Page 29 of Xantera
Just like all the other times, my claws scrape at the surface. I let them take root in some of the spiderwebbing cracks, digging into it deeper so that I can pull myself upward.
Not even two seconds later, pain explodes from the point of contact.
It feels like nails are driving through my paws, up my arms, and straight into my fucking heart. My skull splits. White-hot stars bloom across my vision.
And still I scrabble for purchase, pulling myself upward.
If it weren’t for the pain, I would have been able to scale this thing a long time ago, or ram myself through it no matter how thick it is. The spikes at the top wouldn’t matter—I’d simply rip them off with my teeth and spit them off the ledge.
But the pain. The pain. Thepain.
It’s like I’m rotting from within.
My vision turns black as it drives deeper into every trembling part of me. Fire licks across my veins, stabbing every organ like pieces of glass. Still, I climb, dragging myself higher than I’ve ever been before, pushing the pain into a dark cavern of my mind.
Until my muscles spasm and freeze—because it’s not just my own fear that paralyzes me. It’s what’s laced through the Wall.
I slide back down and land in a heap at the bottom.
A fury like I’ve never known bubbles back to life as the pain slowly leaks out of my body.
I can’t get to her.
My father was never able to conquer the Wall, and that has been a stone-cold fact that haunts my every waking moment. But now Iknowone of the people I was born to protect. I know her name and her voice and the secret desires she’s trying to bury.
And I. Can’t. Get. To. Her.
I wasn’t joking when I said she’s a traitor simply for fraternizing with me now. If the parasites catch her with that necklace and all her other secrets…
Scrambling upward, I run to the edge of the woods and launch myself at the Wall again.
Again.
And again.
And again.
The sentry knocks twice, her long, slender arm making it look so graceful.
Immediately, I release the necklace, my pulse hammering, to watch what’s about to happen unfold.
Her sword rests at her hip, hanging from the leather belt around her waist. Her cloak and rich brown hair blow in the breeze that whistles through the alleyway.
The thick sound of her knuckles against the wood bounces back to me. Then she reaches for the knob without giving anyone inside more than a second to react before the door swings open, like Malcolm was already standing on the other side waiting.
When his face comes into view, his eyebrows knot into confusion.
“Good evening,” Malcolm saysstiffly.
I don’t hear the female sentry’s reply, but Malcolm’s eyes flit over her shoulder and land on me when I reach up to brush the hair from my eyes.
Guardians.
The sentry notices instantaneously and pivots her neck to find me in the middle of my first step. Hopefully, it doesn’t look suspicious, like I’m not hurrying or had just been rooted in place half a second ago.
But I’m flustered, and I have the heart rate to prove it.
My legs want to match the tempo as she watches me approach, but I force myself to maintain a steady stroll. Her doe eyes, deceivingly innocent, never stray from my face, but she stands in a neutral manner with her shoulders relaxed.
