Page 49 of Kingdom of Today
I cast my gaze forward and groaned. More and more feeders gathered along the sidelines of our path, observing us with narrowed eyes while pawing a foot over the ground. This wasn’t good.
“You decided not to dismiss him,” Cyrus said, a flat statement.
Guilt hardened into a wall laden with traps and defenses. “Domino found Mykal. Concealed and protected me when I visited the Rock. Kept me company when my teammates turned against me. Provided mewith information I needed.” Comforted me in ways I couldn’t explain. “He’s been a good friend. I won’t be a bad one.”
Domino rolled back his shoulders, not quite as annoyed as before.
“I suppose I owe him a debt of gratitude, then.” Kind words that Cyrus pushed through clenched teeth. “Did he see the high princess shoot you?”
“First, he owes me nothing,” Domino said, almost offended. “I did it for you. Tell him that. Second, I flashed in and out of the battle to issue orders to soldiers inside the Rock. I didn’t witness the discharge of the gun, nor have I read about it.” He pulled ahead and searched the nooks and crannies of a huge pile of rubble. “I sense souls in need.”
I clasped Cyrus’s hand to slow him down, giving the librarian a chance to investigate. “He’s on the hunt for survivors.”
Cyrus squeezed my fingers, and I welcomed the prolonged connection. Had missed being close to him. And his heat. And his calluses; they tickled my palm. Here, now, I’d take any intimacy with him I could get.
“Clear,” Domino announced before sweeping even farther ahead. In fact, he moved ahead at such a fast clip, I lost sight of him.
“One day you’ll have to explain your dislike of each other,” I told Cyrus.
“I’m stunned he hasn’t explained.” The high prince snaked an arm around my waist and pulled me closer under the guise of helping me avoid a pothole rippling with a thick, oily substance. “He wants you for his own.”
What? No.What?“You’re wrong.” Very wrong. But the razor-sharp steel in Cyrus’s voice remained with me, shattering my focus, scattering my thoughts like glass across a stone floor. I jumped between astonishment and denial. “That’s why you asked me to end my friendship with him.” Which meant I’d almost ended a budding friendship for ridiculous, misconstrued jealousy.
“It may have played a part,” he muttered.
“Well, you’re wrong,” I repeated.
Domino reappeared, pulsing with satisfaction. “There are two trainees hiding in the Ferris wheel.”
I concentrated on what mattered, relaying the information to Cyrus as soon as the librarian dematerialized.
With his free hand, Cyrus massaged his nape. “They’ll notice how the feeders react to you. We should leave them. As soon as the heat dies down, CURED will send out a van.”
Not a typical response from the Cyrus I knew and lo—really liked.
I might be falling for him, as I’d already admitted, but I wasn’t there yet. “They’ll notice, yes, but they won’t know the weirdness is because of me. There could be a million reasons for it. If I maintain a five-foot distance between us, they won’t even notice I’m without goggles.” I didn’t give him a chance to issue another protest. Releasing Cyrus’s hand, I followed Domino’s path.
We passed a building made of colorful, serrated crystals on one side and concrete on the other. Feeders perched all over it. Other infected rushed about, some carrying or dragging dead bodies.
I stutter-stepped when I noticed Merlot and her cast. She hung over a feeder’s shoulder, limp.
Cyrus didn’t pause, just reclasped my hand as he passed me, urging me along. “She’s dead. We can’t help her.”
The massive Ferris wheel lay collapsed on its side, its rusted metal frame tangled in a web of snapped cables and splintered gondolas. Once-bright paint was now faded and peeling, streaked with grime and corrosion. Around it, the skeletal remains of other broken rides jutted out at odd angles, their twisted metal structures groaning softly in the wind. Torn banners flapped weakly, their colors drained by time and weather. The air was thick with the scent of damp wood, rust, and disintegrated trash strewn across the cracked pavement. The occasional creak of unstable beams and the distant scurrying of maddened provided an eerie soundtrack for the entire amusement park.
The trainees waited at the center of the Ferris wheel, under an erected pritis pole that projected a small circle of golden light. Winslet.She huddled together with someone I didn’t recognize. They aimed their guns at the feeders collecting around the edges of the ring. Cuts marred both their faces. They quaked with fear.
The feeders clearly conversed with each other, exchanging clicks, calls, and high-pierced screeches.
“Do you know what they’re saying?” I whispered to Cyrus.
“They’re debating using the trainees as bait for the glowers or eating them alive to build their strength.”
At the sound of our voices, the feeders spun, facing us. Cyrus released my hand, and we both palmed a weapon. I’d always assumed feeders were mindless, concerned only with blood and pain. Learning they were intelligent, able to reason out a plan of action—well, I didn’t like it.
Another question bubbled to the surface. “When did you learn their language?”
A muscle jumped beneath his eye. “I didn’t. I read about it, and suddenly I just knew.”
