Page 18 of Fractured
A split second—that’s all he hesitated for. Just a split second before he said, “I don’t.”
I looked at Rune’s profile. He sounded like he was lying just now, and my heart jumped a little. I squeezed his handand he looked at me, too, as if he could read my thoughts, like always. As if he knew what I was thinking—maybe he did remember something. Maybe he knows…
For a good moment, there was only silence in the cave. It was so surreal to be sitting there on that piece of rock and to be looking at those flames that weren’t real fire, and mostly to have come hereafterthat feast. After witnessing Lyall’s true face for the first time.
Stab her through the heart.
Fucking prick.
One of the dogs slowly rose on all fours on the other side of the fake fire, sniffing the ground, coming closer to us—to Rune. Sniffing his leather boot and the edge of his pants, then his knee, before he laid his muzzle over it and looked up at Rune with those big dark eyes.
Rune caressed his head and scratched the side of his neck, not afraid in the least.
Instead, he was almost smiling—almost.
And the dog seemed to enjoy his scratches because he sat on his hind legs and relaxed, eyes half closed, while another dog came closer, too.
The sound of their breathing was the only sound in the cave still. The other dog pushed his friend to the side little by little until he, too, was near Rune, sniffing and licking his pants. Rune let go of my hand to pet him, too—and then the third dog came from the other side, frommyside, to get close to him. I had no choice but to sit sideways to let him through. They were pretty big dogs.
But I wasn’t afraid of them now, either. Rune wasn’t alarmed. He looked peaceful sitting there petting the three of them instead—and then the fourth was coming, too, this one towardme.
I thought I was going to have to get up from the rock tomake way for him, but then he stopped. Right there in front of my feet, he stopped and looked at me. Ears perked up and jaws closed, big dark eyes barely blinking.
I stopped for a moment and looked at him, too—no, ather.I wasn’t sure how I knew, and there was a good chance that I was mistaken, but I thought this one was ashe. She reminded me so much of Maera I was tempted to believe she might shift into a woman any second.
This dog was bigger, though. Wider, and her fur was darker, but she was as intelligent as Maera had been when we first met.
Then she moved, came closer slowly, stretched her neck to sniff my shoes, then my dress, up to my knees.
“Don’t be afraid. They’re just curious,” Merenith said, but I wasn’t. I wasn’t afraid in the least, not even when the dog touched my knee with her muzzle, and blinked her eyes more, and her thick tail began to move slightly to the sides, too. I raised my hand to pet her between those sharp ears, and she didn’t jerk away. Didn’t react. Instead, her tail moved a little faster.
I couldn’t even tell you why running my fingers through her fur felt so incredible or why every muscle in my body relaxed so fully, like I was finally resting. Like I was…safe.
The others watched. All of them looked at us while we petted the dogs, and the first one who’d approached Rune was now curious about me, too, so he came closer, sniffed me and licked me, then closed his eyes when I scratched his chin.
Before I knew it, I was smiling. The dogs moved from Rune to me and back again, and we did nothing but pet and scratch them, but for that short moment, I had a break. From what had happened, from where I was, from what was yet to come—just a little break.
Then Merenith said, “We will need a plan.”
“We do have one,” Rune said, and he turned to look at me. “Come dawn, we will be leaving for Blackwater to try and figure out why Nilah looks like the Ice Queen, and what that means for the…current situation we’re in.”
The vial hidden in my bra was suddenly cold against my skin.
“Meanwhile, Lyall will claim his throne and then…” Hessa shrugged and shook her head. “It will be too late. We have to kill himnow.”
“We can’t,” Rune said. “That is the simple truth of it. We’re not strong enough, not all of us here combined. His army is powerful, his soldiers well trained.”
“He’s right,” Merenith said when Hessa opened her mouth to speak, to protest. “We really aren’t strong enough—we can barely keep ourselves hidden in here. Brute force is not the answer. We have to be smart because this might be our last chance.”
Suddenly, Hessa laughed.
The sound was so bitter, and she jumped to her feet so fast even the dogs were startled and moved away from us.
“That’sexactlywhat you said while Helid was rotting in that jail cell! To me, you all just sound like a bunch of cowards!” she spit, and she turned around and strode toward the entrance of the cave without a look back.
My heart broke a little for her. I’d seen the look in her eyes. I’d seen the way she’d talked to Helid, how she’d kissed him.
She’dlovedhim.
