“Could have warned us that it hurt that bad,” Nash razzes, but I don’t miss the wince that sneaks over his features.
I bark out a humorless chuckle and roll my eyes. “They’re just Chosen marks for now, just wait until you become a full Sentinel,” I rib back and then quickly go silent.
Will they become full Sentinels? Would they bond with that nightmare of a female? I can’t bring myself to ask any of that though, and the unasked questions seem to loom heavy in the air all around us.
“So how the hell do we get rid of these?” Becket finally voices, pointing at his throat. Enoch and Nash exchange a look, but I don’t try to interpret it.
Frustration starts to simmer inside of me yet again, and I wonder if I will ever reach a point in my life where I’m not holding hands with this emotion. I was hoping for answers here. That I’d be able to piece things together and better understand who and what I was. My irritated gaze hops to our guides. I watch these beings, so much like me but not, as they silently lead us who the fuck knows where.
I can feel the tiny amount of hope I had get snuffed out with each muffled footstep toward where they live. I didn’t want to look at that ember of hope in my chest too hard, because acknowledging it was just inviting more disappointment. But as I feel it die, I can finally admit how much I was hoping I would find my people here. That they would welcome me with open arms and become everything I have always wanted. I should have fucking known better.
We all dive back into brooding silence, robotically setting one foot in front of the other. We walk like that for who knows how long when suddenly the terrain around us starts to change. The trees thin, and the ground starts to even out. The other Sentinels grow more tense the closer we get to our destination. And then, like with the barrier protecting this place, we crest a hill, and the city is… just there.
It’s something out of some fantasy fairy tale. The large castle—that looks like it’s made of some kind of decadent cream colored stone—sits proudly in the middle of it all, like it alone rules everything around it. The massive structure dwarfs the large houses that circle it. There are more and more houses and buildings that flare out in a ringed pattern, growing smaller the further they are from the proud castle. The structures are all different tones of cream with gray roofs, and it all looks clean and organized.
Fields, growing crops and supporting livestock, lie far in the distance on the complete opposite side from where we’re standing. I’m distracted by the occasional body that arcs in the air as Sentinels fly to and from their various destinations. I tamp down the envy that once again surges in me.
We’re led out of the tree line toward the outermost ring of the city. For a people that says no one has ever breached the barrier, they sure as fuck have a lot of guards. Males and females sporting the telltale black armor walk the perimeter, and I can spot black specks moving on every level the castle has and wandering around the ringed streets between rows of houses.
I had zero expectations about what Sentinel City would actually look like, but I’m stunned to find something that looks like a CGI special effect that belongs in some epic fantasy movie. It all looks so calm and peaceful, which is in direct contrast to the unwelcoming assholes I’ve met up to this point.
“Welcome to Tierit,” a Sentinel that hasn’t spoken until now offers as he passes by.
I’m too stunned to respond, which is probably good since I don’t know if he actually means that we’re welcome, or is saying it like it’s a threat.
“By the moon,” Bastien exclaims, and someone snorts in agreement.
“Why did I picture log cabins as far as the eye can see?” Valen whispers with awe.
“Because you’re a weirdo,” Ryker responds, not missing a beat.
“I had a dream it was some castle built into a mountain,” Torrez throws out there.
“Probably shouldn’t have watchedLord of the Ringsright before we left,” Sabin teases. “Although this is pretty damn close to something you’d see in one of those movies,” he adds.
I shake my head and then jump, shocked, when someone snarls at us to keep moving. I turn to glare at the bearded asshole, but it’s exactly what I needed to snap out of my stupor. I don’t care how mesmerizing this place looks, it’s important to remember that they don’t really want us here. I take a step forward, shaking off my dazed awe and slamming myself back down to reality.
“We stay together no matter what. If they try to separate us, we fuck them up,” I declare as we move closer to the small houses bordering this place.
Everyone nods and sounds off their agreement, but an uneasy pit opens up in my stomach. We’re all pretty tough individually and even more so as a group, but I’m staring at a massive city full of Sentinels. The odds of us fighting our way out of here are zero. I know we were in a lose-lose situation before when we agreed to cooperate, but the reality of what we could be up against just bitch slapped me across the face.
Every cell in my body goes on alert, and uncertainty wells up inside of me. I’ve always been able to trust myself and my abilities, but staring at this place has me faltering. We make it several rings in before we run into a large concentration of Sentinels. There have been guards and people dotted here and there, but nothing like the bustling crowds we walk into as we get closer to the castle. People go silent as soon as they spot us, and several of them immediately call on a weapon or some other magical defense.
I take in the light gray fabric they’re all wearing in a myriad of different styles and the markings that everyone carries on their bodies. Some of them have markings on their faces, others you can catch a hint of runes leading into a sleeve or collar. I have the weird urge to ask all of them to strip down so I can see the runes that mark their bodies.
I want to compare what I have against theirs and learn about the differences. But the threat that floats around the atmosphere as soon as others see us tells me that curiosity would fucking annihilate the cat...the Sentinel, the Chosen, the Shields and anything else with these people.
Eyes track us warily, some of them filled with unfiltered anger. I make a point to meet each of the angry gazes head on. They radiate a certainI am not to be fucked withvibe, so I do all that I can to ensure they get that same clear message from me. I almost wish we hadwe come in peacetattooed over every inch of my body, but maybe even that wouldn’t make much of a difference with these people. These Sentinels have secluded themselves for a reason, and it’s clear in their response to us that they want to keep it that way.
The sun is setting, and the bright colors are reflected all throughout the walls of the city; it’s beautiful and feels like a trap. It’s like the city itself is trying to lull me into a false sense of security and appreciation. The cream colored stone all around us is smooth enough to be marble, but it appears to be softer somehow. I want to touch things as we make our way through rings of houses, but I don’t want to lose a hand or have any of my actions taken as an attack.
We approach a massive iron and wood gate that blocks the way to the castle. The gate opens up on its own accord as we get closer. We step through and have to fight our instincts to call on weapons and protect ourselves as we’re surrounded by more black armored Sentinels as soon as we’re through the gate. They say nothing and do nothing, just fall in line around us as we’re led further in.
I trace the features of my Chosen and Shields. Tics in jaws, tight features, vigilant eyes are what I find. I meet Sorik’s gaze and see the concern and worry in the tight lines around his eyes.
“If this goes bad, you get Vaughn out of here,” I tell him, reminding him that this is what we agreed to before, and nothing has changed.
He’s in charge of Vaughn, and I’m responsible for the rest. Sorik nods, and I take a deep breath and turn forward. I have no fucking clue why I think the plans we made before still apply here. There may be no getting out of this shit. I shove that thought away and attempt to refortify my faith in who I am and what I can do. I’ve always been able to rely on myself and my abilities. I’m smart, I’m capable, and I love these guys.
