Page 7 of Riftborne
He was a Sídhe General, he could enact justice however he wanted. My friends had been murdered for taking a simple swim.
I had attacked two daughters of nobility.
And their bodies laid motionless behind me. Blood stained their perfectly painted cheeks, creating a thick puddle in the tangles of their hair.
I winced.
He returned his dagger to its sheath and gave me one last curious look before turning on his heel and walking back towards the bustling celebration over the hill.
Shock enveloped me.
What just happened?
I still couldn’t breathe.
I watched him for a moment before my mind stopped spinning–long enough for my self-preservation to kick in. And my feet started moving again.
I disappeared into the shadows of the forest, plagued by a sinking feeling that my encounter with the General was only the beginning of a reckoning I could not escape.
CHAPTER 3
My back slammedagainst the rough wooden frame of our apartment door, my chest heaving with weighted breath as I inhaled the familiar scent of safety. A smell that now made me sick with guilt. I bolted to the waste can, finally expelling the contents of my stomach, retching until there was nothing left.
How had I let myself escalate to the point of such chaos? Why couldn’t I hold onto control long enough to remove myself from the situation? Were they dead?Did Ikillthem? They certainly didn’t look alive with blood gushing from their eyes.Wonderful, Fia, you’ve sealed your fate now.
You’re a fucking murderer.
And I had beenseen. Would I even make it through the night without the Sídhe military breaking down my door? Did Ideserveto? It was only a matter of time. The General had let me escape, probably on a high from the cocktail of mind-altering tonics we so graciously provided. But that high wouldn’t last forever. At some point, he would remember the events of the night. He would realize it wasn't just a sick hallucination. And then he would come for me. And I would deserve it.
My mind flipped through every possibility, every option, but each one seemed worse than the last. At the very least, I needed to talk to Osta.Osta. Esprithe be damned, Fia.The maelstrom of thoughts flooded my mind, and the corners of my eyes began to sting. What would happen to her? Would they take her away and lock her up? We were roommates. We were Riftborne. Would they view her as my co-conspirator? Or punish her just because of her association with me?
Salty tears streamed down my face as each question struck my mind like a poisoned arrow.
I crawled to the battered sofa that Osta had rescued from the streets, intent on giving it new life. She hadn’t even had the chance to reupholster it yet. I curled into a ball, letting my head fall into my hands as sobs riddled my already-shaking frame.
I stayed like this, pondering my fate, until the tears dried up and the tremors subsided.
I would face the consequences of my actions. I would let the Sídhe leaders tear me apart. But not before explaining myself to Osta.
We had been together for our entire lives, and she meant more to me than I could explain. If anyone deserved the truth, it was her. I dragged myself into my room to wait, collapsing on the bed with a heaviness I wished would just swallow me whole.
After what seemedlike centuries of restlessness, I finally accepted that sleep would never come. My thoughts churned, stretching each passing hour into an eternity.
I stared at the peeling paint on my ceiling, intensely aware of the morning light now looming through my window like funeral candles in a dark temple.
In some sick twist of fate, the only nightmare I suffered was that of my own unwavering consciousness. Why should my mindcome up with its own terrifying dreamscapes when it could torment me with the memories I had created all by myself—the ones that had sprung forth from my own hands?
As I lay there, enveloped in the suffocating embrace of my own thoughts, the sound of a creaking door crept through the room.
I shot up from the bed and ran into the living room to find Osta slipping off her shoes near the front door. Relief rushed over me at the sight of her. She looked up, meeting my gaze.
Silent anger flickered in her eyes.
"Fia?" she questioned, furrowing her brow. "What happened?”
I stumbled over my words. "Osta, I… I lost control... It happened again… but it wassomuch worse this time. The girls?—"
She cut me off. “I know you didn’t want to be there, Fia, but you completely abandoned me. You didn’t even say goodbye,” she sighed, dropping her head into her hands.
