Page 13 of Veinblood
Then I round a corner and nearly collide with someone coming out of a side alley. A woman, middle-aged, carrying whatlooks like refuse in a container. She stops short when she sees me, eyes widening as she takes in my appearance.
She speaks rapidly, gesturing at my clothes. Her tone is oddly worried rather than hostile. When I don’t respond, she steps closer, reaching toward my arm. I step back, evading her touch, and she freezes. Her expression shifts from concern to confusion, then wariness. Her hand lowers, and she takes a slow step backward, before turning and hurrying back the way she came.
The encounter confirms what I already know. My appearance is going to draw attention. Whether it’s my clothing or something else, something will mark me as someone who doesn’t belong here.
I keep walking, more cautious now, still following the pull of the faint connection to Ellie.
Another street brings another encounter. This time it’s a man clearing snow from the entrance to a building. He looks up as I pass, calling out something. When I don’t respond, he shrugs and returns to his work, muttering something in a low tone.
The brief exchanges remind me of Ellie when she first arrived in Meridian. The frustration in her eyes when she couldn’t make herself understood, the determination that kept her trying. But she had one advantage I lack here. She had me, able to understand her and translate for others.
But I’ve faced impossible challenges before. The key is breaking larger problems into manageable pieces, addressing obstacles that stand between me and my primary objective.Finding Ellie. Everything else is secondary to that goal, mere necessities that enable the search to continue.
I need to survive long enough to reach her. Food, water, shelter from the cold. I need to move through this world without drawing attention that might slow my progress or force me into hiding. If I don’t find her soon, I will need to find ways to understand their language, and their customs.
The connection pulls northwest, but gives me nothing else. She could be streets away or on the far side of this sprawling city. For all I know, she's injured, lost, or facing threats I can't anticipate because I don't understand the dangers this world contains.
Every hour I spend learning to navigate these streets is an hour she remains beyond my reach. Every moment I waste on survival is time she might not have. But rushing blindly forward helps no one.
Still, my situation gives me a new appreciation for how well and how quickly Ellie adapted to my world. She survived Meridian without knowing its rules. She endured. Adapted. And found a way forward.
The thought brings comfort and guilt in equal measure. Comfort, because it proves adaptation is possible. Guilt, because I understand now what I put her through, how helpless she must have felt in those first days and weeks.
Now I walk the same path, in a world that would see me as wrong. But as long as the connection holds, it means she's alive. That has to be enough for now.
Chapter Five
ELLIE
“Hope is not a destination. It is the path walked in darkness.”
Love Songs of the Mountain Provinces
Authority soldiers pound on doors,moving house to house through Ravencross’s old district. I don’t remember how I got here, but every instinct says they’re looking for me. I press myself against the wall, heart hammering as crimson uniforms flash past the alley where I’m hiding.
Why am I here? Where is Sacha?
The banging grows louder, more insistent. My pulse thunders in my ears, while the lightning coils beneath my skin, ready to strike. I force it down. I can’t be discovered. I can’t let them see the silver light. I can’t let them know what I am. They’ll drag me to Blackvault and purge the power from my body. I can’t let that happen.
Heavy boots thud against the cobblestones, coming closer. Muffled voices bark orders I can’t quite make out. The sound of splintering wood echoes from somewhere nearby. They’rebreaking down doors now, past waiting for permission to be allowed inside.
My breath comes in short, sharp gasps. The wall against my back feels too thin, like it might crumble at any moment. Like it won’t be enough to hide me once they’ve searched every house and there’s only the alley left.
The banging stops. Then starts again.
Closer. It’s right beside the entrance to the alley now.
A shadow falls across the gap.
“Ellie.”
My heart stutters. They’ve spotted me. I back against the wall, but it’s no longer there, and I fall backward. The red cloaks fade to shadows. The cobblestones beneath my feet transform into something soft.
Where am I?
My heart is throwing itself against my ribs. I’m gasping, my body braced for an attack that isn’t coming. My hands reach behind me and my fingers curl around cushions not stone. Reality reestablishes itself.
I’m in my apartment … not Ravencross.
