Page 6 of The Infinite Glade
“She’s a grown Godhead, for crying out loud. She can handle it.” Roxy nodded and shooed the children off. “We’ll see you at the ship.” The ancient hag waved.
“Thank you.” Alexandra touched the palms of her hands together.Too easy.
The soldiers shrugged but listened to Roxy and continued on. Alexandra watched over her shoulder until the group of teenagers and Roxy disappeared along the bend of the coast. The Goddess continued inland, following the direction of the squeals.
Did it sound like a pig?
Yes. Yes, it did.
The most human pig she’d ever known.
CHAPTERTWO
Second-Sight
Soldiers decided their trust in two ways:
By someone’s character, and their competence.
And Alexandra had already proven to have neither. “I don’t trust her.” Minho looked over his shoulder to Orange after he watched the shape of Alexandra’s cloak disappear into the woods. Minho knew enough to identify a liar in his opponent, and the way she squinted when she said the wordHollowingwas suspicious. “A Godhead, someone of the highest order, would never walk into a brutal ‘carving and gutting of a human’ alone. They always had guards. Tons of them. . . .” The Remnant Nation’s Orphan soldiers were taught just as much about the Evolutionary Guards and how to circumvent them as they were taught about the Godhead. “I bet she never even saw a Hollowing.”
“Claims she did.”
“She’s lying. She’s going to get a weapon or something.” Minho adjusted the gun strap on his shoulder.
Dominic scoffed. “She doesn’t look like she even feeds herself, let alone ever handled a weapon.”
“Funny. I thought the same about you when we first met.” Minho lightly punched the kid. “I’ll be back in a few.” He motioned a hand signal to Orange that meant he’d meet her at the rendezvous—theMaze Cutter. Orange kept one hand on her weapon and nodded.
Orphans. Always on the ready.
“No, no, wait a minute here.” Roxy held her palm out to Minho. “We should really stick together. There’s explosions over there and who knows how many half-Cranks might be left in the woods.” She shook her head. “I’m not letting you out of my sight. I can’t lose you.” Then she looked at the others. “Not any of you.”
Minho felt something weigh upon him, heavier than all the steel arm and ankle training-weights from the Remnant Nation put together. He felt the fear in Roxy’s eyes. Scared of losing him. He never had someone he wanted to do right by before, but he sure as hell wanted to do right by Roxy. “I’ve got to go alone. I promise I’ll be back. Soldiers promise. I’ve got to see what it is she’s?—”
“Why don’t you trust her?” Sadina asked, never sounding more naive. “We came here to find the Godhead. Well, she’s it.”
Minho came for a different reason, unbeknownst to the others: he wanted tojointhe Godhead . . . but not anymore. Definitely not anymore. “A Godhead wearing a Pilgrim’s cloak.”
“So?” Sadina countered. “It’s colder up here, they have cloaks. Big deal.”
“So, she’s either a Pilgrim who’s deceivingus, or she’s a Godhead who’s deceiving herpeople.” Minho motioned back to St. Petersburg and the black smoke trailing in the air. “If a Godhead is so powerful, where are the other members and why is she out here trying to escape her city like a coward? Any true Godhead would stand with their people. They would stand with their city.” He didn’t know how else to say it, but either way, Alexandra Romanov wasn’t a good person. He trusted his gut.
Miyoko suddenly spoked up. “What does the cloak matter? You’re wearing the clothes of a Remnant Soldier, so maybe we shouldn’t trust you!” She pointed at Minho’s and Orange’s uniform.
Minho had never really felt like he belonged in the Remnant Nation. Even as an orphan, he knew he’d rather die alone than die standing beside them in battle. Every bite of gunfire and explosion echoing in the distance of Alaska, north of where they stood, felt like a hammer in his chest. “It matters,” was all he could say. He wouldn’t waste time explaining all these things to Miyoko or anyone else. All those years training to be a soldier taught him how to kill, how to fight in battle, how to die honorably . . . but he left the walls of the Remnant Nation so he could learn how tolive.
“Listen,” Orange said, and with that one word Minho knew what would come next. Anytime the Grief Bearers wanted to sell their lies as truth or their disappointment as opportunity, they’d start by sayinglisten. “We left the Remnant Nation because we believe in the Godhead. We didn’t want to kill her like the others. We’re on your side.” Lies, of course. But Orange calmed things down, and Minho could have left it at that. Probably should have.
But he didn’t want to lie and manipulate the first friends he ever had. He had to say it . . . “Maybe she’s not the Godhead. Maybe she’s just some crazy woman who we found living on the outskirts of the city . . .”
Orange gave Minho a cringed look of exhaustion.
Everyone got quiet.
Sadina took a step back and held her heart as if Minho had just pushed a knife right into her chest. Did she really believe this much in the Godhead? Had they been brainwashed?
She proceeded to let Minho have it. “We didn’t leave our homes, get kidnapped after watching Kletter’s throat get slit, get separated from Isaac, my mom, and Old Man Frypan to listen to you complain about what the Godhead iswearing. We left our homes, our loved ones, to come here and try to do what we can to help those we can, and if what you came here for is different—then go do whatever it is you came here for. Go fight the Godhead and the city with the rest of your people and die in those flames for all I care—but don’t mess up the good we’re trying to do to help find a Cure.”
