I was done doing what I was told.
“I want to fight.” The words were resolute. I would never forgive myself if I just sat in a cabin in the woods and didn’t work to become part of the change I wanted to see. Especially after how I had allowed Leif to deceive me. It was time for me to stop being complacent. I was the Reader. I was in control here, and it was time I showed them.
It was time I showed everyone.
His lips quirked up in one corner. “I was hoping you would say that.”
He settled back down next to me. “Tomorrow we can come up with a plan, but for now, let’s get some sleep.”
I nodded, but I didn’t plan on sleeping anytime soon. Rather, I stayed awake, staring at the flames. Remembering the dark night that my entire life had changed . . .
I opened my eyes into the dream world I recognized all too well.
The wooden floors of my childhood home echoed, the only sound breaking the silence were boots as they stomped across the floor.
They had knocked on our door, and Collum had dragged me here, the two of us lying side by side on our stomachs beneath my bed, holding our breath, hopeful they wouldn’t bend down.
The back of Milo’s legs blocked our view as he sat on the mattress above our heads. I didn’t need to see his face to know that he would be wringing his hands in the way he always did when he was nervous.
The guards had broken in and demanded he watch.
But they didn’t realize he wasn’t the only child here.
I heard my mother’s high-pitched voice pleading in a voice similar to my own first, then my father’s deeper, more subtle tone. But it was no use. They had told us what was to come, and Collum and I were to remain beneath the bed no matter what.
We’d been eating when the neighbor had pounded on our door. We didn’t know him well, but he’d come anyway. Come to say that the guards were coming.
Anyone over fifteen who was Seid would die tonight.
Collum and I had dove beneath the bed, while my parents hid all signs of us.
My father argued some more, asking how this was right.
The soldiers didn’t even bother to argue back, and I heard the sound of steel on steel, like the knives I had been taught to sharpen.
“Turn your head to the side,” Collum whispered, her voice barely audible as she turned her own head to the side, leaving me to look at her blondlocks.
I held the position momentarily, but then I turned my head back, unable to look away from the shadows that danced on the wall. I knew I shouldn’t watch, but I also knew I couldn’t turn away.
I needed to see the last moments of my parents’ lives.
Milo’s legs shook, and he released a gasp.
Then there was blood, spreading across the floor toward our hiding place . . .
I wished I had turned my head.
I jolted awake, gasping for air. My hand came up of its own accord to grasp the dress that restrained my chest.
“Nightmares?” Otho’s voice was soft from his place next to me.
It took a moment, for me to catch my breath enough to speak, and even then I could only utter a single word, “Memories.”
CHAPTER 30
“We need more people on our side,” I insisted from my position in front of Otho on the horse. It had been a short night, something my drooping eyes reminded me of even as we attempted to come up with a plan as quickly as possible.
“Askel is also Seid.”
