Page 66 of Celestial Bodies

Souzie’s voice jolted them out of their fight. “WILL YOU TWO SHUT THE FUCK UP!”

They stared at her, eyes wide and mouths formed into circles.

She continued, “This is not helping him. Losing our minds won’t help him.” She scrubbed her hands over her face, took a deep breath, and nodded. She entered her bedroom and came out with a crossbow and quiver.

“There’s a merchant in the northern part of the city center with a large stable. It’s on the way to Vinculux. We’ll steal two horses there.” Life had returned to her voice, and relief washed over Dacias. He needed help. He needed Souzie’s strategic mind working at total capacity.

Klorin looked at her. “Souzie. You are not going.”

Souzie shot Klorin with a look that could freeze lava. “The fuck I’m not!”She closed the distance between them. “That place took my father. They’re taking my best friend. I won’t sit around and cry like I did four years ago. I’m going.”

Souzie tossed Dacias the crossbow, followed by the quiver. “We need rope. It’s in the pantry. The one you are already familiar with…”

Dacias chose to ignore that and walked to the pantry and grabbed the rope.

Souzie pulled riding gear from a wardrobe and tossed it on a table to organize her supplies. “Vinculux is north, so it will be cold. I have nothing that will fit you, so find something you can wrap around yourself for the journey.”

Dacias nodded. This is good. He can follow orders.Thank the Mother Planet for Souzie.

Klorin shook his head. “This is insane. Do you two have any idea what will happen if you go?” He looked at Dacias. “I know you want to get him back, but you’ll probably die. You were at the briefings! Vinculux is the last stop in a person’s life.” His eyes darted between the two of them. “Please! You can’t go.”

Dacias turned to Klorin and gripped his shoulders. “I. Am. Going. I love him. I can’t sit by and do nothing. That is not an option.”

Klorin gawked at them. His breathing intensified. He closed his eyes and sighed. “Fuck. All right. Souzie, do you have another crossbow? We should take water. How many horses are at that stable? Can we snag three?”

Dacias stared at his brother. “You’re coming?”

“Of course, I’m coming! I’m not letting you two go by yourselves. You’re my family now. We’re all going, and we’ll get Julen out of there.” He walked over to Souzie, who had stopped what she was doing and stared at him.

She wrapped her arms around his body and kissed him. They held each other briefly before Souzie said, “Let’s do this.”

29

Chapter 28

Dacias

Dacias gripped the horse’s reins and squeezed his legs, urging it to move faster. Stealing the horses had been easy. Too easy. Dacias didn’t want to jinx their good fortune.

Souzie led the way, but Dacias trailed close behind.We need to move faster.They left the northern border of the city center and swerved off the main road to a path in the forest. Souzie stopped her horse, and Dacias and Klorin followed suit.

She turned to them and said, “Let’s avoid the main roads. We can travel by forest for the first half of the journey to cover our tracks. I’ve mapped this out a million times over the last four years, so I know where I’m going.”

A look of determination hardened her gaze as she spoke. Dacias couldn’t imagine how she endured knowing her father festered in that place while she was powerless to do anything. Well, she wasn’t powerless now. She looked ready.

The path wove about the massive pines and boulders scattered on the forest floor. The smell of pine permeated Dacias’s nose. It reminded him of Julen.

They were still close enough to the main road that Dacias could make out the image of a horse drawn cart and what appeared to be guardianssurrounding it.What is that?Dacias slowed down. He whistled, signaling for Souzie and Klorin to stop.

“What is it?” Souzie asked.

Klorin spoke as he approached, “Why have we stopped?”

Dacias pointed to the carriage. “Look. Someone’s on the main road, and they’re pulling a carriage.”

Souzie narrowed her eyes on the cart. “I don’t think Julen is in there. They’d be way ahead of us by now.”

Dacias wasn’t convinced. “I want to take a closer look. Itcouldbe him.”

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