"We have to..." I looked between the shelter of the sewing room and back to where I'd last seen Sylis. "They'll kill him."
So she passed the blanket-covered infant to me and jerked her head at the door. "Take the kids in there and hide, Meri. Go back into the cloth. I'll find Sylis."
"Be careful?" I begged.
She palmed the side of my face and leaned in for a quick kiss. "I am not going to lose anyone else. Never again." Then she laughed once. "And I just realized why Ayla fights. It's easier than waiting." And she pressed her knife into my blood-covered hand. "Protect the kids."
"Save Sylis."
"I have to," she said, taking a step back. "He's family now.We'rea family now, and one I'm willing to fight for."
Eighty-Eight
Ayla
The sun was just lighting the sky when I saw the entrance to Lorsa. Holly had already caught back up - and earned herself a ride in the cart for all the running she'd just done. Pepper had kept pace beside the horses, along with a few other dogs, including Xav's Demon.
And Chlo didn't slow the cart at all.
On empty streets, we raced into town. I saw our house on the right, but in the distance, there was a gigantic plume of smoke rising into the air. When we passed Saveah's house, I saw the front door was open, and my heart began to race.
"Zasen?" I begged, not sure what he could tell me to make this feeling stop.
"Go to City Hall," Zasen told Chlo. "All of us!"
Chlo let out a sharp whistle, then gestured in a weird wave, but the cart kept going. Unfortunately, the further into town we got, the worse things looked. A few of the canopies in the market had been torn and pulled down. I saw bodies on the side streets, and too few of them wore black.
When we reached City Hall, charred siding still smoked. Empty water buckets had been discarded around the area. Ididn't see flames, and the plume was a pale grey color, but still billowing.
Around the building, dozens, maybe hundreds, of people stood. They all looked exhausted, filthy, and tattered. Wounds were visible, but so was grime, yet everyone was looking the same way - at some sort of disturbance. People were flailing like they were angry. Chlo stopped the cart, but Zasen, Rymar, Kanik, and I hopped over the sides, refusing to wait for the back to be lowered. Holly followed me, and Pepper dragged herself to my side, proving she was exhausted yet still wouldn't leave me.
And people were screaming. Arms were in the air, looking like they wanted to hit, but only pointed instead. Some shoved. Others shoved back.
"Enough!" Jerlis roared. "I told you they would come."
People turned, realizing we were here, and like a sea in the Bible, they all parted. There, Jerlis, Drozel, and Omden stood around Sylis as if protecting him. The man's face had blood splattered across it, and Lessa was right behind them, looking almost as disheveled.
"We're too late?" I asked.
"Ayla!"
The sound of Tamin's voice cut through the crowd, and the boy rushed at me in a streak of teal and black, not slowing until he slammed into me, hugging me as hard as he could.
"Hey..." Zasen said, crouching down to his level. "It's over now."
"Mama's gone," he whimpered.
Everything stopped. It was as if the world held its breath for a moment when those words sank in. My skin shivered as the fear and horror of the child's simple statement destroyed all the expectations I'd had.
"I need to know exactly what happened!" Zasen demanded, standing and turning to the crowd.
Saveah was gone? The Moles had taken her? Had she sacrificed herself for her children? Was she even alive, or had they killed her? No, they wouldn't do that to a perfectly good blonde, pale-skinned woman, would they?
So for now, I was going to believe she was alive. Just like our mother, they'd taken her to quarantine, but Saveah would know what to expect. She'd be ready. She would understand how and when to resist, and when to cooperate.
She also had to believe I wouldn't leave her there.
Because I had the code. Tobias had just given me the code. More than that, he'd given me the formula for the code! It was all based around a date, so every door down there must follow the same pattern. 2063. April 4th, 2063. That date meant I could save my sister before they did to her what they'd done to our mother!
