“In Naylen?”
“In the whole of Kepler,” he explains.
Would killing Serun kill the nightwalker side of me?
“What does he look like?”
“It, Saya.It.” I don’t respond. Jax sighs sharply and says, “Our issue is, no one knows what Serun looks like. All we have to go off is that it conceals its identity with shadows.”
My eyes narrow, and a tingling sensation presses against my lips at the memory of kissing the nightwalker in shadows.
What a coincidence.
“So, instead, collaborating with it benefits us since we gain resources for our compound without risking lives in the open city of Mire. But other camps out there hate what we’re doing.”
“I see…”
He hesitates for a moment and then glances back at us. “It’s rough out there, Saya. We aren’t just fending off nightwalkers, but people as well. That said, you were never meant to live in here. This was never a home either of you deserved. And when we finally make it out of here and somewhere safe, you can truly experience life again. Games, music—fuckingdancing. You said you liked dancing, yeah? Ballroom?”
“Ballet,” I say.
“Right. I forgot.”
Once we are out and safe, I will leave Jax. There are no nice words that will sway me. I now know that he likes control. He likes his lies.
Not only that, but he is a fucking slayer, and slayers kill nightwalkers.
We make our way down the airshaft and towards the corridor leading to my room when Jax stops at the corner and mutters under his breath. I crawl closer to Cole, wondering what is going on, when Jax says, “I want you both to close your eyes. I’ll guide you through this. When I tell you to stop, you have to do it. Saya’s vent is open, but I need you to crawl over it without falling through.”
When he looks back at us, I say, “That’s not why you want us to close our eyes.”
“Trust me on this, okay?” he says, sincerity in his tone.
Jax crawls backwards as we move ahead. Cole rounds the bend with his eyes shut as the red light blinks on. As I reach the end, I take a deep breath, tasting rusty metal on my tongue. With my eyes closed, I shuffle forward, making smaller movements after realising just how loud we are.
My breaths are loud.
My hands and knees clank loudly against the metal.
And if we arethisloud, what the fuck can the creature hear?
Cole sucks in a breath, and my eyes snap open. Thickened blood pours out from between Cole’s legs.
“Saya, close your eyes!” Jax hisses.
I scrunch my eyes shut and push on through the sticky blood. My fingers twitch as I bump into something, only to realise I’m touching a corpse.
Her corpse.
Strands of Manni’s hair knot between my fingers, and I brush against the dismembered parts of her body as I move forward, choking back a sob.
I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.
“I’m going to throw up,” Cole cries with a gargled burp.
“That’s alright,” Jax says. “Better you do it before we reach the praised room.”
Wheezing heaves and gargles echo around us, and then Cole spits. “Sorry,” he mumbles.
