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Uneasiness tremors through my muscles. While I don't believe Blaise will hurt Ryder, he looks extremely angry right now.
I scan the area for Reece, knowing, if he shows up, the two of them will more than likely cool down. But he's nowhere in sight, which worries me. He's been gone for a while. I hope nothing happened to him.
My chest tightens. What if something did happen to him? Like the Forsaken captured him?
"No, there's definitely something bothering you," Ryder states, completely unbothered by Blaise's withering glare.
"Nothing's bothering me," Blaise snaps. "Except for you."
"Do you really mean that?" Ryder questions with his arms crossed. "Or are you trying to make a joke? Sometimes it's hard to tell with you."
"You're really trying to piss me off today, aren't you?" Blaise's fists twitch, causing bad memories to pierce through my mind.
My breath gets stuck in my throat, and I instinctively cower back.
Ryder's and Blaise's heads snap in my direction, and then they hastily step away from each other.
"Sweetheart, we're not going to hurt each other," Ryder tells me at the same time Blaise mutters, "I'm sorry if we scared you."
"We?" Ryder arches his brow at Blaise. "I'm pretty I'm not the one scaring her."
Blaise shoots a harsh look at Ryder, but the rage in his eyes vanishes when he notes me watching him.
"I won't hurt him, Allura. I'm just ..." He huffs an exasperated breath then spins on his heels, storming off down the path in the direction we've been walking in since we escaped the Forsaken.
I watch him, feeling utterly horrible.
"I'm sorry I made him mad." I turn back toward Ryder. "I feel terrible."
"You didn't make him mad," he insists, giving my hand a squeeze. "I did."
"Because you were teasing him?"
He thrums his fingers against the side of his legs, glancing from me to the path. "Not exactly."
I open my mouth to ask him what upset Blaise, but the compassbot lets out an abrupt squeak, its purple eyes shimmering as an arrow on its back energetically sways back and forth.
I jump back, bumping my shoulder into Ryder's chest. "What's it doing?"
Ryder chuckles, wrapping his arms around my waist as his chest lines up with my back. "It's trying to get your attention."
My pulse hammers as the compassbot lets out another squeak then starts spinning in circles.
"Are you sure that's all it's doing?"
"Yeah, I'm sure." Ryder lightly tugs on a strand of my hair. "I think it likes you."
I eye the compassbot warily. "Really?"
"Yeah, really." Ryder playfully tugs on a strand of my hair again. "Which instantly makes me like it."
"Why?"
"Because it's clearly got good taste."
I start to smile, but then my mouth curves downward. Ryder, Reece, and Blaise keep insisting they're okay with the idea that I might have Grim blood, although none of them are fully convinced I do. I don't entirely understand why they aren't afraid of me. Not only are the Grim horrible monsters that feed off the lifespan of humans, they also ruined this world and destroyed their lives.
"You should pet it," Ryder encourages, gently nudging me in the back.
"Like a dog?"
"What's a dog?"
"They're small and furry, and they bark ..." I trail off as his face contorts in confusion. I sigh, frustrated with myself. "Maybe it's another thing Blaise should add to his list."
"Hey, don't get frustrated." Ryder grazes his knuckles across my cheekbone, and my eyelashes flutter in a strangely confusing way. "You've been through a lot. And like I said, it's okay not to know everything."
I take a breath to calm my heart. "I just wish I knew why I keep remembering things that don't exist."
"Maybe they just don't exist here," he says cautiously. "But they do someplace else."
"You mean, like those burial places you guys talk about sometimes?"
"Maybe. Or ..." He bites down on his bottom lip, hesitating. "Please don't take this the wrong way, okay? But maybe, if you are different, then perhaps you came from someplace else, like some believe the Grim did."
I recollect the blue sky that appears so frequently in my memories, the lofty trees, the sparkling stars, and the glowing moon. Then I think of the place I saw when I was near the Deorum.
Maybe Reece is right. Maybe I'm different because I'm not from here.
"You think I'm from where the Grim are from?" I ask quietly.
His eyes widen. "No. That's not what I meant. I just wonder if you're from some place different than our world. That's it. God, please stop looking at me like that, Allura. It's killing me."
"Sorry." I try to wipe my expression clean, still worrying if he could be right.
"It's not a bad thing to be from someplace else. And I'm not one hundred percent sure if I'm right. I'm making a guess based on zero facts." His lips quirk as he sweeps strands of hair out of my eyes. "Reece would have a shitfit if he heard the basis for my theory."
I s
tart to smile when the compassbot rushes up to me. I stumble backward, not getting very far as it plops down on my boot.
"What's it doing?" I whisper, frozen in terror.
"I think it wants you to pick it up and pet it," Ryder says through a chuckle.
When I make no move to do so, he steps around me, crouches down, and scratches the compassbot behind the ear. The robotic puppy's eyes flash as it lets out a high-pitched yap.
"See? Completely harmless," Ryder says with a smile.
Taking a deep breath, I lean down and tentatively trace my fingers along the top of the compassbot's head. The arrow on its back wags back and forth as the robotic dog releases an excited, squeaky yap.
"It feels warmer than I thought," I say, gently scratching it behind the ears. A memory tiptoes into the back of my mind of me petting a small, spotted puppy. A puppy that belonged to me. One that grew into a dog who tried to protect me
His name was Moondust ...
"No, stay away!" I scream at my dog as two large men drag me away from the small log cabin I've been hiding out in.
Moondust barrels down the dirt road after me, barking at the men with his teeth bared. I want him to save me, but at the same time, I don't want him getting hurt.
The man grasping my right arm jerks me forward as he quickens the pace. "If that damn mutt doesn't shut up, I'm going to shoot him."
I trip, trying to keep up, rocks scraping the soles of my bare feet, as tears stream from my eyes. "Please, don't hurt my dog."
He's the only thing I have left.
"Shut your mouth," the man holding my left arm warns then kicks the back of my leg with the tip of his thick boot.
I wince, but manage to keep the scream trapped in my throat and my feet underneath me.
I glance up at the man on my right, who's wearing a hoodie pulled over his head and smells like pungent smoke. I can't see his face very well, but as far as I can tell, I don't know him. The man on my left, however, his voice carries a drop of familiarity.
I start to lean forward, hoping to get a good look at him, but he turns his head in the opposite direction, toward a tar road weaving through fields of dry grass.
I peer up at the sky, expecting to see blue, but instead I am blinded by an array of neon colors swirling together.
Where am I?
"Would you shut the damn dog up? I can't take it anymore." The man on my right grinds his teeth as Moondust reaches us and nips at his heels.
