Run! Simone, take Sebastian and run! I’ll meet you at the Archives, I promise.
Jemma’s expression changes from surprise to irritation, so different from the desperation I just heard.
Run! I think-shout to Sebastian. Jemma wants us to run! We escape down the stairs and burst through the inn’s front door, the yelp of the innkeeper we nearly bowled over following us into the street.
Tears stream over Sebastian’s cheeks and stain mine as well. We duck behind a large oak tree in the yard, out of view of the inn’s windows, to catch our breath.
“What are we going to do now?” Sebastian says between sobs. My only family, my only family… His thoughts circle.
“We need to put as much distance between us and that body walker as possible.” The understanding of what that means brings fresh tears to both our eyes. It means leaving Jemma behind. Or risking becoming victims again. Enslaved again.
Nothing terrifies us more.
“It’s what Jemma wants,” I say. “Just before we ran, she said to go to the Archives and she’ll meet us there.”
Sebastian agrees, even though leaving his sister behind is like leaving one of his limbs. He wraps his arms around his middle as if trying to hold himself together.
“The body walker won’t control her forever. They’ll have to become bored with it at some point or at least sleep and let her go. Then Jemma will be free of their power. We’ll wait for her at the Archives, and if she doesn’t show up, maybe we can contact someone in the network that freed us from Lady Aisling to help.”
A grain of hope lodges in Sebastian’s brain, softening his thoughts.
“The Parillan librarians might know how to help too. Maybe they’ll have something on how to force a body walker out.” I say, warming up to the idea even as the words leave my mouth. “And we at least have an idea where the Archives are.”
I thread my arm through Sebastian’s, and together we enter the forest, wide-eyed. He quakes next to me, sometimes tripping over his feet. Though my chin trembles, I send reassuring thoughts his way. I can feel the minds of every animal nearby—curious, hungry, sleeping—and not one of them is threatening. We’ll be safe enough for now.
But tomorrow there are no guarantees.
Chapter Five
We hurry through the woods, hoping to come across a footpath or road. But as the day goes on, all we find are trees, bushes, and hills for what feels like miles. We may even be walking in circles. We’re both exhausted, and I’m finding it especially hard to focus. Everything looks like more of the same.
When we hear what sounds like someone moaning, we’re both startled to a stop.
Could it be the body walker? Sebastian thinks, his hands quivering.
The moan comes again. I frown. How could they have gotten all the way out here? And why would they be moaning? Let’s just take a peek. It could be someone alone and hurt.
Sebastian swallows hard.
What if that’s how a body walker sounds when they use their talent? We know they don’t have to be near their victims to control them. They just have to touch them once, and that’s it.
Then why didn’t Lady Aisling ever sound like that when she was controlling us?
That finally makes Sebastian’s thoughts calm. That’s true. She never did act like that.
We tiptoe toward the sound, moving as quietly as we can through the bushes. The noise gets louder as we approach, until the rustling and moaning is just up ahead. My palms sweat, and I try to smile encouragingly at Sebastian, but it comes off as a grimace.
Just a few more steps, I think at him. With my heart in my throat, I part the bushes. In the clearing ahead sits a man curled into the fetal position and holding his head in his hands.
Frowning, I peek into his mind.
Where am I? What happened?
The same thoughts chase each other through his head over and over. I tiptoe back to where Sebastian waits.
It’s just a man. He seems to be lost. I shrug. Maybe he fell off his horse?
That’s all? Sebastian thinks. Is he hurt?
There’s no blood, and I couldn’t see so much as a bruise on him. His thoughts don’t show him to be in pain either. Pain tends to be an all-consuming sort of thing. Whenever I’m near someone who’s hurt, it feels as if they’re shouting in my ears. It’s almost as painful for me as it is for them.
Sebastian begins to shake. But what if someone hurt him? What if they’re still around?
I place my hands on my friend’s shoulders and close my eyes, searching for any hint of another human mind nearby. No one else is here. I’d sense their thoughts if they were.
He begins to relax a little. We should still get out of here quickly. Just in case they come back.
I glance back at the man in the clearing. He’s managed to get to his feet and is stumbling around. I know Sebastian is right, but part of me wishes to help the man. We don’t know him, and we can’t rule out that it might be some sort of trick meant to trap us. His thoughts do seem sincerely confused, but there’s something off about the whole thing that I can’t quite put my finger on.
Still, I don’t feel right just leaving him here.
I’m going to try to talk to him. It’ll only take a minute.
Simone, no!
I turn back toward the clearing, this time stepping out from the bushes. The man shrinks back.
“Who…who are you?” His voice quavers. He holds out his hands and stares at them, then back at me. “Who am I?”
I can sense Sebastian hiding in the bushes behind me, but he doesn’t dare reveal himself.
“I’m Simone. But I don’t know who you are. We—I heard you from the path. Are you all right?”
“Where are we?” He steps closer, though he is still unsteady on his feet.
I frown. “I’m not really sure, actually. Somewhere in Parilla. There’s a tavern and inn somewhere around here…” I let my voice trail off, realizing I must sound very unhelpful. I don’t wish to confuse him even more.
