“What sort of monsters?” Julien says.
She shrugs, stiff and awkward. “They looked like shadows with heaps of eyes—it was weird…but soreal. I was in the darkness, and torn apart by one of them.”
Emily runs her fingers through her golden-brown hair. “Hellsgate.”
Hellsgate?
“My grandma was a storyteller in Sahie, to the south of here. She used to tell me that the moon turns red once every decade, but it’s only visible from the Hellsgate. And when it opens, demons spill out.”
Manni kicks Emily in the leg. “Shut up! Why do you have to say shit like that?”
Emily sits up. “I’m being serious! Well…it was a story my grandma told me, so I can’t be sure it’s true…”
“You aren’t the only one who has vivid dreams,” I say, and heads turn my way. “I’d be on stage, and when the curtain parts, a crowd of nightwalkers would be watching me. They don’t clap. No hint of a smile. They justwatch.”
Manni shudders. “Creepy. Our dreams are messing with us.”
“Yeah,” I say as I look up to see Cole and Jaxapproaching. The Bleeder stationed at the doors announces that we have to return to our rooms until dinner. Cole gives me a strained smile, but as I rise and move to follow him, Jax steps into my path. He squeezes my hand firmly with a confident smile before walking off with Dan, a gloomy Julien trailing behind them.
I want to ask my brother what Jax said to him, but I know he will only give me the worst possible version.
CHAPTER TEN
RESPIRATION
If a Feeder no longer wants to be a Feeder, Bleeders must find them a settlement they can join, as well as ensure they arrive there safely.
— Serun’s Law
I forgotEmily wanted to visit Dan tonight. Every question I have for Jax fizzles as I watch Emily scramble through the vent. After she’s out of sight, I sigh, mutter my complaints in tormented silence, and lie back, resting on my pillow. It sinks, and a wave of prickling nerves tingles on my scalp at how deflated the pillow is.
As I close my eyes to try to sleep off my annoyance, a low grunt stirs from beneath me. I grip the edge of the mattress, lean over, and peer down. Cole is tossing and turning, his brows knitted and his face contorted in pain.
“What’s wrong?”
Cole opens his eyes and focuses on me. “My shoulders hurt.”
I hop off the top bunk and sit on the edge of his bed. “Show me.”
Cole sits up, turns his back to me, and removes his shirt to reveal an angry line of red wrapping around his neck.
“You shouldn’t have stepped out of the shade,” I say as I stand. “You’re sunburnt. Our skin doesn’t take well to the sun, you know that.”
“I don’t like it when we talk about nightwalkers. It’s stupid,” he mutters as I reach up to my bed and remove my pillowcase. “There’s nothing we can do about it. Why talk about how to kill them when we can’t kill them?”
Manni sits on her bunk, her head bowed, fingers toying with the lint on her pillow, but I know she is listening.
I walk towards the toilet. “There might come a time when we have to face one. It’s useful to try to learn how to deal with them, you know?”
“I guess…” he mumbles.
I lift the lid to the cistern at the back of the toilet and dip the pillowcase into the clean water. Bubbles rise to the surface as I swish the fabric around until it’s soaked through. Lifting it up, I squeeze out the excess water and make my way back to Cole.
“Lie down,” I say.
A sigh of relief escapes him as I lay the damp fabric over his reddened shoulders.
“I rely on you too much,” Cole says as I reach for the railing leading up to my bed. “I need to get stronger for you. Bleed better.”
