Page 72 of Echoes of War

“Why?” I asked as I slid out of the bed.

Knowing we’d likely have to flee before first light, I’d taken the liberty of packing my clothes last night. I had tossed Abel’s belongings into his bags as he snored, ignorant to what was taking place duringthe hours he slept. He began to stir in his bed, eyes creaking open at the noise.

Reina stepped into the room, the door still open behind her. “So she wouldn’t have to,” she mumbled.

I sighed, nodding in understanding, still not finding the right words to say.

“What’s going on?” Abel asked, his voice hoarse.

My sister walked over to his side, prodding him up, pretending nothing was wrong. “It’s time to go.”

He groaned, pushing himself up at the urgency in her voice. “The sky’s still dark. We have another hour.”

“We have to go now, Abel. You can sleep when you’re dead,” I said definitively. “That wasn’t a statement up for debate.”

Abel studied us both, shrugging at the lack of information either of us offered. “Women.”

I rolled my eyes at the comment. Of course, he would think it was some hormonal bullshit. Guess I couldn’t blame him, given our spat last night.

“You know where the horses are?” I strapped Wrath onto my back, awaiting Reina’s response.

She still refused to meet my eye, but I caught the slight tilt of her head.I’ll take that as a yes then.

Tossing Abel his shit, “Good, let’s go,” I muttered.

They followed me out of the room, sticking close behind me as I kept to the shadows the remaining darkness provided. There was a corner in the settlement I’d noticed remained relatively unguarded. Reina focused on the one’s a few hundred yards away. They yawned, stretching their arms out before their heads bobbled off to the side.

When the coast was clear, we scaled over the wall and made our way to the horses. A chill went down my bones at the feeling of being watched. I turned my head, catching the figure of awoman atop a horse’s back near the portion of the wall we’d just come from. She sat there, watching us load up and saddle in.

Reina’s curiosity got the best of her. She guided her horse in the direction of my focus, a lost expression in her eyes. The sun peeked over the horizon, and I recognized the woman as Millie. She offered Reina a tense nod. My sister moved her horse, Bimbo, back around, presumably southeast. Her fingers clasped with a steady grip on the reins. She shifted her weight forward, with a gentle nudge of her heels, Bimbo took off across the horizon. Abel and I fell behind, riding into the sunrise at a silent gallop.

We rode for hours, always at Reina and Bimbo’s heels, but never next to them. Reina wouldn’t allow it and I had decided long ago into this trip not to push. She seemed to know where she was going, which was enough for me to let her take control. It was hard being atop a horse, riding where Seth had ridden for years in The Before. We were going to pass their home on the way to Billings, a home every indication in Reina’s body language let me know we would not stray too close to.

Part of me wished he would be here with us, pretending he was riding at my side. It was stupid. I was stupid for longing for him. Chasing the ghost of a man who I wasn’t sure ever existed. At least not the man he allowed me to get to know.

Reina slowed at the Missouri River, stopping for the horses to rest and get a drink. She stayed on, gaze focused out in the distance. My sister hadn’t said a word since we’d departed Great Falls.

I rode up next to her. “Here, I took the towel from Great Falls. You should rinse yourself off.”

Reina glanced down at her body, eyes wide. A whimper escaped her lips. Trembling, she brought her hands up toward her face. She absentmindedly ran her fingers through her butchered hair, breaths rapid.

In the light of day, the blood covering her coat down to her pants was evident. I pressed my lips together, trying my best to not to turn away from her when she needed me the most. The blood had smeared across her pale skin.

It was a sight I never expected to see. She had slit Nash’s throat, causing his blood to splatter all over her. Given my preferred method of killing, I knew the mess that came with such an action. Reina was a healer, not a killer. Of course, she hadn’t known any better.

That wasn’t entirely true. Not really. She may have not known the mess it would cause, but slitting someone’s throat was far from a quick death. It was slow. He would have died choking on his own blood. Reina was no stranger to basic anatomy. The gore was what was fucking her up, and now, with the evidence of what she had done, guilt.

She went mute, focusing on moving one foot in front of the other as she entered the freezing water, a whirlpool forming around her. I swallowed my tears. Watching her was painful. Reina clutched at her chest. The second the blood reddened the water, her deep breaths shifted to hyperventilating. Abel came up behind me, removing his outer layers to help calm her. I put my hand out, signaling for him to come to a halt.

“I’ve got this,” I said, yanking off each item of clothing that I couldn’t spare to get wet.

I ran into the water, the sensation stealing the air from my lungs, but I pushed forward. The brisk air paired with the shrill water could kill me, but I didn’t care.

Wading over to her, I grabbed her shoulders, making her face me. Her icy eyes searched mine, and I hoped she found a sense of peace within them. I gave a slight nod of my head, a tense smile pulling at my lips. Without a word, I guided water up the length of her body, making sure I didn’t miss a spot. When she was rid of all the blood, she stared at the reddened water around us.

“I had to,” Reina whispered, “I couldn’t let her end up like me … like Maia. This isn’t her war to fight; it’s mine. My brother’s. My father’s.”

I hated hearing those words. That wasn’t true. It was everyone’s war. There would always be evil in this world. If it wasn’t her father, it would simply be someone else. It sucked that her family had guilted her into feeling responsible. Fuck that, it more than sucked. It infuriated me. They would pay for this, I’d make sure of it.

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