Page 27 of Lies Within the Darkest Tower

“No me,” said a third — or was that a fourth?

“We can go together,” another man offered.

At least two dozen of them crowded close, all eager, all bigger than me, forcing me to look up at them and making me feel small and helpless. Some of them looked hungry like Black Hair and White Hair, others looked eager, while a few looked… hopeful? The three men who wanted to stroll with me glanced at each other and something passed between them.

“We’ll show you the garden,” the first guy said, as he drew closer, his hand outstretched in a offer for me to take it.

“No,” Black Hair snapped, possessively grabbing my arm. “She’s just arrived.”

“Then she should be shown around so she doesn’t get lost,” the first guy shot back, taking another step toward me.

I shifted back, trying to put space between me and the men, but they moved with me, keeping close. Offers to sit, to eat, to stroll, to listen to music, to bathe were thrown out, each suggestion louder than the next as every man tried to be heard over the others.

Their voices roared around me and my pulse raced. They were too close. They kept bumping into me. They were going to grab me and rip me apart.

Great Father, this wasn’t a dream. It was a nightmare, a reminder that I was now surrounded by men in the Black Tower and didn’t want them to know who I really was. And while themen in my dream were all vying for my attention, I doubted the men at the Tower would be so welcoming.

They crowded so close I could barely see the gauzy canopy above me, and my breathing turned sharp. I couldn’t breathe. The world jostled and my thoughts spun. I needed space. I had to get out of there.

Leave me alone. Please. Stop touching me.

But I couldn’t get the words out. I’d be punished if I made such demands. I’d be punished too if I fled, but I had to do something, and fleeing was safer than speaking up.

There was a space behind me. If I was fast enough, I could run through and find a way back to the garden. There was a chance if I ran away, my dream would make them chase me, but I couldn’t keep standing there.

I jerked around and twisted sideways to bolt through the space between two of the men. Black Hair said something, but I ignored him and wrenched out of the way of another man. I bumped into someone, jerked away before he could grab me, caught a glimpse of gauzy green fabric, and raced toward it.

The window billowed the fabric across my path, but I shoved it aside, ran between two of the statues, and slammed face-first into something hard and black.

My world lurched, the impact stunning me, and with a yelp, I stumbled back and lost my balance. But before I could fall, a hand snapped out, grabbed my upper arm, and jerked me upright. He — and from his size and build he had to be a he — tugged me to his side and wrapped his arm around my waist, steadying me against him.

“What—” he snarled, the voice shockingly familiar.

That sounded like?—

I jerked my gaze up and looked into the silver eyes of the Lord Commander of the Black Guard.

Oh, shit.

CHAPTER 17

Sage

I inwardly groaned.It was going to be one ofthosedreams. The Lord Commander already thought I was an idiot and was already angry at me. My dream had to be feeding on my fear that when I woke, mucking the stables wasn’t the only punishment he was going to give me.

“Find something else to do,” he snarled.

Except he wasn’t looking at me. He was glaring at the other men.

“But she’s new,” Black Hair said as the other men crowded behind him. “She needs someone to show her around.”

“And if she wants you to show her around, she’ll ask you.” The Lord Commander’s lips curled back, and he snarled, a lot like the shadow monsters had snarled.

I tried to slip from his grip, hoping he’d be too upset with the others to notice — because hey, it was a dream and people could get away with things like that in dreams — but he didn’t release me.

“You’re here because you’re no longer children,” he said. “Stop acting like ones.”

Black Hair glared back at the Lord Commander then jerked around. He gave White Hair and Short Hair a quick look, thenpushed through the crowd and headed back into the courtyard, the other two following him.

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