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I glance down at our interlocked fingers and then at the trees. "Okay."
He almost smiles then steps toward where the sunlight meets the shade of the trees. "So, what's usually in this sort of place?" he asks as dry, crisp leaves float around us. "And what the hell are these things?"
"Those are leaves." I contain a giggle as he flicks a leaf off his shoulder. "They fall off the trees when it's autumn."
"Autumn?"
"It's a season. You know, summer, winter, spring ..." I trail off as he gapes at me. "Oh, there are no seasons in the red sky world?"
His lips quirk in semi-amusement. "Is that what you call our world?"
"I don't know what else to call it. Do you guys have a name for it?"
"No. We usually just refer to it as our world. And of course, the city is the broken city."
"I'm nervous to go to the city," I admit as we hike deeper into the woods, leaves and twigs crunching underneath our boots. "It sounds kind of scary."
"It is scary." He glances up at the sunlight sneaking through the branches above us. "But you won't really be in the city. You'll be in the station, and the station is probably one of the safest places there is." When my finger twitches, he looks down at our interlinked hands. "You're scared? Why?"
"It's nothing." But my shaking hands say otherwise. "I'm just a little bit nervous that Lex will eventually be at the station."
He grinds to an unexpected halt, his head whipping in my direction. "Who told you about that?" His harsh tone sends a shiver through me.
"Reece," I answer nervously. "I'm sorry if he wasn't supposed to. It's really not his fault, though. I was asking him a bunch of questions."
He grinds his teeth. "I was going to tell you. I just wanted to wait until we were far away from the East City Post before I did."
"It's okay. I understand. Reece explained that you guys wanted to wait until we were farther away so I wouldn't get scared."
"No. It's not okay. I'm usually not like this." He rubs his free hand across the shaved side of his head, shifting his weight. "I've always been a blunt person. I don't sugarcoat shit. That's Reece and Ryder's thing, not mine."
"I know. You told me," I say, puzzled by his anger.
Is he mad at me, Reece, or himself?
"And you've been really honest about a lot of stuff."
"The last few days, I haven't. The last few days, I've watched almost every single word that's come out of my mouth." His forehead creases as if his own words confuse him. Then he blinks, erasing the look, and starts walking again, pulling me along with him.
I want to ask him why he's so upset, but I worry that will only add fuel to the fire. So, I keep my lips zipped and struggle to match his long, determined strides.
"I locked them in their own mind," he abruptly announces as we weave around an ancient oak tree smack dab in the middle of the forest.
Something about the tree sends my senses into a frenzy. I want to run up to it and breathe in the scent of the leaves.
"Locked who in their mind?" I ask distractedly.
What would happen if I plucked a leaf from a branch and ate it?
I shake my head at myself. What a strange, stupid thought.
"Lucille and Maxx. After they hurt you, I went back into that room and filled their minds with their darkest nightmares," Blaise says matter-of-factly.
My attention snaps from the tree to him. I don't know whether to be afraid or not. It seems like maybe I should be, yet I don't feel an ounce of fear inside me.
"How did you lock them in there?"
"Fear can be a powerful thing." He shrugs, staring at the dry leaves covering the muddy ground. "Put enough in someone's mind, and it can completely take them over."
"Will they ever escape?"
"Maybe. But I really hope they don't." His gaze shifts to me. "Are you afraid of me now? Do you think I'm a monster?"
I shake my head with almost zero deliberation. "No."
He searches my eyes for something. "Are you sure? Because some people are."
I easily nod. "Do you want me to think that way of you?"
"I don't know what I want." He scratches at his neck, squinting at the bark of the willow tree. "Wait. What is that?"
I track his gaze to a spot where A&P has been carved into the bark. Stepping forward, I lift my hand and place my palm over the inscription.
"Allura and Pierce," I utter as memories twirl in my mind.
"Now the whole forest knows I love you." A guy smiles at me as he tosses the knife onto the ground. Then he tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear, his gaze dropping to my lips. "You know that, right? That I love you?"
I smile at the engraving, but then my smile falters. No. I can't let him kiss me. I don't even know this man. Or maybe I do know him ...
I turn my head and take in his shaggy brown hair, his freckled nose, and his deep brown eyes that are lit up with so much happiness and love.
His smile vanishes. "What's wrong?" His eyes widen. "Oh, dear, did I misread you? I thought you felt the same way, but I ..." He looks away from me, trying to hide the hurt in his eyes.
I want to comfort him, tell him I love him, too, but I can't make the connection. Frustration builds inside me.
"I'm sorry. I don't--"
Gunfire yanks me back to reality--or dreamland, anyway. Shock instantly makes my body run deathly cold, like ice in my veins.
Blaise and I are no longer standing in the forest, but in a familiar field enveloped by trees. Men are shouting over the slamming of horses' hooves, and a thick fog hangs in the air.
No. No. No. No. This can't be happening.
But it is, and now I have to relive getting shot.
Another thought occurs to me, and my fear amplifies. Oh no! What if Blaise gets shot, too! Will he actually be shot? How does dreamland work exactly?
"Fire!" a man yells, and I instinctively lunge for Blaise, wanting to protect him.
But he grabs ahold of me and dives to the ground on his back so I land on top of him. He doesn't miss a beat, flipping us over and covering my body with his.
"I don't know what's happening. For some reason, I've lost control of the dream." Propping up on his elbows, he scans the tall grass around us.
"They're coming from the north." An icky feeling gnaws at me as I replay the outcome of this memory ... dream ... whatever this is. Blaise is going to hear the men yell those horrible things about me. What if he somehow puts two and two together and figures out what I am? "And there's one by the river, just east."
His gaze lowers to mine, his brows dipping. "How do you know that?"
"Because I've seen it before," I whisper over the gunfire. "It was the dream I was in right before you put the images of the cloudy sky in my mind. Only, this time, it feels different ... more vivid and real."
Tension ripples in his muscles. "This is the dream where you're shot?"
I nod. "These people are hunting me ... because I'm ... different."
Blaise stares down at me with a mixture of inquisitiveness and uncertainty. Worried he's going to abandon me, my fingers curl inward, and I grip the front of his shirt. Sensing my movement, he glances at my hands, and then his gaze resides on my face.
"Allura, I'm not going to leave you." He speaks slowly, stressing the importance. "I'd never do that to you, no matter what's about to happen."
I smash my quivering lips together, thinking of the man on the horse riding in the river. We knew each other, had feelings for one another, yet he shot at me.
"She has to be around here somewhere," a man bellows from nearby.
Blaise starts to raise his head, but then ducks down and lines his body against mine. His body heat is so suffocating I can scarcely breathe. I can't recall the last time someone was this close to me besides when Blaise and I were in the trunk of the car. Even then, he kept a little distance between us, unlike right now.
I wonder if our nearness makes him uneasy, as well. He told me that he doesn't like being touched, y
et we're practically touching each other in every way possible.
"Just stay calm," he whispers raggedly in my ear. "Nothing's going to happen to you. I won't let you get shot again."
"Allura, we know you're out here, so you might as well come out," a different man speaks, his voice tugging at my memories and my heartstrings.
The man from the river. The man I think I loved once.
