Page 74 of Seized to Sacrifice
Thorne gritted his teeth and looked away. ‘It was not me who didn't want to speak for so long.’
‘I was angry,’ he said.
‘We were both angry!’ Thorne yelled, standing up and kicking at the gravel under his feet. ‘But you gave up! You took over and killed everyone you could. I still have nightmares about what few things I did see.’
The Beast stared at him, his face solemn. ‘I let the darkness take me after Elle.’
He didn't speak again, sighing heavily and looking down at the nothingness for some time.
‘When she remembers how, have her destroy us,’ he murmured.
Thorne’s eyes opened. It was morning. He’d spoken to the Beast for the first time since Elle had left them here and the conversation had left him feeling more isolated than ever. Sighing heavily, he rolled up his blankets and stowed them back on the horse that Mace had lent him.
The others were still asleep. As he looked over at them, both Nyx and Rye holding Elle, all of them looking so content, he was overcome with the strangest longing. He badly wanted to be with them.
Instead, he looked away and doused what was left of the fire, getting everything ready so that they could leave as soon as the others were awake. They needed to get to the Brothers’ Camp today. He needed to find out how to get Elle’s memories to return.
He heard the others stirring and they were soon ready to go, mounting their horses and returning to the path to continue their journey east.
They’d been ridingfor most of the morning in silence when Rye brought his horse up alongside Thorne’s.
‘How did they find us so quickly?’
Thorne gave him a sidelong glance. ‘The portal was open when I took the message.’
‘Open? Why didn't you say?’ Rye looked angry.
Thorne shrugged. ‘I thought it best that he found us sooner rather than later. I still think that. I’d already seen how you'd begun to look at her. But I thought he'd come himself, that he would be awaiting us when we returned to our estate. I thought all the Dark Realm sentinels had died out long ago. Why sendthemfor her?’
‘Why indeed,’ Rye muttered. ‘Those are not the actions of a beloved nor a friend. We need answers.’
‘Aye, that's why we journey to the Camp, no? The archives will have something and if not, we’ll go to the Great Library in the capital.’
‘You’d that take that journey now with all the dangers that lurk?’
Thorne nodded. ‘I want to know what’s happening as much as you do.’
They reached the end of the hills, seeing the mountains in the distance across the flat plains. They kept going, knowing that they would reach the Army soon.
But, as they stepped out onto the endless, grassy meadows, the earth began to shake again. The horses reared and they dismounted quickly, letting the beasts bolt lest they be trampled or crushed to death.
‘Lie on the ground!’ Nyx yelled as the ground rolled beneath them.
There was nothing here that could hurt them save their own bodies.
They did as he said, all of them lying in the grass and, when the rolls of the earth had subsided, they staggered to their feet.
The horses, thankfully, hadn’t gone far and were all unharmed. Once they’d caught them, they continued on their way.
The quakes were getting worse, and it had something to do with her. Thorne was certain.
‘This realm is tearing itself apart,’ he said to no one in particular, but Nyx heard him and nodded.
‘Aye.’
They reached the Camp when the sun was still high, entering through the fringes, ignoring the rats with their threadbare tents and ragged clothes, the gleams in their eyes that promised violence if they got the chance.
The guards let them through the barrier, their eyes lingering on Elle, which Thorne didn’t like.
