Page 139 of Bones
“You’ve been exiled,” he hissed, spittle flying from his mouth. “You will start walking and you will never come back here. If you do, I will kill you myself.”
“Where’s Wolf?” I choked out. Wolf would never let this happen. He wouldn’t. Right? The memory of his face twisted in fury and hate flashed through my mind and I had to swallow a panicked sob. No, he was still my brother. He wouldn’t?—
"Wolf isn't gonna save you. He wants you dead," Pa said, still in that harsh voice. He drew a knife and my heart leapt into my throat, choking me, but he just grabbed my shoulder and spun me around to cut through the ropes on my wrists. "So you better start runnin', girl, ’cause he's gonna come after you, and not even the gods will be able to save you if he catches you."
The ropes fell off my wrists, and he shoved me forward so hard I sprawled face-first in the sand. I scrambled to my feet, shaking in terror, but he just stared at me with hatred.
“Wolf wouldn’t—” I started, my voice small and trembling.
“You ever seen a wolf get a hold of a rabbit?”
Tears poured down my face. Wolf couldn’t hate me. He couldn’t. Could he? He was my brother. I needed him. I couldn’t do?—
“Run, lil rabbit.” Pa smiled cruelly. “Before Wolf tears you apart.”
I started walking backward away from him, terrified. Once a safe distance away, I turned and ran. The last time I glanced back before I disappeared into the scrub, he still stood there, a shadow in the dark, watching me flee.
“Bones?”
I snapped back to myself. Trey stood in front of me, his hands on my shoulders, concern shining in his eyes. I was breathing in short pants, my chest constricting.
“You back with me?” he asked.
I stepped forward into him and he immediately wrapped me in his arms. For a long time, we just stood there—me breathing in his familiar comforting scent and Trey holding me tight.
“Sorry,” I mumbled once I breathed more normal.
“It’s alright. What happened to you was fucked up, Bones, and you’re allowed to have feelings about it. I sure as hell do. They never should’ve done that. You were just a kid.”
We stood in silence for a few more minutes.
“How the fuck did you survive?”
I took a shaky breath. “I was in the desert for about a week, just walking, trying to get as far away as possible. Then Juck found me.”
His arms tightened around me, and his voice sounded anguished. “Gods, Bones.”
“It wasn’t so bad,” I lied.
“Don’t lie,” he admonished, but gently. “Griz said you learned how to heal like a regular healer from books?”
“Yeah. Vulture scavenged some for me, and I just read them over and over until I had ’em memorized. On long rides, I’d recite all the stuff in my head.”
He pulled away, still gripping my shoulders so he could look down at me. "So you were a ten-year-old kid and you taught yourself how to be a fucking healer by reading books." His eyes shone with admiration. "First of all, you're incredible. Second, all of that is fucked up and you did not deserve any of it."
I had to press my lips together to keep from admitting that I thought maybe Ididdeserve it. I'd killed my brother, my best friend. Maybe everything that happened afterward was exactly what I deserved. Suffering in retribution was the whole point of exile being a punishment. I wasn't sure how much suffering atonement required, but?—
“No. You didnotdeserve it," Trey said sternly, startling me. He smiled when I looked up. "Yeah, I thought that was probably what you were thinking."
“What are you, a mind reader?” I grumbled.
He grinned, releasing my shoulders to grab my hand again as we continued on. We traveled in silence for a while. The grade grew less steep and I got the hang of the snowshoes. The quiet, peaceful woods were so still, but also so damn cold. My face burned when the wind blew.
“How’s your back today?” he asked.
“Still hurts, but I’m getting used to it.”
He quieted for a bit, something dark and haunted flitting across his face.
