Page 75 of Broken Fate
“No? Why’s that?” he asked, eyes narrowing as he looked for the trap.
“Because I’m not you.”
His groan filled the room. “I’m serious.”
“Me, too,” I said, lifting on my tippytoes to press my lips to his cheek. “Now, I really should get going. You know how it is out there. Arcadia waits for no one.”
A snort blasted from his nose. “Stupid saying.”
“Agreed. Come up with something better.”
“I will,” he promised.
We just stood and stared into one another’s eyes. The need to speak was past for the moment. All we had to say was said with the tilt of a head, the quirk of a lip, or the beating of a heart.
“See you soon,” I whispered, then ducked under his arm and out the door before he could delay me any longer.
The stone streets of Arcadia swallowed me up quickly, the crowds growing as I moved toward the city center. By the time I turned onto the main thoroughfare, I was just one of hundreds of people going about their business. A drop in a bucket, indistinguishable from the shifters around me.
Who would the Alpha have marked to suffer for my actions? Was it the mother dragging her daughter away from the bakers, chocolate still staining the little girl’s face? What about the merchant haggling with a clothing shop, trying to get the highest dollar for the rolls of cloth piled high in the cart his horse pulled? Or maybe the couple walking hand in hand, taking in the sights, the woman’s belly swollen.
No.
I came to a stop in the middle of the street. Some of those who had been following me cursed or grumbled as they were forced to go around, muttering comments about “self-important little” this or “stupid idiotic” that. All because of several seconds of inconvenience at the most.
Those were the people I was there to save from harm at the hands of an Alpha they thought was the good guy. To them, I was the bad girl, the evil one doing no good. They were blind to the truth, unwilling to see the world as itreallywas. And could I blame them? No, because without Andi, Kiel, and even Clive to show me the truth, I would still be one of them.
It was time to rip the cover off that illusion, at least for some. Taking a deep breath and standing up tall, I flung my hood back, steeling myself for the reaction.
Nearly a minute passed before the first pointed finger. I stared straight ahead, my eyes on the palace gates at the end of the street. The guards patrolled the walls, armor flashing in the sunlight. And the Alpha who lived beyond.
Hey, look at her.
She’s got silver hair.
Do you think that could be her, the one they’re looking for?
It’s her. The one on the poster.
She’s the one who tried to destroy the Fate Stone, isn’t she?
Shhh, don’t say anything, don’t draw attention.
Let’s go. This is going to get ugly. The Alpha wants her bad.
Isn’t she the same girl who killed her sister?
A tremor rippled down my spine. Closing my eyes, I repeated to myself that they didn’t know. They didn’t mean it. They were told I was the bad guy, that I was there to hurt them. They didn’t mean anything by it. They were brainwashed.
Why is she here? Doesn’t she know she’s wanted by the Alpha?
“I’m here,” I said, my voice ringing out like a clarion call, silencing the myriad voices. “Because if I wasn’t, Arcadus was going to hurt some of you. He was willing tokill youjust to get to me. You did no wrong, but he would say you had. Manufacture lies, calling you my associates, just to turn you against me. I’m here so that he can’t do that. I am here for you.”
I strode forward. The crowd parted before me, men and women scurrying out of my way, ensuring their children didn’t block my path either.
Is she dumb? What is she talking about?
The whispers of doubt were loudest. They still didn’t believe me. That was fine. Let them watch. They would believe soon enough.
