. We just know that all of Romulus’s wards started going nuts ten minutes ago. Someone’s trying to break in. Someone who can use angel runes and attack Romulus’s wards.”
“Are you and the baby safe?” I demand.
“We’re heading down to the dungeon now.”
“Get back here,” comes Abaddon’s voice. “Now!”
“I’m on my way,” I say urgently. “Brother? Brother?”
“I think they hung up,” Ksenia says, taking the device back. She’s trembling and holding her arms as she paces on the roof. Is she afraid of me now? Of what I became back in the basement with her Uncle and the child?
She saw me for the monster I am. Self-loathing is thick in my throat. I swore to myself long ago I would never become that creature again. I allowed myself to be locked away so that all would be kept safe from a monster such as me.
“You should go,” she says, only confirming my worst fears. “If they call back, you can answer by hitting this button.” She points to a small green picture on the device. “And if you want to call them, push here and here.”
She shows me something incomprehensible. My head is too full. I must go. And yet I cannot leave her.
“What about you?” I ask. In the distance, there are still sirens. “They are looking for you.” How can I leave her? Even if she is afraid of me now, even if I failed her, I cannot let her be harmed. I will die first.
“I’ll be fine,” she says, waving a hand. “I’ve gotten out of tough spots before.”
I shake my head. This is unacceptable. “I will take you out of the city.”
She looks around, biting her bottom lip. “I don’t want to slow you down.”
“You do not slow me.” And then, before she can argue more, I draw her into my arms. If she thinks I can go to help my family while leaving her in peril, she does not understand me at all. I would be useless to them, too frantic with worry over her.
Perhaps it will be the last time I hold her. She clings to me, and I secure her tightly against me as I leap from roof to roof and make my way across the city, further away from the seeking sirens. I head towards the forest I see in the distance, feeling Ksenia’s arms tighten around me as I finally head back down one of the tall buildings, only relaxing once we’re on flat ground again.
Everything has gone wrong, I should not be focusing on the sweetness of her embrace, but I can only inhale her scent. Terrified this will be my last memory.
It’s easier to move quickly once we’re in the forest, heading north. After a time, she bangs my shoulder. It is the prearranged sign we have to stop, but I think she will say to let her go, and we are not far enough from the city yet. That is what I tell myself anyway. In truth, I am not ready to let her go. So I continue to run.
I run her north for perhaps an hour, at the fastest speed I dare with her in my arms. Only when the dawn begins to break do I allow her down.
We’re in one of the thick forests that blurs the lines between nations. Ksenia should be able to get to safety from here, though I hate to leave her in the wilderness again.
“This device,” I say, handing the sell fone to her. “It is modern. It will have directions on it?”
“But what if your family calls again?”
“I am going back to them. I can only move as fast as I can move. I will not leave you directionless.”
She nods even though she’s just gotten back on her own feet, and I can see she’s a bit shaky.
