Page 18 of Unleashed

“We are valos,” Balir said. “We are flesh and blood, but our flesh and blood are…no longer of Sonhadra.”

“Kelsharn’smakingleft us unable to die of starvation or thirst,” Aduun said, moving ahead of the others to scan their surroundings. “None of us know how, or why, only that it is. But it does not stop the cravings of our beasts. Our hunger only strengthens as time goes by, and madness grows with it.”

Balir went to stand beside Aduun, head turned as though listening. “Animals would sometimes fall through the ceilings of our cages. Just enough food to keep us from losing our minds completely.”

Vortok walked forward and stopped next to Nina. He glanced down at her. “Our beasts were in control, but he wanted us to remember.”

“To suffer,” she said, frowning.

All three valos nodded.

“That’s why your heartstones were there, isn’t it?” she asked, glancing between them before her eyes returned to Vortok’s. “You could see them, you knew what they were, but they were out of reach. Taunting you.”

“And despite our fury, we could not free ourselves,” Vortok said.

“But he knew you would get out someday. When I knocked over that stand, it triggered something.”

“Yes.” Aduun’s response drew Vortok and Nina’s attention at once. “We owe you our freedom from those cages, butnoneof us are free of this place. We must press onward.” He turned and walked deeper into the forest.

Balir hesitated, keeping his face toward Nina, and sniffed the air. “Once we stop, you must wash off the blood, Nina. It is…tempting my hunger. And if I can smell it—” He lowered his head, eyes downcast, and his silence allowed the sounds of the forest creatures to return to focus. “—so can everything else.”

Nina extended her arms and turned them, frowning at the many scrapes and scratches marring her skin. Similar marks covered her legs. The cut on her empty palm was more significant, as were the small puncture wounds on her shoulders.

“You’re right,” she said, lowering her arms.

“He is not going to eat you,” Vortok muttered, hoping Balir would sense his heavy stare even if he couldn’t see it.

“Of course I’m not going to eat her,” Balir replied with a frown. “You’d best clean yourself, too, Vortok. The stink of blood is even stronger on you.”

Vortok wiped the back of his hand over his mouth. It came away with a smear of dark, moist blood. The savagery of his attack on the shrieker was fresh in his own mind; it wasn’t the first animal he’d killed and eaten as a beast, but knowing Nina had been horrified by what she’d seen made his stomach churn.

That wasn’t who he was supposed to be. That wasn’t Vortok. And now it was Nina’s first memory of him. He’d never known greater remorse than he felt in that moment.

The beast cared not at all about his shame.

“I don’t think he’s going to slow down,” Nina said gently, averting her gaze from Balir and Vortok. “We should go.”

She set off after Aduun. Balir lingered a moment longer before accompanying her. Vortok watched them move, his gaze once more trailing over her body, and shook himself free of his stupor. He glanced toward the invisible wall one last time before following his companions.

Chapter Five

No one spoke as they trudged onward. Aduun remained ahead of the others, setting a grueling pace. Nina guessed it was merely due to his eagerness to find his people; he didn’t trust her, and he wanted to keep some space between them. She didn’t need to delve into his mind to know it. His distrust surrounded him in a cloud, reminding her of the thick mists that clung to Bahmet from dusk to dawn.

Nina’s weariness weighed on her a little more with every step; what sleep she’d managed before the shriekers woke her hadn’t been enough. Maintaining the mental barriers between herself and the valos grew more difficult the longer they walked.

Vortok and Balir remained close, the former’s steps loud and heavy while the latter’s were silent. If not for his soft clicking and the occasional glimpse of him from the corner of her eye, she might’ve forgotten Balir was there.

She couldn’t quite wrap her mind around what had happened, around what she had found. Orishok had never mentioned these valos, and she’d never seen so much as a glimpse of them in the memories he’d shared. Knowing that Kelsharn, despite his centuries-long absence, had devised ways to continue tormenting these valos was disturbing. She’d known he’d been a cruel master, but she’d never stopped to consider the depths to which his cruelty might’ve delved.

Nina wiped the sweat from her forehead and hissed as it stung the abraded skin on the back of her hand. She glanced down at the scrapes and crinkled her nose. She was lucky to have made it out of the cave with only cuts and bruises; it could’ve been far worse.

She might not have made it out at all.

I might never have made it out of my camp to begin with…

She’d been stupid to think she could’ve made it to Utopia on her own. One night by herself, and what had happened? Her father would be so disappointed in her. Quinn would be furious, and Nina knew when she returned home —ifshe returned home — her parents would forbid her from ever leaving Bahmet again. Nina smirked.

Not that being cooped up in Bahmet is a bad thing. Ilikebeing there.

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