I point at his chest. “I will not come with you until you promise me something. I’m tired of making promises and getting nothing back. I am sorry for trying to run except at the same time, I’m not, Darolus, I’m glad I did. I needed to run the first chance I got. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt, but I still needed to do it.”
He turns from the sky to narrow his eyes at me.
I continue, “You can’t just lock someone up thinking it’s for their own good. It’s never okay to keep anyone contained, especially me! I can’t stand it. I spent weeks under this damn ground doing nothing except stacking and organizing rocks. If I hadn’t run when Weston and Mickie arrived… I don’t know what I would have done after enough time. I know I would’ve grown bitter and resented you for it. So, if you want me to return with you, I need your promise never to lock me away again. If you don’t, I’m staying here with Tata.” I indicate her with a twist of my finger.
“You should stayanyway,” she says from behind me.
Darolus snarls. “I will not have you come to harm.”
My nostrils flare as I squint up at him. “And I’d rather come to harm and defend myself against it than being forced to hide where I can’t do anything. What if something happened to you? Worse than what’s already happened.”My brow furrows at the partially wet bandages crossed across his chest. “What if you weren’t able to come back?”
“Ssssabrina…”
“It’s non-negotiable. If you want me to stay, I want my freedom. I not only want my freedom, I also want you to help show me how to survive here, and protect myself from danger. I’m not some pitiful flower. I’m a lot tougher than you think. My aim with a knife is spot-on. Agreeing to all of this is, by the way, the only way I’ll stay.”
He studies at me, his tail coiling entirely around me in several circles the way it often does. “You will stay with me if I agree?”
“Sabs,” Tata says, reminding me she’s still right there. “Don’t do this. Come back inside.”
“I’ll stay with you as long as freedom comes with you. It’s all I ever really wanted anyway,” I whisper. “Give it to me and you’ll never have a more loyal mate. Please, Darolus, make this easy for me.”
He hisses deeply, his right hand coming up to cup my cheek. Slowly he leans down and presses his lips to my brow. “Very well. If it means I can keep you, I will give you what you want, but in return you must agree to something as well.”
“What is it?”
“You never go anywhere without me. You never go off alone.”
“I agree.” I sag into him, careful not to disturb his wound, and breathe him in once more, a sense of warmth and belonging flooding me until I’m whole. For the first time since I can remember, I begin to think everything is going toturn out fine.
I’m okay. Everything is okay.
I’m back with Darolus.
He’s okay.
And…
I’m free.
TWENTY-SIX
TURNABOUT
Darolus
I carryher down to our nest, hauling her new bag of items over my shoulder. I may be wounded and aching but the hurt in my body has been dulled by the return of her presence in my arms and the hope I have for the future.
“I should have never told you to leave.” It was my biggest mistake.
Who cares if she fears me, as long as she stays with me? I can work on changing the former. Except she told me herself, it is not fear of me that plagues her but fear that she will spend the rest of her life down here.
Tearing my eyes away from her, I look around at the dark, shadowy corridors of my nest and the cracks in the ceiling, realizing for the first time how dangerous the location is under a broken floor, and how devoid of comfort it truly is. It is hard to light up the space during the evening and at night due to how much effort it is tosalvage and carry burnable objects down here. My pet—my Sabrina—needs light and warmth, far more than I can give her here.
Also, the water has been rising in the pool, as well as in many of the underground waterways. I have noticed it lately in my most recent scouting missions.
The forest is closing in faster than ever.
Humans have returned and the animals are changing their patterns. They are becoming more unpredictable.
