Twilynn scoots forward, wrapping an arm around Demi’s shaking shoulders. Gem follows, standing steady beside the two women while waving me over. Even Aruna inches the slightest bit closer, though notably keeping her distance from me on Demi’s opposite side.
And there the five of us stay, offering our presence over words until the ground fully closes over our fellow comrade and friend.
CHAPTER THIRTY
“Hold up, little nova.”Back on the bustling raised walkways of Lucis, Niles pulls me behind the rest of the group to ask, “I’ve got to swing by the holds to ask Gabe some questions, and I was wondering if you’d be willing to tag along?”
My brows shoot up. “Me?”
“No, the other little nova.” His cerulean irises glisten. “Yes, you. I was hoping if you’re there with me, he might be more forthcoming, or more willing to hear what we have to say.”
I bite on the inside of my lower lip, but nod. “Sure. I can’t guarantee he’ll listen, but we can try.”
“Perfect.” He grins, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “Kalden, I’m stealing your girl.”
“Have fun. I’ll meet you there in a bit,” Kalden calls back from his position at the front of our group, waving without looking.
Aruna glances over her shoulder, and I feel the prickle of her glare cutting through her helmet as Niles steers me down a set of stairs that spill out onto a lower pathway, but sensation dissipates afterwe round the first bend.
“You know, little nova, when Kalden told me he was going to Caligo to investigate the Pyres, I never would’ve predicted he’d come back with a woman. A Shade, nonetheless.”
“Is that a bad thing?” I ask quietly, recalling what he’d said to Gabe about “our kind” being those more prone to violence.
Niles tilts his head. “Depends on the Shade, I guess. Not all the women that Irene has saved are grateful for her intervention. She began by guiding them here, towards Lucis. Most accepted the help and shelter, but a few . . . Well, they took it upon themselves to fulfill their duty as Huntresses by attacking our people. After the last incident ended in the death of both a Sol and the Shade who killed her, Irene switched to leading the women back towards Caligo.”
Though the deaths didn’t occur by my hand, the weight of them sits on my chest. Throat swelling, I rasp, “I’m sorry.”
Niles squeezes his arm around my shoulders. “Don’t be. Kalden trusts you, and I do, too. You’ve proven that you see us as fellow humans, not the monsters you’re practically bred to fear. Plus, you already make one hell of a Sol. If you were able to send out that solar wave with minimal training, imagine what you’ll be able to do a few months from now.”
The pressure in my chest eases, and my lungs expand more easily as I consider finding my own way to help future Huntresses avoid the fate of Yvonne, Meridna, Faron, and Blair.
Minutes later, Niles leads me into a nondescript dome with gray opaque walls and no windows.
“Back again?” asks a striking woman whose golden veins trace mesmerizing patterns across her hairless head.
Niles nods. “Brought some company with me this time.”
“Help yourself,” she says, not bothering to glance up as she flipsto the next page in her book.
“Will do.” Niles strides around the woman’s desk, kneeling beneath the bottom drawer to procure a ring of keys.
Lifting a single brow, I ask, “That’s it?”
“What’s it?” Niles pushes a brass key into the aged knob and shoves open the thick, wooden door.
I shrug, lowering my voice as we pass into a dimly lit hall with numbered doors. “I figured your prison cells would be secured by some type of magical barrier, only accessible by Sols with a specific type of energy field or something.”
Niles chuckles while bolting the door into place behind me. “The holds aren’t a prison. They’re more like a temporary holding facility for those who pose a moderate risk to themselves or others, so they aren’t meant to be a long-term residence for high-threat individuals.”
“Where do they get sent? The high-threat individuals?”
Hand stiffening on the keys, he replies, “A conversation for another time.”
Niles pauses in front of the door marked by the number three, giving me the space to take a measured breath before nodding and unlocking the brass-plated door.
“Elle?” Gabe rises from the padded cot that’s notably wider and plusher than the one I’ve slept in for the past decade. He moves the draping chains latched to his wrists, stepping over them towards me before retreating back as Niles shuffles in at my side. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to help,” I say, keeping my voice steady, calm.
