Wings of the Walker - CoraLee June Page 0,229

he silently giggled, shoulders shaking with amusement. "I have business to attend to at the capital. One of my scientists has made an important discovery that I must deal with."

"Everything is always more important to you than I am," Mistress Stonewell cried out. All I could see from beneath the table was her pale pink heel stomping on the tile to accentuate her words. I tried to shift closer, to look at their faces, but Josiah’s hand jetted out to stop me.

"Don't be so dramatic, Linda. Some things are more important than your need for validation, you know. I'm an important man."

Mistress Stonewell heaved a long, steady sigh before responding. "Of course I know, Lackley. It's all you ever remind me of."

My brow shot up, and I looked to Josiah. He was tracing lines in the fibers of the rug beneath us, no longer listening and looking wildly sad. "I suggest you tread carefully," Lackley replied, drawing my attention back to them. "Remember who you're speaking to, darling."

"I know exactly who I'm speaking to," Mistress Stonewell replied, her tone dark and foreboding. "I also know that you're sleeping with this scientist you're always raving about. You're putting a lot of faith in Dominique. I don't think her views align with ours."

A hand slammed down on the dining table, making Josiah and me flinch. "She's the brightest scientist in the empire. I have to protect her. Don't think you control me. Don't think you have any say in who I see or who I fuck. This thing between us is nothing, so next time you want to tell me who to see—don't."

From under the table, I watched as Lackley left, leaving Mistress Stonewell in a stupor. His polished dress shoes clacked against the tile, and once he was out of sight, Linda collapsed on the floor in a heap of sobs, cradling her head in her hands. Josiah then laughed at his mother's defeated posture. The chuckles erupting from his mouth cruel and uncaring. Mistress Stonewell snapped her attention towards us with a ferocious scowl.

"Were you spying on me, Walker?" she asked while crawling towards me.

"No—" I choked out. With one swift movement, she swiped the dining chair aside, leaving me vulnerable. When it crashed to the wall, I jumped. Her bony fingers wrapped around my ankle as she yanked me out from beneath the table and towards her. I lay on the floor staring up at her as she lifted her arm.

"I'll show you what happens to little Walkers that eavesdrop," she screamed before backhanding me. My vision went black, but I clung to the memory as I felt a hand grasp mine.

"Remember, Ash. Save them, Ash," Josiah's voice said, no longer sounding boyish. "Save them. Save them all."

When I woke up, my chest felt tight, but my limbs light. "What happened?" I croaked as memories of Jules pinning me to the ground and forcing a pill down my throat assaulted me. Looking around, I gathered that I was still in the Scavenger medic tent. I wasn't sure how long I'd been lying there, but my growling stomach made me think that it had, at the very least, been a day since I'd eaten.

The door to the tent opened, flooding the room with bright sunlight. I winced as my head and eyes burned from the intrusion. Throwing my arm over my face to block my vision, I froze when I didn't feel the familiar metal of a fetter on my wrist.

"Ash?" a familiar voice called out to me, and I moved my arm to see Payne.

He had dirt on his cheek, and the back of his hair stood straight up. I imagined that he hadn't seen Mistress Stonewell recently, because if he had, she'd not let him walk around in "such a condition."

"Hey, kid," I smiled.

“I'm glad you're okay," he replied. "Huxley is mean when you're not around," Payne pouted as he climbed up onto my legs. I looked towards the far side of the tent where Lilly was messing with herbs on a table and giving me sideways glances.

"What happened?" I asked her.

She took a while to respond, shuffling various plants around before turning to face me. "That treli skyla, Jules, is what happened," Lilly finally said. "She shoved some empire medicine down your throat. You died. That thing popped off your wrist, and then you were back. You've been asleep for a couple hours."

I shook my head then ran my finger along the purple scar where my fetter