I risk a quick glance back toward Sebastian, when suddenly the man lurches forward and grabs me by the shoulders.
“What happened? Where am I? Tell me! Tell me, please!”
I struggle, but his grip is much more solid than his feet. Desperation consumes the man’s thoughts with questions I can’t answer.
“Let her go!” Sebastian bolts out of the bushes swinging his pack. It startles the man enough to loosen his grasp so I can break free. Sebastian grabs my hand, and we dart back into the bushes, running as though our lives depend on it.
I told you it was dangerous to talk to him!
I shudder. While I’m not sure the man himself is dangerous, clearly something bad happened to him. I don’t want to stick around long enough for it to happen to us too.
Together, we head back toward the path. It’s safer for us to remain in the woods, hidden from other people, until we reach somewhere public, like a village with lots of places to hide—or even better, our destination, the Parillan Archives.
Suddenly, my foot catches on something, and I go flying into the ferns. The breath is knocked from my lungs. For a moment, I sit there, just as dazed as the man in the clearing.
Sebastian helps me up, and I brush off my dress. He attempts to make a joke but still can’t muster a smile. “What have I told you about daydreaming?”
I manage to laugh, though my ribs feel a bit sore. “Not to do it while I’m walking.” The hem of my dress is torn and smudged with green and brown. “At least the ferns were soft.”
He yawns. “Do you think we’ll find another town before nightfall?”
I shake my head. “I doubt it. We’ll probably have to sleep in the woods tonight.” If we were near a village, I’d sense it by now.
Sebastian looks stricken. I’d almost forgotten how much he hates sleeping o
utside. Back when we were the Lady’s, he’d had no choice when she sent him on missions. When he returned, he was always exhausted because he could barely sleep for fear of all the things that lurked in the darkness.
But I’m not afraid. Once, the Lady used me to talk down a bear while we were on an excursion for her. Convinced it to walk right out of the camp and away from our food stores. It was terrifying while it was happening, but now I know it can be done. And I could do it again if I had to. Well, as long as I got some sleep first.
“Let’s keep walking, and we’ll see what we can find.” We continue on, our steps getting more and more lethargic.
Darkness begins to descend, and with it come new sights and sounds. Fireflies flickering between the trees like stars come down to earth. The chirp of crickets, rustling under brush, and the occasional hoot of an owl that makes Sebastian jump. He got the scar across his cheek from an owl a few months ago. It’s a shame the Lady didn’t have a chance to use a healing talent on it before she lost her powers.
We keep moving until we reach another clearing—this one without any strange, confused men. We can move no farther tonight. We manage to use our cloaks from our packs as bedrolls, and then collapse upon them, side by side, under the night sky.
Sebastian tosses and turns until I fill his head with thoughts of the warmth and safety of a locked house and roaring fire. Soon his breathing evens out into a steady rhythm, and I let slumber carry me away too.
Chapter Six
When we wake the next morning with leaves in our hair and aches in our necks, nothing looks familiar. The trees are the same, and so are the soft, trundling minds of the small animals going about their morning. But there is no path anymore, no clear way forward. I can’t even tell which direction we came from last night.
We’re lost.
My stomach rumbles loudly, and Sebastian glances at me. We haven’t eaten anything since lunch at the tavern yesterday.
I’m scared, he thinks.
I am, too, but telling him that won’t help. The manic urge to just run, headlong and without heeding direction, fills me, but I manage to keep my feet in place.
“I guess we didn’t plan very well,” I say, trying to keep my voice light. It cracks anyway, and Sebastian flinches.
“There has to be a village around here somewhere, doesn’t there?” he asks.
I shrug. “I hope so.” Fear gnaws at my stomach, spurring me to put together our meager belongings and get moving.
As we walk, I think back to the times I traveled with the Lady’s men. Did they ever pass through here? Did I ever see them eating berries or leaves? I scan the underbrush for anything that looks like it might possibly be edible, but all I find are dried leaves, ferns, and broken branches. The lone good thing about the Lady was that she always kept her servants well fed. We would’ve been useless to her otherwise.
The day drones on, and our hunger becomes a sharp, pointed thing. By late afternoon, my legs wobble as we wind between trees. The forest is beautiful, and I might love this place if it wasn’t terrifying to be far from everything I know.
I spy a squirrel scampering through the leaves, and an idea strikes me. I grab Sebastian’s arm but don’t say a word for fear of scaring away the animal.
The animals are hungry too. Let’s follow them. They know where they’re going.
Sebastian smiles for the first time since we fled the body walker.
We creep after the squirrel, and I keep the threads of my magic hooked into the little animal’s mind. Calm thoughts fill the connection between us, some of my own hunger no doubt creeping in too. Soon the squirrel feels safe with us following close behind, and we no longer need to work hard not to scare him. The forest begins to thin, but the squirrel knows his path. Soon we hit a break in the trees, and the woods open up into fields for miles with a little village overlooking them on a hill.
The field directly in front of us contains an apple orchard.
Sebastian and I grin, and the squirrel squeaks. Then he launches forward through the tall grass.
We waste no time doing the same.
