Page 161 of Of Blood and Banes
He scoffs. “You’ve never needed me. You’ve never needed anyone.”
I grab his shoulder, digging my fingers into his jacket in the event I can actually stop him if he decides to run. And if he does decide to, I’ll fight him. I’ll throw him down, wrestle him to the ground, and pin him until I can talk sense into him. I need him with me.
My words come out in an impossibly long string I’m hoping will pull him back to me. “I have always needed you. I wouldn’t have survived the first time we were attacked back at the outpost. Just as I needed you to be the one who discovered Daeja back in Arterias. You were the one who suggested I use a regular blade rather than a dragonblade to get us through the door in Vitalis. You’ve guarded all my secrets. Whether you realize it or not, you have saved me more times than I can count—emotionally and physically. You’re my best friend, and I love you. I don’t know how this is going to end or what’s going to happen, but all I do know is that I want to do it with you by my side.”
He shakes his head, trying to turn out of my grasp.
I blurt, “Do you know why you’re my best friend? It’s because of who you are. You’re naturally joyful. It comes so easy to you. And for some, it may be aggravating because it’s so difficult forthem to feel what comes so easy to you. But you know what?” I grab his hand in mine, then drop my voice to a cracked whisper, “Even in the darkest of these nights, even when I feel low, scared, and incapable. When I’m around you, I find myself optimistic. Even joyful, sometimes. Because I have you. Because you’re such a light in my life, when all else feels dark.”
His lip quivers, his voice growing strained, “You don’t…you don’t mean that.”
I smile with a firm nod. “I do. I mean it, every day. And I will work harder to remind you of it.”
We burst into an embrace, hugging the other as tight as if we held every piece of each other together.
I whisper into his sandy-blonde hair, “Remember what you told me back in Arterias? We both might suck, but at least we suck together. And we both might hurt—but at least we hurt together. This doesn’t work if you’re gone.”
His fingers grip my back, painfully sweet. I bury my head in the crook of his neck, squeezing my eyes shut.
A loud snap of wood rips us both out of each other’s arms. A group of dark shadows creep toward us, a glimmer of metal catching the dappled sunlight between the pine trees.
“Run,” Archie whispers and shoves me away.
CHAPTER 51
GOD RELICS
Idon’t have time to question why we’re running, but even if I did, the masked faces and drawn weapons I glimpse are enough to catapult me. We break into a sprint, the frosty ground crunching beneath our boots, the group of heavy footsteps not far behind us. We aren’t going to be able to outrun them. And I don’t have any weapons.
“I need help!”I call out to Daeja.
“Don’t you always—”she snickers, then recognizes the fear in my voice.“Where are you?”
“South of Everden with Archie! Someone’s after us!”
Archie wraps his hand around my forearm, then drags me to the right unexpectedly. We lurch forward as the ground beneath us dips down into a steep hillside. We aren’t quick enough to stop ourselves from falling.
Archie loses his grip on my arm as the both of us tumble down the slope, each bump slamming into my chest, back, and legs. I wrap my arms around my head to protect myself until I finally slow to a stop. When I open my eyes, my back flat on the ground, I stare up at the spinning kaleidoscope of treetops and gray muddled sky.
I drag my head to the left to find Archie slumped forward face-first on the ground, his eyes closed. Approaching footsteps steal my attention up past the hillside.
“Archie!” I whisper, tugging at his shoulder. “Get up! We have to move!”
His eyes drag open, a bruise already blooming at the corner of his eye. “What…”
“Up!” I groan as I pull myself up off the ground and slide my arm underneath his chest.
“Come out!” a man calls in the distance. “There are twelve of us and two of you. You’re severely outmatched. If you come willingly, no one will be hurt. We promise.” The jovial tone chills my blood.
I don’t trust it for a second. They have to be the rebels. Though, I still can’t see anyone up on the edge of the hillside. There’s only a matter of time.
I whip back to Archie, and he’s sluggish to move his hands under his chest.
“I…I can’t feel my foot,” he groans, trying to force himself up, then winces and grips his left leg.
Fuck.
I help flip him onto his back and then clasp hands with his and yank him up. He’s careful not to set his left leg on the ground. But as I turn to look up at the ridge, I see masked figures moving through the trees. Edging closer to overlook the lower part of the forest where we are.
