Page 106 of The Last One
“Don’t you love moving things in the opposite direction they’re supposed to go?”
Jadon lifts his fists again. “Show me, then.” He swings at me.
I grab his hand and push back his middle fingers, which sends his knuckles back. His elbow twists, and I move his middle fingers forward again.
Jadon drops to a knee with a grimace. “Shit. That hurt. Good job.” He stands and shakes out that hand.
That move makes my palms feel scalded and then numb. I rub them against my forearm.
“You good?” he asks, peering at me.
I nod.
“Let’s do it again.” He reaches to grab my wrist again.
Instead, I grab his wrist and start to press his hand back so that his palm faces his chest.
But Jadon wrests out of my lock, slips behind me without touching me, and holds his left arm around my neck and his bandaged right hand behind my head. His energy pushes the air.
My muscles ache and burn as they absorb this force. But this time, the ache feelsgood.
“This is my personal favorite,” he says.
“Choke hold,” I say. “Didn’t think you were the type—”
“I need to say something,” he interrupts, whispering in my ear, his breath hot on my skin. “So listen closely. Be careful around Veril. If I were you, I’d leave him behind when you start on your journey to Peria. I would politely decline his company.”
I pretend to focus on the hold and not his words. “And why is that?”
“Because I don’t trust him. His tea made you pass out. He may have tried to poison you.”
I spin away and dart behind Jadon. “Is there proof?” I move my left arm toward his neck and hold my right hand near his head, catching him in my own choke hold. Sharp pain shoots through that hand, and it cramps, paralyzing my fingers. All this sword and hand-to-hand work… Too much, too soon.
“I’m still working on proof,” Jadon says, turning to face me, his eyes bright and anxious. “But I know in my heart that he’s dangerous.” He poses in a boxer’s stance, his fists covering his face, still cloaking our conversation through this training session.
I block his punch and swat that gauze-covered hand. “Enough.” Nauseated, I drop my hands and squeeze the bridge of my nose, exhausted by both Veril’s and Jadon’s mistrust of each other. I’m overwhelmed with being caught in the middle even as I continue to figure out the basic facts about my identity and where I belong. Dealing with all of this feels like I’m kicking up to the surface of the sea only to be pulled back by a mystery that I can’t glimpse.
“You’re an impressive warrior, Kai,” Jadon says now. “If you decide that he’ll join you, then you’ll need to be even better at combat because he’ll—”
Before he can finish his thought, a shriek cuts through the air.
“That sounded like Olivia or Philia,” I say, eyes wide.
“Yeah.” Jadon grabs Chaos and heads toward the scream right as both young women sprint from the other side of the cottage.
Wide-eyed, Veril hustles from the cottage to join us. “Who screamed?”
“Something’s up there!” Olivia shouts. “Above the forest. We heard a-a-a…” She covers her face with her hands.
“A what?” Jadon blinks at her, blinks at me, then sheathes the broadsword with a sigh. “It’s theforest, Olivia. It was probably a bear in a tree. They’re known to—”
A sound, rumbling thunder mixed with eerie high-pitched screeches, reverberates from the sky with such force, it drops us to our knees.
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As deep as the sea and as high as the tallest mountain, the weird warble vibrates from the forest and through our bones, invading our skulls, making us gasp and cover our ears. The air swells with the reek of rotting fruit and sour milk…and death.
“Whatisit?” I shout.
