Page 70 of Echo Power

I turn in a circle to take in our surroundings, but I still can't say for sure where my brother sent us. Or why he sent us. He could've simply killed us both. We seem to be on the side of a mountain, based on the sloping terrain, though I can't see what lies below us. Trees block the view. If I knew anything about old-school navigation, I could chart our location based on the sun's position in the sky or some such bollocks. I am not versed in navigation techniques. We're in the mountains. That's all I can deduce.

"Are you growling?" Willow asks, her eyes widening. "Are you a bear-man or something?"

"No." I hadn't realized I growled until she said that, but I don't sound like a sodding bear. Do I? Perhaps I have sometimes behaved like a wild animal, but I do not sound like one, and I am not a bear-man. "Have you seen anyone else here?"

Willow shakes her head.

Sefton undoubtedly dropped us in the middle of nowhere, in a place where we would have little chance of running into other humans and potentially finding help. Since he'd been enraged at the time, I can't help speculating, or perhaps hoping, he cocked it up somehow and left us near some sort of civilization.

"We need to get to higher ground," I say. "Someplace where we can see what's around us. If we're lucky, there will be someone nearby."

"Might be the monsters."

I glance at Willow. The girl is still hugging herself. She was terrorized by strangers and Echo creatures, so I can't blame her for being ill at ease. Allison would know what to say to the girl to make her feel better, but I haven't got a ruddy clue. After five years in the Echo, I've forgotten anything I might have known about how to comfort another person.

Especially a child.

Naturally, I react like the prat I am. I pat the girl's shoulder. "I doubt the monsters live here. Besides, if any of them show up, I will rip their heads off."

Her eyes bulge.

Yes, here is proof positive that I know nothing about children. I've terrified the girl, so I try to backpedal. "Ah, well, I meant that metaphorically. I'm sure the monsters are…lovely people deep down."

Willow still stares at me, her face blank.

Then she starts laughing, spluttering so much that she needs to slap a hand over her mouth. When she finally stops laughing at me, she wipes her eyes with her shirt.

"What is so bloody funny?" I snarl.

The girl might not be laughing anymore, but she is smiling. "Lovely people? You're funny, but you're kind of a dork too."

"I'm a what?"

"A dork. It means you're clueless." She pats my arm the way I had patted hers. "You don't know much about kids, do you?"

"No." I squint at the girl. "A matter of hours ago, you were screaming and cowering on the lawn. You would only speak to Allison. Now you're harassing me."

"I was scared because those people-things were after me. But you and Allison are cool."

No one has ever called me "cool" before. I was an earl, so most people referred to me as Lord Fallenmouth, whether I wanted them to or not. But Allison calls me "hot." I like that term best.

A fierce pang stabs into my chest.Allison. I abandoned her, though not by choice, and I can't imagine what my brother is doing to her right now. No, that's a lie. Icanimagine it, though I wish couldn't. Allison is strong and clever. She knows how to defend herself. I have to hope that's enough.

"If you're about to hurl," Willow says, "could you go behind a bush or something to do it? I might blow chunks if I see that."

Hurl? Blow chunks? I'm suddenly grateful that I don't have any children if that's how they speak. Could Allison and I raise a baby in this new world? No, she wouldn't want that. She can't want it. Not with me.

Willow squeezes her eyes shut and cinches up her entire face. "Okay, go on and do it. I can't see now."

"Go on and do what?"

"Hurl."

"What are you talking about?"

She cracks one lid to peek at me. "Throwing up."

I growl. Can anyone blame me? This child speaks nonsense, but at least I understood that phrase. "I am not about to throw up or 'blow chunks' or 'hurl.' Satisfied?"

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