Now she was in view, and Damien and Brisk had stepped out to see her and probably make sure a sentry wasn’t ridingher.
Dawn took a while to respond.‘Galadrias were great warriors once. Very territorial. Fought the tall ones overeverything.’
This was news to me. I didn’t want her to stop talking, so I stepped closer when she landed and ran my fingers over her featheryscales.
‘Then Galadrias started to change. To see it was no longer necessary to fight to agree. Galadrias took more peaceful path. Together, with our collective consciousness, we agree to benonviolent.’
Whoa. Like they’d all one day decided to be Buddhists? I stroked the feathery skin near her eyes, which I knew she liked.‘Must be hard to be nonviolent while the ghouls murder entire species,’I snapped. I wasn’t angry at her and she knewthat.
Dawn nuzzled into my belly, and I glanced over to see Damien watching me with a curious expression. He probably thought I was psycho, treating Dawn like my own pet. I didn’tcare.
‘It’s become unbearable. Galadrias no longer wish to live in this form, to sit by and watch the tall ones and their kin lay waste to the human familyunits.’
I stilled.‘What? What does that mean?’Maybe it was one of her weird Dawnisms, something I wasn’t quiteunderstanding.
Dawn looked up at me with her piercing blue eyes.‘Dawn wants to help Kit. To help humans. To die fighting, so then Galadrias can join thestars.’
My body was suddenly filled with emotion. My gut become heavy and my throat tightened. What was she saying? The entire Galadria species was now going to help humans fight the ghouls? I hadn’t even seen her fight before. Ever. She ran away at every opportunity. They alldid.
‘Wh-why would you do that?’I stuttered, struggling to understand. Maybe she didn’t mean what I thought shedid.
Her eyes grew crystalline and the pink hue of her skin reflected in them, giving them a coral pink glow. ‘Galadrias are done being nonviolent. Done sitting on sidelines. Galadrias want their existence to mean something. We’ve watched the humans. They kill, yes, but they love. They love much more than the tall ones or their kin are capable. The humans fight to protect strangers, care for younglings and brokenones.’
Younglings was babies in her language, and broken ones was the injured ordisabled.
My head was absolutely spinning.‘Well, we would be honored to have your help but… I’m not sure there’s much your kind can do. The tall ones have gunsnow.’
She craned her neck and looked to the east.‘Kit Steele will see. They come now, by the hundreds, and Dawn will not leave your side until Dawn is dead or Kit wakes up. Dawn will not run away anymore. Kit willsee.’
My legs went weak.‘They’re coming now? Like rightnow?’
Shenodded.
I spun away from her and shouted to the group, “They’recoming!”
The Galadrias had no sense of panic or fear; they were always reverent and calm. Dawn should’ve told me the second she landed that they were coming. Maybe she thought we stood no chance of outrunning them. Maybe tonight I would actually die, and she wanted to be there withme.
A flicker of blue caught my eye, and I saw another Galadria landing off to the right of our camp. He was alone, no one ridinghim.
‘Galadrias help humans now,’Dawnrepeated.
Holy shit. Things arechanging.
I was in such a daze I didn’t even realize Damien had run up to me. Jeremy, Josephine, and Mr. Hansen were right behind him. “What do you want to do?” he asked, gun in one hand and grenade in theother.
That’s when I saw them, coming over the rocky tundra in droves—hundreds of grunts and sentries all gliding toward us creepilyfast.
If I was going to die, it was going to be for apurpose.
Maxine and my crew fanned out around me, waiting for theirorders.
I looked into Damien’s eyes, then to Jeremy. Josephine had blindfolded him and put noise-canceling headphones over his ears. He was whimpering, shaking like a leaf infear.
I grabbed Damien’s arm, the one with the weaponized cuff. “Get this off and put it on me. Then take your family and the two girls and run. Go into the forest and headsouth.”
He just stood there, staring at me. After an agonizing moment, he turned to Mr. Hansen and handed him his sticky bomb and extra magazines. Ronnie had pulled the two girls out from our hiding spot and was holding them off to the side. Tatum had the cat in a sling around herneck.
“Take them south. We’ll catch up,” Damien told Josephine and motioned to thegirls.
