Page 29 of Sanctuary of the Shadow
He smiled. Or, at least, his eyes did.
His skin became brown again as Harrow turned and leaned against the cage bars. “We have one week before the show. We have to figure out how to get you out of here, gather supplies, and decide where to go. No one can know what we’re planning.” She craned her neck to look up at him. “I guess that’s not a problem for you. You’re not much of a talker.”
Facing forward again, she sighed. “I’ll have to tell Malaikah, though. She can help us, and besides, I couldn’t leave her without saying goodbye.”
A light touch on her shoulder had her twisting around to find Raith crouched behind her, a frown creasing his brow. Somehow, she knew exactly what he was thinking.
“I do have to do this. Even without what the Water told me, there’s no way I could pretend I didn’t see what I did tonight.”
He frowned at the mention of the Water, and she debated explaining but decided against it. There was no point upsetting him with dire predictions, and besides, there was nothing to worry about anyway. She was going to help him escape before anything could happen.
She faced forward again, leaning her head against the bars, and an image of Loren’s stunned expression flashed through her mind. She couldn’t believe she’d blown her human disguise. What in the Shades had she been thinking?
She smiled into the darkness. No more hiding. No more pretending. No more damnable headbands. She thought of how good it had felt to give true readings again, and a sense of rightness filled her. She was done playing human.
If there were risks, so be it. She would find a way to circumvent the dangers. She would find a way to survive and make her people proud.
As if Raith was following her thoughts, the tiniest touch on her exposed ear tip sent tingles racing down her spine.
She looked back. “Yeah, they’re pointed.” She reached up to touch the tip as he had. “Just like yours.”
He frowned, tucked his hair back, and touched his own ear. His eyes widened like he hadn’t realized until that moment he had Elemental ears.
Harrow’s heart clenched amid a wave of tenderness. There was something so pure about him. Oh, he was lethal, there was no doubt about it, but he was also innocent in many ways. He was an enigma she was determined to understand.
She wanted to be the first to touch that secret side of him and protect it from harm. She wanted him to trust her with an almost desperate need. She wanted to be closer to him than she’d ever been to anyone. She just…wanted.
“We’re different, you and I,” she said. “People like us have to look out for each other.”
“Why?”
“Because.” Did he genuinely not understand? “It’s the right thing to do.”
He didn’t respond, and Harrow faced forward again. “You have a nice voice. You should speak more.” She quickly added, “But only if you want to.” She didn’t like the idea of pressuring him to do anything before he was ready.
He didn’t speak. Apparently, he wasn’t ready. That was okay. Hopefully, in time, he would trust her more.
“I should go. Tomorrow’s a big day. We have to start working on our escape plan. First things first, I need to figure out how to get you out of that cage.”
Luckily, she knew just who to talk to.
…
When Harrow was gone, Raith lay on his back in the center of his cage and stared at the tent’s roof through the bars. He thought about Harrow’s fierce conviction to liberate him and wondered where it had come from. And he thought about the strange urges that had risen in him when their hands brushed. Urges to touch. To taste. To possess.
He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. It was intense, all-consuming, and therefore frightening. He wasn’t sure yet if he preferred the numbness. It certainly felt safer and more familiar.
One thing he was sure about, however, was that he didn’t like the sacrifice Harrow was planning to make for him.
Contrary to what his preference for silence might lead others to believe, he was not stupid or lacking perception in any way. Based on what he’d heard tonight, he had pieced a lot together.
Salizar had told him that wraiths were responsible for the deaths of the Seers.I enjoy witnessing your pain, he’d said,while still knowing it will never equal the pain your kind inflicted upon the Seers before you killed them all.
But then his voice had dropped as he added,All but one.
And then, before Salizar had stabbed him with the staff…This is for Harrow.
The Seers had been destroyed by wraiths. All of them were dead, except one. One survivor.
