Page 74 of Echos and Empires
Their steps rustled through the weeds, a whispered rhythm as they followed the old dirt road. Chris and Liam led the way, quietly bickering about the best path. Alex walked backwards for a stretch, grinning as Emma tried not to laugh. Bash stayed closest, the hulking shadow beside her, protective and patient. They all slowed to match her pace. She pretended not to notice, pretended not to care that each stride jolted through her aching muscles.
“You’re looking pale, Emma,” Bash finally said, breaking the silence with a gruffness that barely hid his concern.
“I’m fine,” she lied. The words sounded thin, breathy.
“At least let us take some of that load,” Alex offered, nodding towards her pack.
She shook her head, more adamant than she felt. “I’m fine.” Another lie, hanging in the dry air. Ranger gave a bark and she glanced down at him, staring into his knowing amber eyes. “Come on, Ranger.”
Emma’s vision began to blur at the edges, lightheadedness creeping in. Her breathing came shallow and quick, but she keptmoving. One foot, then the other. She wouldn’t admit it—not to them, not to herself—but every part of her was exhausted.
At last, her resolve wavered, and she stopped. She sat on a boulder, trying to right herself when arms wrapped around her.
Bash.
He picked her up before she could think to protest, his arms solid around her small frame.
She yelped in surprise. “Put me down!”
“Not a chance,” he grunted.
“I mean it!” She squirmed half-heartedly, but her muscles were spent.
He tightened his hold, voice softening. “Hush. I’ve lifted weights heavier than you. And that’s with those two bundles growing in there.”
Emma tried another protest, but the truth stilled her tongue. They’d always said she was small. That she was delicate. And now, so much depended on her. She couldn’t risk the babies. Not when it felt like a miracle. Her hands stilled against Bash’s chest, heart racing in panic at the realization.
“You’re not gonna risk it,” Bash said, the concern leaking through his sternness. “Not for pride.”
Emma pressed her face into his shoulder, fighting the tears of frustration that threatened to fall. The babies. She hadn’t let herself think about it fully, the reality and danger of carrying them, not until the words left Bash’s mouth. She’d only thought about being strong for them. Maybe this was just another test she had to pass to be the best mother she wasn’t ready to be five years ago.
He pulled her closer. “You gotta trust us. Trust me.”
Chris turned, slowing. “You know what he’s like, Emma. Can’t let it go once he’s made up his mind.”
“Think of it as weight training,” Liam added, his voice lighter but with the same insistence.
Chris chuckled. “Better than any dumbbells.”
Emma hesitated, caught between her stubbornness and their safety.
“Think of it as a chance to relax while helping me get a little work out in.” Bash’s words reached her, and this time, seemed to coax her into melting into his arms.
She was safe there. Warm. Protected.
It was a relief. The enormity of it all. The babies. The resistance. The expectation that she would lead them. She let her eyes close for a moment, the comfort of being held a balm to the raw edges of her worry. They’d do it together. The six of them. And she couldn’t risk it, not even for pride.
She could hear Chris and Liam joking up ahead, Alex calling over his shoulder, Bash breathing steadily as he carried her, and William seemingly kicked up leaves as he walked behind. She opened her eyes, taking in the scenery. Endless and raw and full of promise, just like the lives growing inside of her. Just like their future, if they could make it through the coming days.
Bash glanced down, meeting her gaze. The world could explode again around them, but Emma knew they’d be there, each one of them, to catch her. She was exhausted, and everything hurt, and a smile cracked across her face, anyway. They would win, or they would die trying. But right now, in Bash’s arms, there was only safety. Only love.
A movingsea of bodies stood along the coast, the sheer number of people there striking Emma like a tidal wave. Morethan she’d ever imagined, nearly half the island had responded. She knew some of them would be Victor’s people, and some at risk of the vitamin’s control, but they were here. Her family had made enough of an impact that people trusted. People came.
Some she recognized from their months on the island, faces as familiar as her own. Others must have been part of the recent arrivals, faces marked with fresh desperation. A rising knot of nerves lodged in her chest, and she realized it wasn’t just the six of them anymore. The freedom of so many now rested on her shoulders.
“Put me down,” she didn’t ask, her voice clear. “We cannot let them see me as weak. Frail. I don’t want a sympathy resistance. I want the one centered on fighting against what’s wrong with this damned island.”
Bash’s steps didn’t falter, but she felt his hesitation in the way he held her, in the tightening of his grip. He knew the toll it had taken on her to come this far. They all did. But this was something she had to do, had to show them.
