I sit in a thump, unable to support her anymore, her blood spills over me and onto the wet, cracked concrete, but she stares at me, only at me.
“I tried to run for so long. I didn’t want to die,” she whispers. “She said it was my job, my destiny. To save you. I wanted to know why you were so important. She said I would understand when I came home.”
She cries, huge tears filling her eyes.
“I have never had a home before, Kaida. What’s it like?”
Her question hits me hard.
It takes enormous effort to speak without my voice wavering.
“It’s warm,” I say gently, “and the people you love are there, and they are happy to see you. It’s safe; no one can touch you. It smells good, and there’s a place to nest, and you don’t need to hide your scent.”
She sighs. “That sounds…perfect.” Her eyes are duller but shiny with tears; her face is as pale as the bones we see littered everywhere. “Kaida?”
“Yes?”
“Whoever you are, you must be something special, but I’m just glad we are friends. We are…friends…right?”
She inhales sharply, then exhales in a sigh, and her body goes limp.
No, no, Mia!
“Yes!” I say urgently. “Yes, we’re friends. We’ll always be friends!”
Her eyes stare up at the grey sky without seeing it, and my words are unheard; her pain is gone now. Wherever she is, she’s on her way home.
I lean over her and cry bitterly.
A black-robed Beta appears in the corner of my vision.
“Go away!” I scream at him.
He hesitates but then lunges forward like he’s scared I will attack him and grabs my hair. I let out a muffled shriek as he yanks hard, pulling me onto my back. He drags me away from her body and shouts at me to get to my feet.
When I look up, Legion, Mordecai, Jarek, and Cadel are in a line surrounded by betas.
We’re captured.
But the cost…the cost was too high.
Chapter 64
Kneel
They separate us. It’s probably the smartest thing they could have done, but still, I stare at Mordecai’s back, wishing I could just touch his hand, just feel him. Hear their voices. Something to make this world make sense again.
My hand is still covered in Mia’s blood, and I keep flexing my fingers, trying to stop those last moments replaying through my mind.
The Ravage Wolf disappeared after it killed Mia. I remember seeing it turn and run and thinking that in itself was strange behaviour. Everyone else is okay. I saw a scratch on Mordecai’s arm, but it was small enough that I wasn’t worried about it.
“Hurry up!” The kid guarding me snarls.
He’s barely an adult.
“Is this what you thought you’d be when you grew up? Are your parents proud of their little murderer?”
He sneers. “My parents served the goddess.”
