Page 6 of Kingdom of Tomorrow
Pleasure gave my steps a little extra pep. “Agriculture fascinates me. Have you ever seen an apple? A tiny seed contains everything needed to produce an entire orchard. And nature isn’t the only one to experience such a miracle. Honestly, I see seedtime and harvest in everything now. A thought ripens into words, then actions, then character. Even human beings start with—” Oh, no, no, no. I did not just go there. “I’ll stop babbling now.”
“Please don’t.” He looked at me as if I’d threatened to trash his new favorite toy. “Have a food with me and tell me more. Tell me everything.”
“Afood?” I laughed outright.
“Any food. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, or dessert. Or a drink. Coffee. Water. All of it at the same time.”
I snuck a glance at him through my lashes, a wee bit befuddled by his enthusiasm but also soaring. The few guys I’d dated had played it cool from start to finish or propositioned me outright. There’d been nothing in between. “Like, an official date with you? Today?”
“Very much an official date,” he confirmed with an emphatic nod. “Now. Please.”
I mean, I’d probably never see him again. But it wouldn’t hurt to—
A guttural scream pierced the air. Everyone paused, including us. I didn’t dare to breathe as my insides twisted into sickening knots and the scope of my world constricted.
Someone had just broken with Madness.
Another scream preceded a series of grunts and groans. The crowd surged into action. Bicyclists sped away. Citizens with enough extra trills to rent a motorized vehicle burned rubber, some swerving to avoid pedestrians, others crashing into people and parked cars. People on foot hurried to the nearest light stand—a steel pole stationed at select street corners, topped by a cluster of pritis stones, the only thing capable of repelling a maddened.
Right now, the golden light projected by the pritis offered the only safe haven, but available spots were filling up fast. I tried and failed to force my legs into motion. Gurgling sounds left me.
Thankfully, Shiloh understood my dilemma, swept me off my feet, and sprinted to a luminous sphere. He scored us a spot in front of the crowd, standing me up to ensure both our bodies fit within the glow of illumination.
I clutched his hand, my gaze darting. Air hitched in my lungs when I spotted the infected. A teenager with wild eyes, a manic expression, and torn, blood-soaked clothing. He scaled the Rock with ease, displaying unnatural strength, incredible speed, and a strange, otherworldly mix of fluid grace and human awkwardness. Every few seconds, he paused to lick the stone and shout “Look at Soal. Love Soal!”
A lord and lady lay unmoving on the ground beneath him, crimson rivers pouring from beneath each piece of armor. A pool of death formed at the base of the Rock, and I cringed. The Madness turned even the most docile of citizens into gleeful killers.
The boy stilled, sniffed the air, and swung his eyes to me. His lids narrowed while his lips curved up, and I had to fight back a tideof vomit. Fear was their favorite meal, and I’d just become his next appetizer.
He zoomed my way at a pace I could barely track. My lungs ossified, and I lost the ability to breathe. To move.
Shiloh yanked me against his side, pressing us both against the people who huddled behind us.
The maddened paused where the light of day met the unnatural pritis glow, a mere inch from my face. Shaking, I pressed deeper into Shiloh’s chest.
“Love Soal, destroyCured,” the boy hissed at me. “You areCured.”
A hot tear rolled down my cheek.
“Hey, hey. Concentrate on me, Arden.” Shiloh cupped my jaw and lifted my head without breaching the dividing line, seizing my gaze. His tender, unafraid expression made the situation slightly less terrifying. “I’m here, and I won’t let anything happen to you. Okay? Since we’re not budging from this spot, there’s nothing the maddened can do to hurt us, which means there’s nothing to worry about.”
“Y-yeah. Okay,” I rasped. His words made sense. And yet the infected wasright there.
“My turn to balance the scale and share something about myself.” Shiloh brushed the pads of his thumbs over my cheekbones, so gentle. “Anytime I was scared as a little boy, my mom told me to hold on to her and together we would squeeze lemonade out of lemons.”
“Did you?” I’d longed to taste a lemon for years. And a strawberry. A peach. An apple. Most of all a fig. Fruit only the incredibly wealthy could afford, and then only in limited quantities. “Make lemonade, I mean.” Whatever that was.
A bemused light flickered in his eyes. “I’m not actually sure. But it always helped me feel better. So you just hold on to me, and together we’ll make lemonade.”
The maddened continued to prowl before us, agitated and desperate to get his hands on me but unwilling to penetrate the light.
“Yeah, okay,” I repeated, a bit calmer. My breathing slowed until Shiloh’s sandalwood scent registered. I inhaled slowly, rational thought returning. I’d come across many of the infected throughout my life. Witnessed horrific deeds and savage attacks. But I’d survived every encounter. I would survive again.
The maddened spotted a woman and her child at the other end of the street, the pair trying to sneak to a light stand. With an inhuman growl, he flew over, tackling both. Laughing, he pummeled the mother with his fists.
“Look at Soal. Look! You areCured.” He dragged her by the hair and lifted her face to the Rock. The most sickening sounds spewed from his mouth before he licked her face and purred, “LoveSoal.”
Shiloh didn’t hesitate. He released me and bounded over. A new flood of fear engulfed my being as he ripped the mom free from her crazed captor and tossed the teen onto the road.
