Page 10 of Lower World
“Alice …” A sharp pang stabbed me in the chest. My poor friend was still clutching the knife in both hands when I turned to look at her.
“Yeah.” One of her shoulders spasmed in a shrug. “It’s still stuck.” She frowned at her hands. It took me a moment to realize she wasn’t frowning but squinting because her glasses were missing. The guilt I escaped by being unconscious returned with a vengeance. “And you’re still bleeding.”
I thought the wounds were the reason for my skin being on fire until I took stock of my body. The part of the train where they hunkered down was almost empty, apart from a couple of wooden crates in the far corner and Johnathan’s covered body across from me. Two sliding doors were cranked a couple of inches apart, and the light of early dawn filtered through, bringing dust motes and particles dancing around the space. My shredded shirt and pants showed unblemished skin covered in dried blood and grime, but no wounds. Until I craned my neck to look at my arms. The upper arm where Alice accidently sliced me with the unusual breadknife had the skin gaping open, and blood was oozing out of it.
I swallowed thickly. “Tell me again how this happened.” Shuffling on my knees, I moved closer to where she was scraping a line on the floor with the tip of the blade.
“She claims that she doesn’t remember grabbing the knife.”
Dominic had his eyes trained on Alice when he spoke as if she was a threat. I didn’t like the way he was looking at her one bit. Leaning his back on one wall, his knees were drawn up, and his forearms rested on them loosely. It didn’t fool me for a second that he wasn’t poised to attack at the smallest provocation.
“That’s not true,” Alice snapped, surprising me. “I said I don’t remember reaching for a breadknife. Actually, I specifically remember reaching for the butcher knife on that block but ended up with this one.” I flinched when she waved the blade in front of her. “I wanted to help, Brooklyn.” Her eyes misted with tears. “When you told me to hide, I was going to do just that at first, but when I reached the kitchen, I saw the knives. I hate being the deadweight.”
“You are not a deadweight.” I waited until she lifted her eyes so she could see that I meant it. “So far, you are the one giving us shelter while we are trying to stay alive. We can talk about that later, though. Tell me what happened next.” I sent a glare at Dominic when he scoffed. I understood we were all on edge, but he didn’t have to be an asshole.
“I was on my way to the basement, as I said …” She gave me a tight smile when I raised an eyebrow at her. “Not my smartest choice, I know.” No kidding, with a half-tied Atua sitting on a chair there, no. Broken neck or not, Johnathan was not to be underestimated. “When I saw the knives, I darted for one, but then one of those things burst through the window and landed next to me as I reached for a weapon. I thought that was it, that he was going to gnaw on me like a Rottweiler on a juicy steak.”
Alice blew a deep sigh, her shoulders slumping. “I didn’t see what he had in his hand at first because I closed my eyes and braced to be attacked. When I felt his hand on mine where I already held the handle of one of the knives, my eyes snapped open, but a bright light blinded me. When my sight cleared, I saw a rock fall from his fingers, and I was holding onto this breadknife like my life depended on it.”
My mind was reeling with the implications. The shifter scooted closer to us now, peering between the knife and my still bleeding arm with a deep line pinching his forehead. His green gaze lifted on mine, and I could see the unease there. The same one that was eating a hole in my stomach.
“What?” Alice whispered. “What does that mean? Did he glue it to my hands?”
“Magic.” I didn’t pull my focus from Dominic. “The guardian used a spelled stone from one of the witches the Syndicate employs. But to what end? This cut was an accident.” I felt the need to point that out because Dominic was barely holding onto his control. That made his shoulders relax, if slightly.
That was when Alice hummed, and my blood turned to ice at the uncertain sound.
“Actually, I did feel the urge to stab you with it back there.” Her eyes were so wide they looked too big for her face. “I didn’t cut you on purpose, I swear it. But, Brooklyn …”
“I want to do it now, too.” Alice gulped and a shiver slithered up my spine.
7
Alot of things went through my head, but I never believed that Alice would hurt me intentionally. I trusted her, unlike Dominic, who had her pinned to the far wall with one hand wrapped around her neck. The shifter moved so fast that Alice’s feet were kicking the air a foot off the floor by the time I realized what happened.
“Dominic, no.” Forgetting all about the pain still drumming through me, I rushed to stand next to him and placed a hand on his forearm. He was so tense it was like holding onto a stone statue. “She will never try to hurt me, you know this. It’s Alice, for fate’s sake. It must be whatever spell the guardian used that’s messing with her brain.”
The shifter didn’t look convinced, but at least my friend’s feet were firmly planted on the floor. We were all bloody, ragged, and tired messes, but the fear on Alice’s face made her look so small compared to him that all my protective instincts went high wire. My fingers tightened on his arm as I struggled with indecisiveness to calm him down or punch him in the face.
“Let her go, Dominic.” Acting like it was frustration forcing me to lean most of my weight on his arm instead of the fact that my head was spinning, I huffed out a breath. “I’m sure you’re aware that she stands no chance against magic.”
“Didn’t she do magic before all this shit started?” The shifter pushed the words through clenched teeth. “How can you be sure she wasn’t planted in your path if the Syndicate was aware that you were up to something?”
He had a good point, but all you needed was one look at Alice and you’d never mistake my human friend for anything but a kind, compassionate soul that got herself in trouble for only that reason. Alice had a pure soul; a blind person could see that. It was why I singled her out from all the humans I came across in the first place. It was heartwarming to think that Dominic all of a sudden decided to care for my safety that much, but I had a nagging feeling there was more to it than that. It wasn’t time for useless chitchat, though, so I tugged on his arm.
“I appreciate your concern but you need to let her go.” To prove my point, I moved my hand from him to Alice, taking hold of her white-knuckled grip around the handle of the knife.
“He has a point,” Alice muttered, not helping the situation at all.
“Everyone needs to calm down and remove the hands from the others. Now.” The whole thing was getting ridiculous. “Aren’t we suppose to get off this train? It’s not moving.”
“We will when the humans clear out.” Dominic kept his attention on Alice, and his raspy tone made we aware of how close I was standing next to him. My chest was brushing against his arm, sending a tremor through me. “What were you saying, human? That I am right?” He nudged her neck, and her head bumped on the wooden planks behind her.
“That I did magic once. Maybe I can do it again and release this stupid knife.” Alice rolled her eyes at him. “And unless you are planning on choking me to death, can you move your hand please? It’s giving me the heebie-jeebies.”
“Tell her to release it.” It took me a second to realize Dominic was talking to me.
“What?” The shifter was watching me from the corner of his eye, confusing the crap out of me.
