I wrenched free of his grip, ki singing in my blood as I spun away. Goddess, it would be so easy… and I wassohungry for it…
“Alright, Mila?”
“I-I’m fine.” And Iwas. My head snapped toward the trail of my fellow refugees as they disappeared into the gloom, following the call of their ki. If taking such a tiny sip from Josh could fill me with suchvigor, surely the others could afford to donate a little? And then there were the Priestesses… with their pure white ki. So beautiful…
“Mila?”
I stopped short, standing just a few uncomfortable inches behind Belle with no recollection of how I’d come to be there.
She smiled. “Goodness, you’re looking better. How are you feeling?”
“I’m—” I took a step back, feeling something thump against my upper thigh with the movement, and without further thought, dipped my hand into my pocket.
Virgin Glaith pulsed in my grip, absorbing the ki and subsequent dark urges whirling inside me at the slightest touch. But,how? I’d destroyed his ring and all the Elite ki stored within that Glaith—my savaged right hand was proof enough of that. So where… “The High Priestess…” But ofcourse. My promise to keep it on my person atalltimes. Tears blurred my vision as I squeezed the Glaith until my knuckles went white and the thin new skin on my right hand split and bled. Staining the inside of my pocket with a crimson smear.
“Don’t worry, sister. We’ll free her someday soon. Are you ready?”
I scrubbed at the dampness in my eyes and set my jaw. “Lead on.”
Chapter 16
“We need a break, man,” Ancaster panted, staggering to a halt, hands planted on his knees. “We’re not—” he gasped, pushing sweaty hair away from his face. “We’re people of intellect. I’m afraid we’re not used to this level of physical activity.”
“That’s alright.” Josh pressed his hands on his lower back, stretching toward the canopy above. “I’ll see if I canna find us some water, if one o’ the Priestesses could check our flanks. Don’ want an Elite crawlin’ up our asses while we rest.”
“That’s not how it works, unfortunately,” Belle said, hands on her knees. “We are Triloth, and need the touch of a living thing to know it inside and out.” She cursed, pretty face twisting. “Damn. If only we had one of the Trila-Glís—”
“You’d what?” I asked, thumbing the Glaith with the puffy, distorted fingers of my burned hand.
“The Trila-Glís have no need of physical touch,” she said. “It sharpens their insight, sure, but if we had one of them, we wouldn’t be running blind—and that’s only a start.”
“That’s a right pile, seein’ as now those pricks havebotho’the Trila-Glís,” Josh said, turning to Ancaster. “Have you anything that’ll magnify a Triloth’s senses? As the Dosmui Circlets do for their ki?”
Ancaster shook his head. “Nothing that’s moved beyond the drawing phase, I’m afraid. We’ll have to rely on our wit and righteous determination.”
“And what of the other refugees?” I whispered, though no one heard me, for I had turned my gaze back toward the waking nightmare I’d once called home. I could feel him. Captain Rawlings. Even through the Glaith clutched tight in my twisted fingers, I could feel him lodged deep within me.
Belle sighed, shaking out her mane of long silver hair. Running her fingers through the sweat-soaked snarls, she said, “A sip of water would be nice. The scientists aren’t the only ones unused to this level of exercise. I don’t know if I can keep this up much longer without something to eat.”
“I’ve got berries, here,” Ancaster called, falling to his knees before a squat little bush dotted with red fruit.
Josh made a sound at the back of his throat. “Careful, man. That stuff is best left for the birds.”
Ancaster shrugged. “A little indigestion is worth it at this point. Oh,” he said, stuffing his face with a handful of berries, leaves, and tiny twigs, “and if you see any birds, feel free to send them my way.”
“Up t’you, then.”
Belle drifted to my side as Ancaster plucked the bush bare, setting her hand on my elbow. “You’re good at this, Josh. Surviving in the woods?”
“Oh, aye. Grew up in the north. My brothers and I made a game of it when we were kids.”
A fat black squirrel darted past my foot, chittering at the top of its lungs even through a mouth stuffed full of a strange, bruise-green fruit twice the size of its head. Tail twitching, it scrambled up the trunk of a tree, squalling the whole way as it cast baleful glares over a furry shoulder.
“Right noisy little pest, that,” Josh said, watching as the squirrel yipped once more, then disappeared into the foliage, darting over a network of branches that carried it out of sight in seconds. “Won’t be so chipper if I can get you on a plate, will you?”
“Would anyone like some of these?” Ancaster asked, holding a fistful of red berries aloft. “They’re quite tart, but not so bad once you get past it.”
Glaith clutched tight in my fist, I pulled away from Belle. “I’m just… going to close my eyes for a moment.”
