Revelations (The Elysium Chronicles) (11 page)

For the next several hours we wait, Asher occasionally getting up to rustle through the pack or check on Starshine before sitting down a distance away from me. We stay lost in our own thoughts until the sun starts to disappear behind the horizon.

A strange sound comes from the direction of the woods and I jump to my feet, straining to see what made it. However, all I see in every direction is more sand and dirt.

The sound comes again and Asher stands and mutters under his breath, “That’s not good.”

What did he say? I ask myself, but before I can ask aloud he’s kneeling in front of me.

“I’m sorry, Evie. I—I don’t think he’s coming.”

“We don’t know that yet. He’ll come. Any minute now.”

He glances over when the strange sound splits the air again. “We can’t wait any longer. That sound? It’s coyotes. And they’re going to be hunting soon. We need to get somewhere safe.”

The name makes my blood run cold. Gavin said something about them last night. If he was afraid of them, then I know I should be, too.

“What about Gavin?” I demand. “He needs somewhere safe, too. He’s going to be looking for us. We can’t just leave!”

“
If
he’s alive, he’ll survive. He’s a hunter. He knows how to survive out here way better than we do. He’ll be fine.”

He touches my leg when I don’t move. “He’d want you to go, Evie. He made me promise to keep you safe. He’s going to look for us someplace safe, right? He sent you away to protect you, not get eaten by coyotes because you’re too damn stubborn to listen to reason.”

I open my mouth to refuse again, but then shake my head, the logic of that finally entering my heat-addled brain. I don’t know what coyotes are, but that sound makes my stomach twist with fear, and Gavin hadn’t wanted to run into them either. He knows what they are and how to get away from them. I’m sure. And Asher’s right; Gavin would want me somewhere safe. That’s where he’ll look for me.

“No. Of course, you’re right.” I hold out my hand to him. “Let’s find somewhere safe.”

C
HAPTER
E
IGHT

Caution! Restricted territory. Nanite-affected area. Unauthorized entry banned.

—
S
IGN BOLTED TO
O
UTLAND CITY GATES

Evie

We don’t push Starshine as fast this time, but Asher isn’t exactly taking his time either. The sun is setting quickly and before long the entire area will be dark as pitch with nothing but the moon for our light. It’s not even a full moon. I hope he slows down once the sun sets—I worry we will push Starshine too fast and something we can’t see will cause her to trip and fall. I voice my concerns, but Asher brushes it off.

“The sooner we get to shelter, the safer we’ll be,” he tells me, not even glancing over his shoulder at me.

Left with no choice but to agree, I shut my mouth. I have to trust him to get me to where we need to go. Gavin obviously did. At least enough to send me away with him. And I trust Gavin.

As the sun disappears, so does the heat, and while the cool was a relief at first, now it has gone almost too far. Goose pimples prick my exposed flesh. I keep my arms wrapped around Asher’s chest and press myself closer to him for warmth. It doesn’t help all that much.

Another howl echoes in the air. It’s a sad, lonely sound, but it chills me just the same. I realize that they’re getting louder and more frequent. They sound like they’re just behind us. I look around to see if the animals are close, but there’s nothing but darkness.

Asher pats my calf. “It’s all right. We’re a moving target and, unless they’re starving, they won’t come after us.”

“And if they
are
starving?”

He pauses, then says, “Then we’ll have to hope Starshine’s faster than they are.”

I swallow. I don’t like the sound of it, yet we don’t have much choice.

“How far until we find shelter?” There is a small quaver in my voice. I hope he doesn’t hear how afraid I am.

“Not much. A couple hours. Probably.”

I fight back a groan. Hours. Of riding a horse. In the dark. With carnivorous animals at our heels. Lovely.

I immediately feel guilty. Gavin’s probably having much worse problems. He doesn’t even have a horse, or any gear, or food. Medical care. My chest aches for him.

For what feels like forever, we ride. Starshine is moving fast, blowing wind into my eyes so I squeeze them shut. My whole body aches with the effort of staying on her back and holding Asher. If I weren’t gritting my teeth, they’d be chattering in the cold.

