She lets out a small sigh before slipping her hand into mine and gives a little squeeze that has my chest warming. “Where next?”
“You want to keep going?” I’m surprised, although I shouldn’t be. I wonder if this woman will ever stop surprising me. “Maybe we should go back to The Spire. I don’t think it’s going to be any more pleasant from here.”
“You want to see the damage for yourself, though, right? Then, I’m coming with you. It’s not like I can’t look after myself if I need to.”
My insides go warm at the demonstration of just how well she understands me. I need to see it for myself even if it means getting into the thick of things.
Ten minutes later, I’m regretting not pushing harder at my suggestion to head home.
It turns out Gordo’s reaction is just the tip of the iceberg. Wherever we go, people seem to recognize Silver. And it seems like everyone has an opinion on her.
None of them are good.
We’re deep into the district when shit really hits the fan. I peer through another smashed window of a building, this one burned beyond recognition.
“Hey, isn’t that the cafe where everyone works?” Silver says from behind me. I twist around and see that she’s right, we’re a few doors down from it and the place has been trashed. Including the upstairs windows.
The apartment where Silver’s family was living, where they would have been sleeping last night if I hadn’t picked them up and taken them to The Spire.
Fuck. I feel sick at the sight of it. It was only by chance I picked them up when I did. What if I’d left it a few hours later or until this morning?
“They must have done this after I picked up Luna and the twins. I swear it was fine when we left it last night.” I turn to her and wrap my arm around her shoulders, desperately trying to soothe the pain that the sight of the trashed cafe will have caused.
“At least they weren’t in there,” she replies. Her face is pale as she takes in the damage.
There’s glass all over the place. And graffiti. Toxic words are painted over the walls. It’s hard to tell if it’s a targeted attack, like Gordo suggested, or another random one.
“I shouldn’t have dragged you down here. You don’t need to see or hear any of this shit,” I tell her. I can’t believe I was so selfish. It seemed like Silver was shining a light in the darkness by offering to come here with me. But now I can see that being down here is a shadow tainting her brightness.
I should have come alone.
“Did you really ‘drag me down here’? I decided I’m not hiding anymore, Fab. Never again.”
My stomach does a ridiculous flip at the feeling of her fingers squeezing around mine. Supporting me.
She’s too damn good for me. For this place.
It’s only once we’re trawling down the next street, I notice we’ve got a tail.
In fact, it’s more than one. My neck is tingling like crazy with the sense something isn’t right. The streets are quiet. Almost desolate and it’s creepy as hell. It’s like being in a war zone after everyone has evacuated. The streets in this area can be quiet in the middle of the day, but not like this.
“I think we’re done here,” I say to Silver, wrapping an arm around her waist and increasing our speed. She doesn’t argue, matching my pace and staying quiet.
We head down an alleyway and swiftly duck down another one. Following the shortest route back to The Spire.
But it’s not enough. A group of hooded figures block the end of the alleyway we’re heading down. When I glance behind us, I can see the same has happened at the other end. We’re penned in by people, and a few of them have weapons. Iron bars. Bats. Chains.
No doubt the same shit that tore apart so many businesses and buildings last night.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I keep my tone flat, forcing down the anger that’s rising inside me.
They don’t answer, instead swarming around us, and I tuck Silver behind me. I draw my blood sword and hold it up, but there are too many of them, and I hear Silver cry out.
“Shit,” she mutters in my ear. “My magic’s not working.”
Panic fills me and I rearrange the two of us so she’s against the wall with me standing in front of her.
“Back off!” I shout, wielding the sword.
