Page 68 of Cry of the Damned
They pressed tighter around us, their little hearts speeding up, becoming audible to my sensitive ears. As we stood there, the people around the camp began to notice us. Slowly, they abandoned what they were doing and pointed in our direction. Soon, surprised cries went through the camp.
″They’re back! They’re here!”
As pack members hurriedly approached us, the kids clung to us tighter. A crowd of people soon stood in front of us, their eyes darting from face to face.
A woman pushed to the front. It was Lawana, followed closely by Desna.
″Is it true?” Lawana asked, her six-foot frame towering over me. “Priestess Nanai says the Academy has been destroyed.”
″It is true,” I said, holding my head high.
Lawana opened her mouth to say something, but someone pushed desperately through the crowd. He stopped, took us in, then rushed toward the child Novuk held in his arms.
″Nirliq!” It was her father, who snatched the girl from Novuk and pressed her against him. “Nirliq, Nirliq, my sweet Nirliq. I thought I’d lost you forever.” He twirled her in his arms, laughing and crying at the same time.
Someone else stepped forward, a woman of around thirty with two braids that reached her waist.
″Miskomin? Is that you?” She tentatively approached a girl of about nine. She kneeled in front of the stunned child and took a trembling hand to her cheek. “It isyou,” she said under her breath. “Itisyou.” Like Nirliq’s father, she crushed the girl to her chest and began to sob.
Slowly, others came forward, scanning each child, searching for their loved one. Many found what they were looking for, while others stood, looking lost, a different brand of tears sliding down their faces.
The lucky parents took a moment to thank us for what we’d done before disappearing with their children as if they feared someone would come to take them away again.
″This is it?” Lawana asked when only the bereft parents were left. “A few children? Where are the rest?”
Kall stepped forward, his anger thrilling through our bond. I snatched his hand and pulled him back. His green gaze met mine.
No fighting, I thought to him.
He nodded and pulled back.
“The older children decided to stay back,” I said. “We felt it was their choice. We couldn’t force them to do something they didn’t want to do. They’ve already been through enough. You will be glad to hear that the magistrates are dead, their hot spring destroyed, and the Academy bolted shut. They won’t be bothering us anymore.”
Lawana opened her mouth to say something else, something I knew, by her expression, would be unpleasant.
Wishing for nothing more than peace, I cut her off by talking to the crowd instead. “The Ashoona pack will be traveling to Tanisi tomorrow morning. Those who wish to join us are welcome to do so.” And with that, I turned the way we’d come, and we made camp a fair distance away from Lawana and the rest.
I meandered through the tallgrass, my hands skimming the top of their soft blades. Tanisi was more beautiful than I remembered. Perhaps it was the peace that seemed to float all around us that made it appear so, but I didn’t think there was a more beautiful place in the entire world. Maybe one day, we would still travel elsewhere. Or maybe not. Our lives felt full of possibilities.
Our small pack was happy. We’d only been back three days, but it was clear by their big smiles that there was no other place they’d rather be.
Nosh had come with us. Also, Nirliq and her father, who had adopted Terit since his family had been lost when the Academy last attacked us. Surprisingly, four families from Lawana’s pack had decided to join us. She hadn’t been happy about that, not at all. Her aim had been to grow in numbers and power. Instead, she’d done the opposite. At least she had kept Desna. Good riddance.
As I got closer to the river, I noticed Novuk sitting by a tree, whittling away. He looked sad and, through our bond, I sensed the heaviness in his heart. Bethel had stayed back with her coven, and he hadn’t been the same since. I hope that one day, not long from now, they would find the happiness that they deserved.
Ahead, I heard the splash of water and followed its sound. As I expected, I found Kall waist-deep in the river, washing himself. His clothes lay in a pile by the shore, and as I imagined the rest of his body underwater, my cheeks grew hot.
When he noticed me, he stopped scrubbing his face and met my gaze. His mouth stretched into an inviting smile that I couldn’t refuse.
Standing by the shore, I slowly removed my boots, buckskin leggings, and tunic. Kall’s eyes devoured me as I stepped naked into the water, my long hair brushing my breasts as the wind gently blew it.
″You are so beautiful, Sheela,” he said, opening his arms to receive me.
I stepped into his embrace, a delicious shiver running up my spine as my torso pressed against his. He shuddered as I did and buried his nose in my neck.
″I am the happiest man alive,” he said.
″Perhaps, I may yet make you happier still.”