My shivering isn’t helping my fatigue. My head throbs with each of the horse’s footsteps. I suspect I’m dehydrated—my tongue keeps sticking to the roof of my mouth, and my lips are chapped and sore—but I don’t dare ask Asher to stop for a drink of water. Who knows how far back the coyotes are. I imagine them pursuing us with pointed teeth, foaming mouths, and red eyes, their bodies as tall, if not taller than, Starshine’s. I don’t know what came over me earlier, but it’s obviously not dependable. I can’t rely on those instincts to appear again and help us out if we need it. So, I cling. I shiver. And I pray we get wherever we’re going just a little faster and that Gavin isn’t too far behind us.

When I tremble for what feels like the thousandth time, Asher rubs his hand up and down my leg, quickly.

“I’m sorry,” he calls over his shoulder. “It shouldn’t be long now.”

Afraid to speak in case I bite off my tongue, I nod.

When I shudder again, he says, “Maybe you should sit in front of me. Like before. You’ll stay warmer.”

It’s tempting, but I’m not sure I should. “No,” I say.

“Are you sure? I don’t mind. You’ll be a lot warmer.”

I can’t even respond because I’m shaking so hard, so when I can finally say something, I murmur “Yes” into his ear.

He slows immediately, but then, without warning, I hear another howl, practically right next to us. I start, then glance over in the direction of the howl. This time I see something. A set of yellow, glowing eyes.

Then I hear it—just under the sound of the horse’s hoofbeats is the sound of other animals running and panting for breath.

“Asher?” I say.

“I see ’em,” he responds back between clenched teeth. He digs his heel further into Starshine’s sides and she jumps forward, running as fast as she had before.

One of the dog-like creatures makes a leap at us, just barely missing my leg. I bite back a scream and cling to Asher.

“Don’t panic. They’ll sense your fear.”

I try not to, but when another one lunges at me, its claws scraping over the exposed skin of my leg, I can’t help but scream. My leg is on fire and I can feel and smell the blood dripping down it.

“Evie!” Asher yells back. “Did they get you?”

Before I can answer, another dog jumps at us and I kick out with everything I have. I feel my foot connect with something fleshy and the dog yelps.

“Evie! What happened? Are you hurt?”

I can’t speak over the pain so I just nod, but then I realize he can’t see it, so I force out a “Yes” through gritted teeth.

“How bad?”

Before I can answer, yet another dog leaps at us, this time grabbing onto Starshine’s backend.

She rears with a high-pitched whinny that sounds disturbingly like a scream, and it’s everything I can do to hang on to Asher. The dog is shaken loose and falls with a yelp to the ground. Starshine lands with a bone-jarring thump, and if it’s possible, she runs even faster.

Burying my face into Asher’s back, I hang on to him as tightly as I can. Through his back I can hear him murmuring. “Come on. Just a little more. Almost there.”

The dog-beasts are still behind us—I can hear them—but they’re falling back by the second. I turn and watch as their yellow eyes grow smaller and smaller until they disappear completely in the dark.

Relieved and perilously close to sobbing, I press my lips together and my body even closer to Asher. He doesn’t slow down for several minutes, only letting Starshine drop to a fast walk when the horse’s breath is chugging like an engine ready to fail.

He turns to me and his eyes are wide in the moonlight.

“Are you okay?”

“I—I don’t know. They clawed my leg.”

He glances down, but I doubt there’s enough light for him to see anything.

“We’re almost there,” he says after a minute. “Just a few more minutes. I think. Can you make it that long?”

“Of course,” I say, although I don’t know for certain. But I know now why he wanted us to get away from where we were so badly. There is absolutely no way I’m letting him stop to take a look at my leg. I’d rather lose it completely than give those … things time to catch up.

Gavin flits into my mind again. I seriously hope he found a safe place before we did. Those things were not playing around. I don’t even want to think what they’d do to him if they found him.

True to Asher’s word, it’s only a few minutes before I see what looks like the shadow of buildings rising up out of the dark. Asher lets out a relieved sigh and pushes Starshine to put on an extra burst of speed, racing toward them.

He stops short when he sees a tall wall surrounding the town, like the one surrounding our village. He follows it around until we find a large gate. It’s closed, as it should be after dark, but unlike in our village there is no sign of a guard.

