Page 35 of Calico Descending

“She’s dead, then.” His words are a cold spike to my chest, and I lift my gaze toward the nothingness, my heart picking up its pace.

“What did you say to me?”

“She’s dead. When they’re dragged away, they don’t come back. The only ones who live are those made into Alphas. Only the males.”

My face twitches, anger slowly, but assuredly, rising to the surface. “You don’t know that.”

“I do.”

I blink away the annoying shield of tears covering my eyes and push to my feet, backing myself to keep from doing something stupid, like attacking an Alpha. “You’re lying! You don’t know that!” The panic burbling in my chest chokes my breath, reducing each inhale to small pants.

In the beam of light from the corridor, he rests his palm flat against the ground, and when he leans forward, my eyes are greeted by a scarred and chafed face of a man. One with gray eyes and dark, buzzcut hair, who carries a vague familiarity.

Ragers. Screams. Laughter. Scratches to my face. A fight. Gray eyes staring back at me as the guards drag him away.

“You’re the boy. You fought the other ...”

“Cadmus.”

Eyes wide, I drop my gaze from his, the memories of that day trickling in with clarity. “And Titus?”

“My friend. The one who also fought Cadmus, before they were both dragged off.”

“They brought you here … and …”

“Turned us into animals.”

Hand over my mouth, I try to force the calm into my chest, to keep from hyperventilating and passing out. He looks very little like the small and scrawny boy they carried off that day. Only the innocence of his eyes remain, which I suspect is why they force him to wear a helmet. It’s painful to look at him. To see through the iron exterior to the boy who stepped in to help a stupid girl.

He rubs the silver band still attached to his throat. “I suppose I have you to thank for having the helmet removed.”

The door clicks, and beams of light slice through the darkness, until I can see more of his face. More of the scars. The years of punishment he’s endured for stepping in on my behalf.

“That’ll be all for today. Come with me, girl.”

“They hurt you. All three of you. Because of me.” Stepping toward him, I reach out to touch one of his scars, a particularly deep gash over his throat, beneath his band, and he flinches away. “I’m so sorry.” Reaching again, my fingertips just graze the jagged surface stretched across his throat, and this time, he allows it.

“Girl! Now!” Medusa’s voice is a warning shot, before her footsteps close in behind me, and as she reaches down to grab my shirt, I swipe up Valdys’s hand and force it to her neck.

She pauses, eyes wide and spilling with fear, as all three of us slowly push to our feet.

Keeping his hand to her throat, I use his strength to back her to the wall. Any moment, Legion will come rushing in to save her, so my time is limited. “Did you kill her?”

“I’ve told you. Your sister is alive.”

I don’t even have to prompt Valdys, as I feel his muscles tense beneath my hand, squeezing her throat. “Did. You. Kill. My. Sister?”

“No.”

Tighter he squeezes, until her mouth gapes and her tongue hangs past her gradually darkening lips.

“Did you kill her!” I scream through tears, the rage inside of me exploding to the surface.

“Yes,” she rasps. “Yes. She’s dead.”

Her words are the knife that pierces my heart, and for a moment, I can’t breathe. My ears fill with the rush of blood, pounding so hard inside my head that the world turns mute. Releasing Valdys, I stumble backward, every muscle in my body no longer at my command. I’m cold, paralyzed, and falling deeper into the blackness.

By the time Legion soldiers arrive, I can’t feel anything. The air around me is too thick to breathe, burning my lungs with every inhale.

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