“It doesna matter, Belle. The senator’s house isn’t safe. Not anymore. Don’t you understand? We need t’get outta the city, and on the road to Elora. Tritan has fallen.”
“Then we’ll have to stay off the roads—There!” Belle shouted. “Turn there! To the forest!”
A moment later, the whole coach swung to the left and I slid forward, striking my forehead on something hard that smelled strongly of feet. “Ughh.” Trying to shift was too much effort, and I collapsed back to the floor, suffering the foul odor until the coach shifted again, this time in the opposite direction.
“Arrgh! We’ve got company and we’re too fuckin’ heavy! Brace for impa—”
Another flash of brilliant green preceded the tinkle of breaking glass, though I couldn’t feel the sharp rain for the blinding heat kissing the left side of my face. I didn’t feel the impact until my lower back connected with a set of knobbly knees. The breath whooshed from my lungs, forcing silence when I might have screamed my agony. And when we came to a stop, the resulting crash continued to ring in my ears long after the world had stopped quaking.
“If you can move, get out right now!” Josh hollered, wrenching the door off the hinges before I’d even managed to open both eyes. “Come ‘ere, Miss Tannovic. That’s it. Don’t look behind you, lass.”
“W-Why?” I croaked, unable to do so much as lift my head.
Josh hauled me from the wreckage, ignoring the broken glass and my involuntary squeal of pain as he dragged me behind him at a run. “I know you’re not right at the moment, Miss Tannovic, but you have t’run now, girl.”
“Where’s—” I swallowed, throat too dry. “Where’s my father?”
His fingers tightened around mine.
“Where, Josh? Where is he? Why can’t I feel—”
An explosion rocked the earth, close enough to feel the shock behind my eyes as I stumbled along behind my Eloran friend.
“By the order of the Empire of Caledonia,stop where you are!”
Josh cursed, then hollered over his shoulder. “Get t’the trees! That’s our only hope!”
But we were not the only ones fleeing the advancing Caledonian soldiers. Dozens upon dozens of my silver-haired kith fled alongside us, their screams leaving deep, ragged scars upon the fabric of my soul. Tritan’s scientists ran single file through the madness, pressing closer to the looming dark of twisted, ancient trees. Dodging debris and people alike.
When we reached relative safety in the arms of the forest, Josh flung his hand out, motioning for silence. “Get down! Let them lose us in the chaos!”
I tugged on his sleeve, throat tight and achy. “Josh? Where’s my father?” When his only answer was to flex his jaw and cling to silence, I reached for my father’s ki.
But there was nothing there. The link to the vibrant, loving man I’d known all my life was gone.
The soft sounds of countless dozens filtering through the woods hardly registered as I tried again, turning blank eyes back in the direction in which we’d come.
Gone.
Simplygone.
“No!” A strange, broken sound burst from my lips, and I reeled back, flinging my ki as far as I could.Nothing. The link was dead. I screamed, slamming both palms to the ground, trying to force life into an empty shell already well beyond my reach. Heedless of the charred mess my right hand had become. Numb to the pain. “Daddy,no!” The tattered remains of my ki pulsed through the soil as I reached for him, touching every living thing I could and discarding them just as quickly—even when the tiny things in the soil reached back, drawn to my ki in a way I’d never experienced before.
But it was all for nothing. He was gone.
“Shit,” Josh hissed against my ear, throwing himself over me. His weight pressed me to the forest floor. Fingers sealing the anguish behind my lips. “I’m so sorry, lass. So sorry, but you canna make a sound.Please.”
A terrible quiet settled over my mind and I stilled beneath him, going limp. Lost in pain and the fluttery ki of the flora beneath my skin.
“Mila? I’m going t’move my hand now, lass. I need you to be quiet, you hear me?”
I blinked.
“Mila?” He peeled his hand away from my lips, peering into my eyes. “Shit.Shit. We have t’go,” he hissed at the others. “You must be silent or it’s all over. I know it’s horrible, but you canna let yourselves be captured. The scientists an’ their technology canna fall into Caledonian hands. Can you stand, Miss Tannovic?”
My answer was a wild sound I’d never heard before.
“Shh, girl. I know. Come ‘ere.” He hefted me off the ground, wrapping me in his embrace and breaking my connection with the heartbeat of the forest. “Arms ‘round my neck. That’s it,” he whispered when I didn’t comply. “I’ve got you.” And for the second time that day, Josh swept me away, squeezing me tight enough to stop my soul from shattering as he fled through the forest.
