“Wait!” I cry out, skidding to a stop, staring up where he disappeared.
Jarek rocks on his heels and looks around. There are fewer trees here, but the buildings around us look less touched by time, so why did he choose that one?
Cadel turns around, staring off down the street, his head cocked.
“What do you hear?” I ask curiously.
“The gates are opening, the metal panels are flapping, and lots of sounds; feet marching. Animals.”
Jarek spits. “Great, the Beta’s Path is on the march to murder us. Hurry up, Mordecai!”
“Shhh!” I slap my hand over his mouth.
His eyes dance, and to my shock, he licks my palm. I snatch my hand back and stumble away from him.
He follows, his eyes half-mast. “You taste divine.”
I hiss, which is echoed by something in the shadows of the building across from us. My head turns slowly, in jerky movements.
Cadel whips around, his knees bent, gazing intently. I hadn’t thought he was paying attention to us, but his entire focus is on the dark shadows of the darkened room. The window is missing, and from deep inside comes another, more pissed off growl.
It takes me a moment, but I see the green glow of eyes, four of them. The creature leaps out, all orange and black stripes. It’s got two heads and seven tails that are held very still as it paces towards us. Teeth and claws ready to shred us into tiny bits.
Jarek grabs me around the waist and twirls me backwards. I let out a muffled grunt, but by the time I’ve turned around, Jarek’s thrown a knife to Cadel, who snatches it out of the air and collides with the cat.
They wrestle until he roars into its face.
The cat freezes, its eyes going wide. All of a sudden, it’s scrambling backwards. Cadel lets it go.
He stares after it, then turns back to us.
We’re just staring at him. I can’t look away. What is he? Who is he?
“What?”
“That cat just got terrified of you growling and ran away,” I say thickly. “You scared a giant predator.”
He shrugs. “I’m scary.”
“Uh-huh,” I nod in agreement, because what else can I say?
I turn to see what Jarek is doing and find him staring up at the building. I squint through the light and see Mordecai at the top, hanging precariously off a steel pipe.
I curse, but he just swings back in. Within minutes, he lands heavily beside us, not even out of breath.
“This way.”
He leads us through the streets, and just as suddenly as they started, the drums stop.
“Oh, that is ominous,” Jarek says darkly.
I don’t say anything; I just think of all the stories I’ve heard. I’m going to die.
I should just accept it and hand myself over to the Warden.
Mordecai leads us for a couple of hours. We move well together and in dead silence. I expected to see people or more animals, but it would appear everyone is hiding. My energy is almost gone, and the sickness has crawled up and taken over.
Half of my attention is on the world around us, but the rest is uneasily watching these alphas. My head is foggy and confused, but paranoia is slipping easily into my mind, whispering dark thoughts.
