Page 41 of Swords of Soul and Shadow
“Tell me what’s going on,” Niels demanded.
She couldn’t, even if she’d wanted to. Fely might have a concussion, but she claimed the pain hadn’t worsened. She seemed pale, but the bleeding had mostly stopped.
Something in her gut told her it was much worse than a concussion; that it had something to do with Fely’s power.
Like most things lately, it was just a guess. But the longer the thought weighed on her mind, the more sure of it she became.
They had to be in Myrrai. The Zupirum bricks and the wave of warmth confirmed it.
Niels grabbed her arm. Hallie jumped. He’d gone pale, too, bathed in the pre-morning light coming from around the corner. She still couldn’t tell if it was a window or door. “Don’t.”
She yanked her arm out of his grasp. “I’ll just be a moment.”
“We don’t know what’s up there.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Hallie…”
Irritation crawled up her throat. She clenched her teeth to keep it contained. “I’ll be back in a moment.”
Niels looked back down at Fely. Her eyes had closed, her head tipped back against the wall. He strode past Hallie, jaw clenched, gait unsteady. “I’m coming with you.”
She scrambled after him, checking to make sure Fely wasn’t stirring; she had a Cerl pistol, after all, and the Zuprium wouldn’t affect it the way it did electropistols.
Luckily, Fely didn’t stir.
“I can take care of myself,” Hallie hissed as she caught up with him.
“Then tell me what’s going on.” Niels caught her arm again. “And tell me why we aren’t trying to run now that she’s out!”
Hallie’s nails bit into her palms. “Now isn’t the time.”
“Now’s the only time!”
Heat pulsed within her core, the frustration building up like bricks. She wasn’t even sure what they were arguing about. “I don’t know what you’re asking me. We’re going to run, I just have to see—”
“Would you tell Kase if he was here?”
Well yes, she thought, but Kase wouldn’t have to ask in the first place. He’d just know. “What is this actually about, Niels?”
Niels hesitated before running a hand along his jaw. “Nothing. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
Giving him a look, she turned the corner, Niels a wall of silence behind her. A doorway glowing with the early light of morning waited beyond…
And just on the other side, a body crowned in golden hair lay prone under a pile of rock and metal.
“Oh, stars,” Hallie breathed.
Chapter 7
NOT HIGHER THAN A GRASSHOPPER
Kase
“YOU’RE STARTING TO DRIFT A little, son.”
The words jolted Kase out of his thoughts. He winced, steadying the craft with a brush of his palm over the wheel.