Asher pulls Starshine to a halt and then jumps off. “Stay here,” he says, and I nod, trying to rub warmth into my arms and looking around to see if I can see any of those dog-beasts again. It terrifies me, standing out in the open like this, but I don’t see that I have a choice. There is a protocol we have to follow, I’m sure. There always is.

“Hello?” Asher calls. “Anyone here?”

There’s no response but the echo of his voice. I tremble again and curl into myself, trying to make myself as small as possible. It’s entirely too quiet for my tastes. The only sounds are the echoes of Asher’s voice.

“We’re from Black Star Cove. A village a few days’ travel east of here. We just want some shelter for the night as we pass through to Rushlake City.”

Nothing. Not even the sound of wind.

Asher turns back to me and shrugs before turning back to the gate. He presses on one of the gate doors and with a loud squeal it swings open. It’s worse than the proverbial nails on a chalkboard. I slap my hands to my ears, then wince when the movement causes my head to feel like I’ve split it open.

He freezes, waiting for an alarm to go up, but when it doesn’t, he pushes the gate wider. It squeals again, but nothing else happens. He then comes back to me, and takes the reins, guiding Starshine through the gates before shutting them again.

“Guess no one’s home,” he says.

I don’t say anything. Even though I should feel better that we’re not just standing outside the gates waiting to be those animals’ next meal, the whole place has my nerve endings tickling. I worry my pendant between my fingers. The village is dark, made darker in some spots because of the buildings that block out the moonlight. Almost all of the buildings reach for the stars, jutting out of the sand like fingers. I cannot believe how tall they are. They are at least three or four times taller than the mayor’s house in the village. Not to mention intimidating, with their yawning doorways and hundreds of dusty windows that show us nothing but inky darkness. The shadows are so thick it’s almost like I could reach out and feel a solid wall.

“What is this place?” I shudder as I stare into yet another pitch-black opening.

“It’s a city.”

“Not the one we’re going to, right?” Please tell me this isn’t the city that was supposed to cure me.

“No. This one is smaller. And probably abandoned, from the looks of it.”

Asher jumps back into the saddle and continues farther into the city, slowly. It’s still too quiet. Disturbingly so. The only sound is Starshine’s hooves making clacking sounds on the hard ground. I shiver, but this time it has nothing to do with the cold.

“Asphalt,” Asher murmurs. “Interesting.”

I glance around, and that’s when I see them. People. A bunch of them, standing in strange poses—as if time stopped and they were stuck in whatever move they were making at the time—just outside the doors of one of the tall buildings. I straighten and my hand tightens on Asher’s shoulder.

“What’s wrong?” He turns to look at me when I don’t respond. He follows my gaze and pulls Starshine to a halt. “Is that a person?”

“People. I think.” I keep my shaking voice quiet. I don’t know why, only that I’m almost scared to talk. As if the people are only sleeping and I’ll disturb them if I speak at a normal volume.

“Hello?” he calls to them, making me jump. “Can you help us?”

They don’t so much as budge and we exchange a look before he dismounts and cautiously proceeds toward them. When he’s within touching distance, he pauses, then starts laughing.

“What?” I demand. What could possibly be funny about any of this?

“They’re just statues!” he says.

“Statues?” I rub a hand over my forehead and look again. The placement is odd. And why in Mother’s name would they make them in such odd poses? It makes me wonder who lives here.

“That’s weird,” Asher says, tilting his head sideways as he studies the statues.

“What?” What I really want to ask is
What now?
, but I don’t.

“They’re all wearing real clothes. They’re a bit torn and dirty, but they’re real clothes.” He tugs on one of the sleeves of the closest statue. I try to come up with an explanation, but can’t. The whole thing is sort of creepy.

Asher comes back and vaults onto Starshine, prodding her forward with his heel. It isn’t long before we see more of the eerie statues. They’re placed so haphazardly, I start to wonder if they were positioned to make it appear as if people are living here. Like, maybe this town was meant to be some strange museum of what the world was like before the War. Some are clustered around doors leading into buildings, others at the cross streets we pass. The closer we get to the city center, the more there are.

“Whoa!” Asher exclaims as we get to a large, squat structure made of metal and glass, standing in the middle of the path.