We scoop apples into my satchel, then huddle under the largest tree and eat our way through the spoils. The apples are crunchy and sweet, and I don’t care a whit that juice runs down my chin. It’s the most delicious thing I’ve ever tasted.
“That was brilliant,” Sebastian says. But as our hunger fades, the fear creeps back into his thoughts. “What do you think the body walker wanted with my sister?”
My hands twist the stem off an apple. “I don’t know. I’m sorry, Sebastian.” I thought the talented folks who were freed would all be good and happy to be human again. Everyone else found their families, after all. It never occurred to me until now that some of them might be just as bad as Lady Aisling herself. I shudder, and Sebastian sucks his breath in sharply as a wave of panic rolls over him.
That’s when we hear the dogs.
First the barks, then as they get closer, their singular thoughts buzz in my head: thieves, thieves, thieves…
I scramble to my feet, dragging Sebastian with me. Frantically, I glance around but find no easy hiding place.
The woods it is.
Run, I think to Sebastian, and we take off into the forest, just as the dogs reach the orchard. Hoofbeats pound after them, no doubt the owner of this orchard, unhappy that we’ve trespassed.
We have no good excuse to make, no money to pay for what we’ve eaten. Flight is the only option.
Our feet are tired, and we stumble often. Soon our legs and arms are covered in cuts and scratches. But we dare not stop. We don’t even notice the direction we run, we just keep moving, terror filling every single thought.
We don’t see the shack until we’re nearly on top of it.
We skid to a halt, our already short breaths stuttering in our chests. The roof is lopsided, and the wood holding the structure up looks as though it could topple any second.
But it’s also the only place we have to hide. The dogs’ sharp barks still echo through woods after us. We don’t have much time.
We creak open the door, hearts thudding in our ears. Only when we close the door behind us do we take in the room.
I let out a squeal of surprise, and so does Sebastian. I clamp my hand over my mouth, and we huddle together.
A woman sits at a small wooden table in the corner of the room, eating a meal of bread and cheese. Our surprise is mirrored in her eyes.
“Who are you?” she asks.
Sebastian glances at me wild-eyed and uncertain. I peek into the woman’s mind and find she isn’t angry, but genuinely curious. Even a little worried about us, given the state we’re in.
My shoulders relax, and I squeeze Sebastian’s hand.
“I’m Simone, and this is Sebastian. I’m sorry we intruded on your home. We needed a place to hide.”
The woman stands, her meal forgotten. She is tall and auburn-haired with gray eyes, keen as a cat’s.
Poor dears. They remind me of my own children…
I pull my magic out of her head. While I’m curious, it seems rude to read her mind since we just barged into her house and need her help. I’m encouraged that her thoughts have a kind bent and that she doesn’t seem the least put off by Sebastian’s scar.
“You can call me Maeve. What are you hiding from? You look as though you’ve seen a ghost, or two at least.”
After what we’ve been through, we just aren’t built to trust strange women. But this one seems kind.
Sebastian stares at his toes. “We were starving. We happened upon an apple orchard and took some to eat.” His words are punctuated by the howls of the dogs closing in on us.
“I see. They’re after you then.” Maeve suddenly lights up. “Well, we can’t just let them have you, now can we? Come, there must be somewhere for you to hide around here while I get r
id of them.” She gets up and pokes around the house and soon discovers a crawl space under the stairs. “Here we go.” She gestures for us to follow, but we both hesitate for a moment.
She can’t be worse than the dogs, I think to Sebastian.
Or the dogs’ owners, he thinks back.
We follow and curl up together under the stairs. Panic flits over us as the door closes, leaving us in the dark. But I close my eyes and remind myself—and Sebastian—that this is only temporary. Maeve wants to help. Besides, she has no way of knowing we’re talented and no reason to want to use us like Lady Aisling did.
We hear the front door of the shack open and close, and the sound of the dogs barking up to the front door.
“Have you seen two small thieves hereabouts?” shouts the angry voice of a man. “Our dogs are certain they’re nearby.”
“I’m afraid I’m alone. Haven’t seen anyone,” Maeve says. “The only thing your dogs smell here is my lunch. Here, they can have some of it. Roasted chicken.”
The man growls as the dogs stop barking, no doubt eating the offered food.
“Fool beasts, thinking with their bellies. What good are the lot of you?” He continues to berate his animals as they depart.
As the sounds of the dogs and horses fade, my hopes rise. We’re safe, and we’ve found help. Perhaps we’ll make it through this journey in one piece after all.
Chapter Seven
A few moments later, Maeve comes back inside and opens the door under the stairs. The light in the house is starting to fade as the sun sets.
“They’re gone. You should be safe now.”
A laugh bubbles in my throat, but I choke it down and only a little squeal comes out. I don’t wish for this kind woman to think I’m odd.
“Thank you,” Sebastian says.
Maeve places her hands on her hips and stares at us. “Now what am I going to do with you two?” She looks so serious for a moment that I cringe, but then she breaks into a laugh. “I have just the thing.” She opens a bag next to her chair and pulls out more food, including some of the chicken she used to drive away the dogs. “Eat. I know you’re hungry. You don’t seem like the sort to go stealing apples for fun.”
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