Page 156 of Serpent In White
We can go somewhere far away and keep breathing. We canlive, because that’s why we’re here.
Our purpose.
A sound brings me out of my memory, and I look around.
I gaze out into the forest, the sunlight barricaded out by the trees and all their many branches of full leaves. I see nothing, so I shrug it off and prepare myself for what I need to do.
It does weigh on me, everything I hide from Darian. Over the years, convincing him we could never be together; that the Regnum wouldn’t approve, and that they couldn’t understand.
Darian is smart as hell, but he’s also been weakened by what happened to him. It doesn’t matter if it was a hundred years ago, or ten minutes ago. It still affects him, and the unfortunate fact is that I played on that.
I used his insecurities to convince him we could never be together.
It had to be done.
Unlocking and lifting the trapdoor, I head down the steep steps. I saunter slowly to the cell, occupied by one Officer Hoyt.
He’s pretty young, probably in his late twenties. Built, but not too much. Not as big as Darian.
I toss that thought away and glare at the man where he sits on the floor, holding his tied hands to his head in the spot where Xander hit him. It’s still bleeding. He probably has a concussion. Not that it will matter for much longer.
“You’ll burn for this.” His raspy voice quavers up at me, through the metal bars.
My head pivots right. “Of that I am almost entirely certain, Officer.” I open the cell with my key. “Now, stand up, please. We’ve got some walking to do.”
“No. Where are you taking me?” He stutters, eyes red-rimmed and glistening with a fear he’s so clearly trying to cover up.
“I’m going to set you free.” I give him a pointed look, folding my arms over my chest.
He doesn’t believe me at all, that much is clear from his thoughts and even just the look on his face, but I don’t care. “You are?”
I nod. “Yup. Come now. Let’s go.”
He still doesn’t move, and I’m losing all my patience. Stalking up to him, I grab him by the arm until he’s forced to his feet, yanking him out of the cell. I’m dragging him along while he does the bare minimum of walking, just enough to keep himself from falling. We get to the steps, and I point.
“Go.”
“No.”
“Do it, Officer. My patience is wearing thin.”
He hesitates for another moment before climbing up the steps into the shack, with me right behind him. I catch him looking around, assessing items he could grab as weapons. Contemplating running. I hear him thinking it all, running through his potential for survival.
“You won’t get far,” I tell him. He turns to me, gaze narrowing. I blink.
Brushing past him, I grab his arm again, pulling him along with me.
“Where are we going?” He asks while we walk, following the narrow trail which leads up the mountain. The path that directs to the overlook.
The cliff.
I don’t answer him, but it doesn’t stop him from continuing with his pointless words. “My partner will come looking for me. My Captain. You won’t get away with this.”
“Captain Bellman? I know him.” I smirk, peering at him from the side to witness his face drop.
He doesn’t say anything else after that.
Many more minutes of walking, I finally spot it in the distance. The cliff, settled just beyond the clearing in the trees.
