Page 103 of The Garnet Daughter
“I’m so sorry,” I say like a coward instead.
“I almost killed 99.” She shakes her head.
I take a steadying breath. “Ferren, I have to tell you something about the ritual we did in the temple.”
“Do you see that?” she interrupts, looking down the long hallway.
My stomach sinks to the textured metal floor. “See what?”
We both stare hard into the darkness and wait for the lights to glow with the next strobe.
“That!” she whispers, but it comes out too loud.
The hall is a mess of dark shapes. Nothing seems out of place, but the air is . . . off. Green, glowing light fills the space all around us as Ferren calls forth her light. With her gift illuminating the space, I can make out the outline of something on the floor ahead, sticking out from behind large barricading totes.
My eyes can’t seem to make sense of the shape.
But I can hear it.
The source of the whispering I heard from the outside of the ship. Now, deep groaning murmurs blend together in low, continuous tones.
“Do you hear that?” My own voice is barely more than a whisper.
She doesn’t answer, but her gift glows in a flurry of light. I touch her shoulder in case we have to fold. I may not know where my gift will take us next, but it will be away from here and whatever is down that hallway.
Panic rakes over my nerves. All the air is seemingly sucked from the passageways as the murmurs turn into a voice I have heard before, one that continues to follow me and present itself at random. It’s separate from the whispers. I glance at the hall we just came from, hoping it is empty as it makes itself known again, deep and calling out. However, the tone is absorbed by my body and not by my ears. How is it possible to feel a noise but not hear it?
Chapter
Thirty-One
Ferren steps closer, her posture is tense as if she is ready to fight, but with the next strobe of ship light, she hesitates.
“Calliape, look,” she whispers.
A First Son soldier lies lifeless on the metal floor with his back against a set of doors. His armor holds him up, his chin tucked as if his neck cannot hold the weight of his head.
“Don’t.” I pull on Ferren when she starts forward again.
“He’s dead. No signs of life, remember?” she reminds me as much as she does to 99 through her tether.
“Is there another way?” I ask her to check with the others.
She pauses, listening within her tether, and then slowly shakes her head. “They want us to fold out.”
“Oh.”
“Let’s get closer and then decide.” She looks to me to agree.
“Alright,” I confirm resolutely and hold out my hand for her to take it. The only way I am going along with this is if I can fold us out at a moment’s notice.
My steps are careful, as if any vibration will disturb the atmosphere. Ferren’s light illuminates our path, a glowing orb held in her free hand, shining on the body of the First Son soldier.
It’s so cold now, my shoulders tense and draw in, our panting breath creating angry, swirling clouds all around us.
I point to the man’s weapon, splayed on the floor next to him as if it fell haphazardly, and then we notice the old blood that has spilled out from under his helmet.
Ferren gives me a grave look, realizing what happened here at the same time I do. Knowing he is truly gone, even if the method of doing so is grim, shouldn’t make me feel better, but it does. Now we know for sure he’s not laying a trap for us to walk by on our way down to the cargo hull.
