Page 6 of Unleashed

“Be safe, child,” Orishok said. “We will return in a few days’ time.”

Nina nodded and threw her arms around her father before he could step away. His body was hard — he wasn’t made of flesh and blood, after all — but she didn’t care. She hugged him tightly. “I love you.”

He drew both Nina and Quinn into an embrace. “And I love you, my heart.”

When Orishok pulled away, Nina gave her mother a quick hug and watched her parents walk away until they disappeared around the corner of a building.

Brushing her damp eyes, she looked at Kreshok. “Am I a coward, Kreshok?”

He said nothing, but he didn’t have to; Nina knew the answer. She was hiding from life, keeping herself locked behind the walls of Bahmet where she knew she’d be safe, loved, and protected by the two people who meant the most to her. But she didn’t haveanyoneelse.

She felt like she was only living a partial life, a half-empty life. If she stayed here forever, she’d never find a mate, would never know the kind of love her parents shared. But in Utopia…

In Utopia, there were many humans. Humans her age, humans who could provide a different sort of companionship.

“I could go to Utopia,” she said. “I could find someone there.”

She imagined Kreshok asking her about her psychic abilities.

“I’m in control now. I know how to block out their thoughts. Well, mostly. I just…just need someone who can look past all that, someone who’ll talk to me, someone who I can touch and who will touch me back.”

She felt oddly guilty speaking those words aloud, even if Kreshok wasn’t alive to hear them. But apart from her parents, these long-dead valos were her only friends.

“Do you think mom and dad would be worried if they came back to find me gone?”

Stupid question. Of course they would be.

Why not go to Corfoha?The thought came in what she thought of as Kreshok’s voice, deep and raspy.

“I don’t want to go to Corfoha. They know me there. They’ll…they’ll remember what I did.” She cringed and shook her head. “No one knows me in Utopia. It’d be a fresh start. And this would bemydecision; I’d be doing this on myown.”

Kreshok’s usual silence continued, leaving only the sound of wind and rustling leaves.

“You’re not much help.” She sighed and drew in a deep, steadying breath. “Okay. I’ll leave them a note.” Stepping away, she called over her shoulder, “Better make your move on Unali while I’m gone, or Dalegan will make his first.”

Nina followed the stone-paved streets through the city. She greeted every valo she passed by name, offering each a smile. When she reached home, she wasted no time in gathering supplies for the journey. Though it was only two or three days to Utopia, she packed a bit more than she’d need, making sure to include extra food, a fire starter, and a spare knife.

She’d grown up on Sonhadra and had traversed the lands around Bahmet with her father for years. She knew the way to Utopia, knew almost every inch of land between it and her home, but she also knew Sonhadra was dangerous toeveryone, no matter how skilled. It was always better to be prepared for whatcouldhappen than to be unequipped for whatdidhappen.

Nina strapped on her belt and dagger, slung her bag over her shoulder, and left a note on Quinn’s slate board before grabbing a spear and heading out. Excitement thrummed within her. She could do this. She would prove to her parents that she was strong enough, that she wasn’t scared.

She’d prove to herself that she wasn’t a coward.

When she reached the place where the barren path out of the city met the first vegetation, Nina’s steps faltered. She’d crossed this border countless times since Bahmet became her home, but this was different. Now she wasleaving. In her fifteen years here, she’d never left to search for anything other than food, whether by hunting or foraging, and had never done so alone. This was a search like she’d never undertaken — a search for people, conducted without the protection her parents provided.

Nina hated that she was so scared.

Therearegood people in this world.

Quinn’s friends from theConcord— Zoya, Lydia, Preta, Charlie, Lucie, Aveline, Deja, Yahiro, Amber, and Kira — were proof of that. Some of them had done bad things, but they were good people despite those past actions. Many of the people of Utopia were likely similar; in their old lives, they might’ve been criminals, but here they were just survivors coming together to thrive, just people working hard to earn everything they had. Nina just needed to set aside her anxiety and self-doubts to break past her own crippling fear.

Nina wasn’t the only one who wasdifferent. Many of the humans who’d been imprisoned on theConcordhad been changed, just like the Creators had changed the valos from what they had been into what they were now. Some of the humans had passed their changes to their children; it was in their makeup, in their blood. Nina wasn’t the only one with superhuman powers. It was even possible there were other people out there with the same abilities as her.

There was no sense in worrying about all that now; this was the easy part of her journey. She’d known these woods since she was a toddler. Though many of the things lurking within the trees were frightening, they were all things she’d dealt with before — wild beasts, tripping roots, unseen pitfalls. They were familiar fears. She was confident in her abilities. Her father had taught her well.

The hard part would be when she emerged on the far side of the forest to find the walls of Utopia standing before her.

Taking in a deep breath, Nina stepped into the grass. The blades whispered against her legs as she approached the tree line. She released a shaky exhalation when she passed between two twisted trunks and entered the shade of the canopy. Leaves rustled overhead in the gentle breeze, branches creaked softly all around, and distant animals made their calls. The safety of Bahmet was behind her now.

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