The Girl Who Fell From The Sky - Rebecca Royce Page 0,55

arrived, when I just assumed he had medical training.

I nodded. “I’m okay. You were so brave.”

He dropped his gaze to the sword I held. “Where did you get that?”

“Someone handed it to me.”

His smile was fast, sardonic. “Guess it’s yours now. We’ll have to teach you how to wield it. Shut them in. They’ll be safe. I’m pretty sure we’ve pushed the Reamers back. But I need to check on my grandfather. He’s probably at Mattis’. He’s not…right.”

I remembered Cannon, especially his fear of Reamers. “He’s sweet and kind. Let’s go.”

Nox squeezed my hand. “Don’t drop your sword. It’s a good one.”

I might never let it out of my fingers ever again.

The corridor and streets were empty. There were dead bodies strewn about, most of them looking like they were Reamers, but some who were clearly ours. My mind turned to my brother. He sent people to die in wars all the time. Did he ever see this? Did he ever think about what an actual battle looked like? I’d never see the man again, and these were questions I wouldn’t have thought of when I’d known him. My twin brother who, just weeks without contact, now felt like a stranger.

I was living in a world where war happened right in front of me.

“Why do they look like that?” I kept my voice down as I questioned Nox. “They don’t look like us.”

He nodded toward Mattis’ bar, and we entered it soundlessly. Maybe he’d answer me in there, maybe he wouldn't. I supposed now wasn’t the best time for questions.

The sound of low crying greeted us, and Nox dropped my hand to rush toward the kitchen. I followed on his heels. There, hidden badly in the corner, enough in the open anyone could see him, was his grandfather.

“Hey, Popop.” Nox knelt down and squeezed Cannon’s shoulder. “It’s almost over. I’m sorry you were alone.”

I needed to sit, badly. Catching my breath seemed integral, and sitting would serve the double purpose of helping Nox comfort the poor older man. I sank to the ground right next to Popop.

“We’re here,” I said. I hoped that helped.

Nox met my gaze. “We don’t know what the main Reamer settlement is like, but out in the battlefield, the Reamers live in terrible conditions. They are constantly exposed to the elements, and in some seasons, the wind and rain are corrosive. It doesn’t make sense to me why they’ve never built better shelters. Also, their diet is awful. There is much supposition that they eat human flesh when they run out of food. It’s not just rumor, unfortunately. We can’t prove it because people like my grandfather don’t escape in their right mind. But we’re pretty sure.”

I wanted to puke. They hadn’t just come here to attack us, to harm us, to—it was hard to think about—rape and kidnap women. No, they may have been here to consume us.

Nox squeezed my knee with his other hand. “It’s awful. I know.” He settled down on the floor in front of us. “I may have overdone it.”

Yes…he was pale. “I don’t see as you had much choice.”

He leaned on his knees. “You understand this better than anyone, I think. You’re pale.”

That wasn’t surprising. “I just thought the same thing about you.”

“We will rest, then,” he decided.

Only, I could hear the hesitation in his voice. Resting out in the open, on the surface, here in Mattis’ bar, meant we were exposed. That couldn’t be a good idea.

“No,” I heard myself saying. “We need to get Popop back into the tunnels. Also, we need to find the others who live up here, the prostitutes and other vulnerable people. We need to bring them to safety, too.”

Or else. Or else… I couldn’t get the thought out of my mind—cannibal.

Nox closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the scuffed wood paneling. There was blood on his chin. His own blood? Was he wounded?

“Please, Bianca,” he said. “Fragile Bianca, so slight, so precious. And wounded now, too, with the branding. Safe. I need to keep you safe.”

It occurred to me that he would protect me and Popop no matter what it cost him, no matter what it was already costing him. I had no idea what the recovery time was for those herbs we’d used. The book didn’t give that kind of information, just treatment instructions. Nox wasn’t recovered enough to be doing this. But the alternative?

“Nox,” I said, shoving my sleeve up and pointing to my completely pain-free arm,