Page 24 of Not Today, Satan
At the top of the staircase, we enter the mouth of a cave that curves around the wall. We’re almost at the end when a voice from the other side stops me in my tracks. I place a hand on Nathan Reynolds’s chest.
“What is it?” he asks between panting breaths.
“Shhh.” My hand shifts from his chest to cover his mouth, my heart racing. “Souldiers.”
“Copy that,” a gravelly feminine voice says around the corner.
There’s the crackle of a walkie-talkie as another voice replies. I can’t make out the words, but I know the voice as well as my own. It’s commanded my entire life.
My stomach drops deeper than the pit in Lot Thirteen.
That was fast.
There’s a pause and the click of a button. “We’ll keep an eye out for your daughter, Your Majesty. And the escaped shadeling. They can’t have gone far. Over.”
“What’s going on?” Nathan Reynolds mumbles against my hand. I tighten it to quiet him.
“Father knows,” I whisper. I meet his eyes, my hands cold as ice. “We’re officially fugitives.”
XI.
My vision spins, and pressure builds in my chest.
How did Father learn what I did so fast? It’s over before I even made it out of Dominus.
I’ll never be welcomed back into my home. Even if Father lets me live, I’ll be branded a traitor. Not even Atty will want anything to do with me.
“Are you okay?” Nathan Reynolds whispers. “You’re not gonna pass out, are you?”
His voice breaks me out of my reverie. I blink until he comes into focus and the ache disappears from my chest. He watches me, his eyes lined with concern. I open my mouth to insist I’m fine, but the words die in my throat. The way he looks at me is foreign. Like he actually cares if I’m okay.
But he barely knows me.
He probably only cares that I promised to get him out of here.
I nod, removing my hand from his mouth. “Just need a minute.”
Pressing against the wall, I inch forward. I can’t see around the corner but, based on their voices, there are at least three souldiers.
My companion’s wounds may be healing, but he’s still weak. And he’s human—which makes him useless.
Three on one. Perfect.
“Wait here,” I whisper. “And for the love of all things, stay quiet.”
Slipping my sword from its sheath, I grip the handle with a sweaty palm. I’m a decent fighter in class, but most souldiers have centuries of training on me. The metal in my hand sprays the cave with dancing stars as it trembles in the firelight.
I suck in a breath and peer around the corner. The souldiers have their backs to me. They’re standing close to the edge of a cliff, their postures relaxed.
At least I have the element of surprise.
Using both hands to steady my weapon, I leap out of the cave and attack the first souldier. My blade misses her by inches, but she’s so startled that she backs up and plunges over the side of the cliff without so much as a scream.
My eyes widen.
Oops.
The fall won’t kill her. If anything, she’ll get a couple days of paid vacation. Maybe she’ll thank me.
