Part 6 (1/2)
Memories surface of me being pinned down to the ground by someone else, and adrenaline rushes through my veins, causing my body to quiver.
Wrath lets out a laugh as he presses his chest against my back. I shut my eyes and mentally count to ten, imagining myself someplace else: in a field with flowers and trees where the air is clean and the sky is bright and I'm happy.
”Get off her!” Ryder growls. ”Or I swear to G.o.d I'll kill you.”
I open my mouth to tell Ryder to let it go, that I can deal with Wrath, but before I can get the words out, Wrath pushes off me.
He storms at Ryder with his fists clenched in front of him. ”I ought to kick your a.s.s for that.” He lowers his fists. ”No, you know what? I have a better idea. I think, when we get to camp, all three of us should go to my tent, and you can watch as I slowly peel her innocence from her bit by bit.”
Please, Ryder, don't say anything. You'll only make this worse. I don't want you to get hurt.
By some miracle, Ryder keeps his lips sealed, even when Wrath latches onto my arms and yanks me to my feet.
”Such a pretty, little thing.” He traps me against his chest. ”Maybe a little thinner than I like, but she'll do.”
The muscle in Ryder's jaw twitches, and a murderous look scorches in his eyes. If we ever do escape this situation, I'm pretty sure Ryder will try to kill Wrath.
”They're all secured,” Wrath calls out to the woman he referred to as ”your highness.” Stroking his fingers across my head, he shoves me forward.
The woman leaves the group and walks up to us, holding her gun at her side. ”Make them walk in the middle of us. And under no circ.u.mstances are they to be killed.”
”But what if they try to run?” Wrath protests, tucking Reece and Ryder's guns into his holsters. ”They're from the station, so you know they probably will. It's part of their protocol.”
”If you shoot them, I'll kill you,” she threatens. ”We need them alive, at least until tomorrow night.”
Wrath grumbles something then stalks off and joins rest of the group.
The woman faces us, tucking her gun into her thigh holster. ”Just because I told them not to kill you, it doesn't mean I won't break your legs if you try to run.” With that, she marches off, walking a line straight in front of the wall of fire.
The rest of the Forsaken swarm around us and begin herding us like cattle around the wall of flames. Ryder and Reece put me in the middle and stay close. Their presence gives me a drop of comfort. I just wish I could offer them the same thing.
Except for the occasional hushed whisper and the thudding footsteps, a distressing quietness chokes the air as we reach the trail. A mile or so down, Ryder inches toward me, keeping his attention focused ahead. Reece mirrors Ryder's movement, moving beside me. I can feel every time he wiggles his arms. I want to ask him if he's okay, but I don't know if I'm allowed to talk.
”How you holdin' up over there, Reece?” Ryder whispers, glancing back and forth between Reece and the people around us.
”I'm fine,” Reece mutters, sounding exhausted.
”Are you counting the steps?” Ryder asks under his breath.
”I'm trying,” Reece replies quietly. ”But I'm getting a little bit lightheaded.”
”That's okay,” Ryder says. ”I've got your back.”
I glance back and forth between them. Counting the steps? Is that code for something?
Ryder dips his head, locking eyes with me. ”How you holdin' up, sweetheart?”
”I'm fine,” I lie. I'm scared out of my mind.
”Don't worry,” he whispers. ”We're going to get out of this.”
I hope he's right. I just wish I knew what we were walking into and what Ryder and Reece's plan is to get out of this. Then maybe I could help.
”Stop talking to each other!” Wrath yells from behind us. ”Or else I'll come and break her legs. Then I'll have to carry her.”
I shudder. I didn't know he was back there.
We sink into silence as we hike for what feels like hours, winding up and down the trail, squeezing between narrow cliffs and climbing over large boulders on the path. Miles and miles pa.s.s by in a blur. Unused to being on my feet so much, my legs start to ache, and my footsteps grow heavier. But I mentally scream at myself to suck it up.
Do not show them how much you're affected.
By the time we slow down, the sun is rising and red bleeds across the sky like spilled paint in water. I'm just starting to wonder if maybe we're going to stop and rest when the trail opens up to a flat stretch of land hidden between mounds of towering, jagged cliffs. Enclosing the area are metal wires. It takes me a moment to figure out what it is-a fence. And just over the fence are countless large tents. In the center of it all, greyish purple rises upward and billows toward the sky.
”Everyone prepare to enter camp!” Wrath shouts as he thunders by us and up to the woman in charge. The two of them exchange some heated words, and then Wrath stalks off in a hurry toward the front of the group.
”Hey, Reece, remember that time we raided a channel and got swarmed by a bunch of wardens?” Ryder whispers when Wrath disappears out of sight. ”Instead of fighting back, we hid in the channels until we could get a clear shot to get out, but the plan totally backfired because the wardens ended up forcing us out with dreamland smoke.”
Reece bobs his head up and down. He looks tired, his skin is pale, and dark circles reside under his eyes. ”Yeah. What are you getting at, though?”
Ryder gives a stressing look at the camp ahead. ”Well, I'm not sure, but I think that smoke looks an awful lot like dreamland smoke.”
Reece drags his head up and dazedly blinks at the smoke funneling up the sky. ”s.h.i.+t, I think you're right.”
”You wouldn't by chance have any shade on you, would you?” Ryder wriggles his arms around, attempting to get out of the ropes. ”Otherwise, we're about to go on a really bad trip in probably one of the worst places.”
”I always have one on me for emergencies.” Reece blinks a few times. ”I can't get to it, though.”
Ryder leans around me. ”Where is it?”
”In my right pocket,” Reece whispers, his shoulders hunching.
”I think I might be able to get it.” Ryder flicks a quick glance ahead. ”But who's the lucky b.a.s.t.a.r.d who gets to take it?”
”Allura,” Reece murmurs. ”I don't want her to be vulnerable, especially with how interested Wrath seemed toward her.”
A ton of questions burn at the tip of my tongue, begging to be asked. Like, what's dreamland smoke? And a shade? And what's going to happen to us when we get to camp?
”The smoke's toxic,” Ryder explains, reading my questioning expression. ”It won't kill us or anything, but it'll mess with our heads.”
”Mess with our heads how, exactly?” I dare utter. ”Like we'll have hallucinations?”
”Kind of.” Ryder trades an indecipherable look with Reece.
”She's going to find out anyway, even if she uses the shade,” Reece tells him with an exhausted sigh. ”We might as well tell her now so she'll know what to expect.”
With reluctance, Ryder nods. ”Allura, when we inhale the smoke, we'll start acting out of our minds. And we'll eventually start seeing things that we normally dream about. Depending on what direction our minds go, we might say some stuff that's weird and crude and crazy. You'll probably want to smack us a lot, but I promise you that we don't mean any of the stuff we say. You'll take the shade, though, so it won't affect you. But I need you to pretend you're out of it until they lock us up. They can't know you took the shade.”
My mind races a thousand miles a minute. Dreamland? Shades? Toxic smoke? I've never heard of any of this.