Page 108 of Above
“Pathetic,” he hissed, turning and walking away. He made it a quarter of the way before he shouted, “Your friends are here to see you.”
Caleb, Quinn, and Priya didn’t immediately appear, rather, minutes in excruciating wait passed before I saw their figures come out of the darkness.
“Az, are you alright?” Pri asked as she clung to the bars, her eyes panicked. “We’re going to sort this all out, don’t you worry!”
“Pri, listen—”
“We know you didn’t kill them. I promise, we’re going to get you out of here.”
“But Pri—”
“Have you eaten anything? Did they give you water? I have snacks I brought for you.”
“Priya, let the man talk for stars sake.” Quinn sounded as exhausted as I felt. He approached the bars with a much steadier gait, always the only one of us slow to anger and quick to think. “What happened, Az? They’re saying you killed Colonel Zade and his entire family.”
A look was shared between the two of them, Priya adding softly, “Except for Talon, who survived. He says it was you.”
Nodding, I let my head fall back on the cool, grey stone. Magic pulsed from it, my own seeming to sway with the beat.What I wouldn’t give to be out screaming at the stars themselves for ever cursing me with this life.
“Benadell Zade came for me in my room. I told her if she didn’t leave me alone then I’d kill her and her whole family.”
“So you did?” Priya shouted, her shrill tone making Quinn cringe at her side. “You killed Dove? She was my best friend, Az! She wasyourfriend!”
“Hold on a second, Pri, he didn’t say that necessarily.” Quinn grabbed her shoulders, pulling her away from the bars.
Behind the two of them, Caleb watched, his eyes sad and mouth in a thin line. I stared at him, seeing the same thought cross his face that had been etched into Tershetta’s.
“Cal?” For a moment, his eyes fell, hand reaching up to rub at them. I knew I had lost him then.
“Dove was our friend. She never did anything wrong. And Talon…I mean we grew up together.” He shook his head, as if he could rattle the thoughts out. I was waiting for the next bit. The part I could see he was itching to say but scared to. “Why, Az? Why did you do this?”
“Go on, say what else you’re thinking. This isn’t just about Talon and Dove.”
Priya and Quinn went silent, their eyes simultaneously going wide as Cal approached my cell.
“They’re all she has,” he muttered, eyes not meeting mine. “She isn’t like Talon. She won’t recover from this.”
My Little Void, always finding her way in, even when she wasn’t there.
“I think you all should go,” was all I said. Though I didn’t want to, I lay down on the filthy, damp stone below me, turning to face the wall as I did.
My friends—my family—didn’t move immediately. Instead, they stood there in silence for a minute or so, as if waiting for me to defend myself or say it was all a misunderstanding.
But I could still feel Benadell Zade’s heart in my hand as I twirled Tershetta’s stolen curl between my fingers, my magic sizzling as I willed the strands to fuse together.
I awoke to the sound of clanking. Sitting upright, I immediately scanned the area, trying to locate whatever potential threat was there. Not that I had any future ahead of me anymore.
Slowly, I made out the dark outline of a figure standing on the other side of my cell. Their body nearly merged with the shadows themselves, but they were there. Watching me.
“Who are you?” Silence. “What do you want?”
“I want what everyone seems to expect of you,” they said, their voice a high hum. “Excellence.”
Breathing out a forced laugh, I muttered, “Sorry, all out. If you couldn’t tell, I’m only producing failure now.”
“I disagree,” they parried. “You’ve officially shown me that you possess the skill set I need to succeed in something very important.”
“What’s that?”
