I look down at the plant. Forget everything? Forget her? Forget who and what I am?
“She said it all rests on you. You will be the only one who can save her at the end. It will be your love and your choices that shape the final day. How strong is that devotion? How sure are you that she’s yours?”
She’s mine!I roar at him, but he hears nothing.
He pauses.
“She also said something else.”
I wait, but he struggles, taking a while before he stutters it out.
“She said you will never be together. You need to know that when you die…you will return to where you came from, this is your chance to be with her.”
I stiffen, trying to imagine that. Go back?
I’m the only one who can save her. It’s not even a question.
I eat the plant.
When he looks down and sees the plant gone, he jumps a little, then smiles.
“Thank you, Brother.”
Then, the Alpha God of Spring pulls out a knife and cuts his wrists, letting his body tumble to the garden below.
I close my eyes.
A few more years.
Just to see her once. Just to hold her. It will be enough. It would be enough for me. I can tell her…
What do I have to tell her?
Her?
A few more years…
A few more…
There’s an image of a woman twirling in the snow. She laughs, and then she disappears like she was just a dancing snow flurry. I think I hear laughter, but that fades and disappears, too.
I fight the chains madly and sink into that dark, wild part of myself.
And all that’s left is the howling cry of the Anarchy Wolf as he brings winter down on the world that is holding him captive.
Chapter 29
Confessions
Finding the Resistance and finding the hidden exit out of this nightmare city happen to be in the same direction. We all walk like we’re prepared for anything. Mia is safe in the middle of the group, and I walk near her. None of us feels easy, and we’re all on high alert. It feels like we’re being hunted.
I trust my instincts when it comes to the Beta’s Path.
Legion walks with Cadel behind us, while Jarek and Mordecai walk ahead of us, murmuring to each other. The friendship between the guys has been growing, too. I thought maybe I would feel left out, but I like to watch them together. There’s a look that Jarek gets when he looks at Mordecai that has me mesmerised.
“You must be really brave to come here, Mia,” I say suddenly. It’s true. She volunteered and signed up for this when I’m sure most people would’ve run the other way.
She glances at me. “I’m just a cook; I’m not a fighter. I could offer something.”
