Page 83 of Born for Lace

Can I…CanI trust them?

Did he see the tanks? No.

Did that thing, that bird, did it screech before or after he pointed at the sky? I can’t be sure. I didn’t focus on the sequence of events at the time, but I feel in my belly that he pointed before… How did he know? Am I going crazy?

“He saw the tank,” Tomar answers, smooth and controlled. “Xin De eyesight is something else.”

No.Shaking my head, I look down and frown, my eyes losing focus as my mind clouds with thoughts. “No. There was no tank when you turned off the road, Lagos. I’m sure of it. And there was no way you could have known that thing, that bird, was above us. So, how?” My eyes lift and hit his in the mirror. And there it is, in his gaze—a secret. A lie. “Lagos?”

My voice shudders out. “Where are you taking me?”

“Dahlia.” Tomar turns in his seat, but he’s not as comforting this time; in fact, his attention shrinks me backward. “We are taking you to the?—”

“Don’t lie to me!” I grab the door handle and squeeze it. “I’ll jump out!” And for a split second, I consider doing it. Jumping out into the waste, fuelled by the anger of being deceived more than by thoughts of survival— But then my tiny burden fusses beside me.

Spero.

My heart sinks.

Panic carries bile to my mouth. I’m stuck. Trapped.

Tomar holds his hand up. “Woah.Dahlia, let go of the handle. You’re not in any danger with us?—"

“Tell her,” Lagos grunts.

I gape at Lagos.

“That’s not a good idea,” Tomar says.

And I look back at him.

“Tell her!” Lagos snaps.

Back at Lagos.

I growl. “Tell me what?”

The silence screams.

Tomar straightens in his seat before leaning back with a heavy sigh. “We have never done this. Telling you puts Lagos in danger.”

The truck slows—deathly slow—and as it does, my heart races into my ears, echoing like my head is empty of anything else.

The truck stops.

Staring forward at the red-swept plane, Lagos says, “I sensed the bird. I felt the tankers on the terrain.” He turns, showing me his side profile over his wide shoulder. A near-black gaze shifts to me, and the tang of something metallic slides along my tongue. “Because I’m a Shadow.”

ChapterTwenty-Five

Lagos

Twenty-five years ago

My heart thunders between my ears as the sirens ring out, the Desert Dogs snap and snarl at my heels, the Redwind moves the small foliage, and floodlights circle the rocky quarry that cups the metallic compound.

Light and dark move on the ground, making it hard to navigate and avoid holes or loose rocks. The wind whips around, slicing my arms. The dense Redwind has a life of its own, lancing rocks and sand at me. Attacking me. Indiscriminately.

I can’t look back at the metallic fortress. I have to keep running.

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