He’s giving her an opportunity to run.
And she isn’t taking it.
Harland's boots rattle the shattered shards of glass on the floor as he stomps over toward the young man. A sound like a gasp wrenches from Mira's lips where she remains frozen in place, her hands clutching her chest as Harland pulls back his fist and prepares to break Dunce’s face next.
I want to take my shot. But there’s a beam between us that’s blocking all of the usual weak spots. Besides, shooting Harland will only enrage him, and as long Mira is still down there, I can’t afford to anger him further.
I need Mira out of there.
With only two bolts left, I need a clean shot.
It goes against my previous decade of better judgment, but I call to my friend. "Mira, run! Just go!"
Harland's attention snaps in my direction like a shark aiming for his dinner.
He’s been looking for me? Well, now he’s found me. He can let the others go.
Looking over her shoulder, Mira’s expression turns watery, the regret in her eyes unwarranted but understood. Being the sole survivor of a noctis attack is a heavy burden to bear. I would know since it’s a dark cloud I’ve had tethered to me since I was eight.
But the truth is, she’s the only one who is assured survival here today. She is the only one who can make it to the door before Harland will have a chance to stop her.
I shake my head at her in answer, until I realize she can’t see me up here in the shadows.
“It’s alright,” I tell her. “We’ll find you after. For now, save yourself. Make sure one of us survives.”
Survival is all that matters.
Her lips press together in a firm line. Barely able to contain her sobbing, she finally obeys my pleas, dashing across the rainbow glass that shimmers in the moonlight and racing out the front door.
A flag of midnight hair whipping at her nape is the last I see of her. My cellmate. My…friend.
I’d stare at the door for an eternity, confounded by the realization thatIactually considered her something so close as a friend, but the monster has been pushed over the edge now.
In his eyes, I killed his brothers.
I killed Rhain.
He’s hunted me across the Shadowthorn and died at the hands of my friend.
Tormented, taunted, and thwarted. Harland has come for vengeance, and the grin he flashes is a demented thing that makes me quake where I stand.
He dives for the stairs.
With no time to aim a perfect shot and only one way to go, I spin on my heels and stampede back up the steps with Rowland at my side. We run into the room and slam the door behind us as if it will grant us any amount of safety. The slant of the attic walls is smothering, the dimness disorienting.
We run as far as our feet will take us, across the room to the single window. Throwing Sable over my shoulder, I shove the shutters open.
Rowland catches the crook of my arm. “What are you doing?”
“Knitting fucking scarves. What does it look like I’m doing? I'm getting out of here.”
The rolling of his eyesis almost hidden by the way he glances over his shoulder. Behind us,Harland bounds up the steps. By the sounds of it, he’s as lumbering as a rhinoceros.
Rowland peers out the window."The fall's too far. We won't make it."
"Yeah, well? We won't make it in here either."
Nostrils flaring, I shrug out of his grasp. As I stare out the window, at the freedom that's so close but so far away, I look for Mira. I hope she's alright. I hope that any of the noctis nearby will come for us and that she'll somehow manage to find a way out of this place. She's survived this long, after all.
