The Girl Who Fell From The Sky - Rebecca Royce Page 0,78

My memory was good, too good sometimes, but it kept me from being lied to, which had come in handy plenty of times in my life.

“We don’t keep them with us,” Mattis said. “The terrors! They’d rip our faces off. But they do like to carry songs around for us, and we leave food out for them when it gets cold. I guess you could say we’re allies.”

A brotherhood. A pack. With terrors. Okay.

“So assuming we’re going to do this—and I think it’s a dodgy idea, if that even matters—how do you summon them?”

Astor pulled a device out of his pocket. “Our ancestors discovered long ago that the Howlers both love and hate this sound.” He clicked it, and all I could hear was the click. Didn’t hurt my ears at all. “They hate it so much that they come to investigate it. Like a moth drawn to a flame.”

I liked and understood that metaphor. Seemed some things were the same everywhere. “What happens when they get here?”

Mattis scooted closer to me and put his arm around my shoulder. “I wish we’d thought about the, ah, needs of the girl we’re rescuing ahead of time. The Howlers won’t come in the tunnels. But they’ll be close enough that we can signal them.”

Astor raised his mouth toward the ceiling and howled. It was such an odd sound to hear him make, there was something utterly surreal about it. He stopped and started, an almost staccato like sound to it. Then he sat back down. Sure enough, a few seconds later, I heard the noise again in the distance. This time from the howlers themselves.

It was…fascinating.

“There, now they know.” Mattis squeezed my shoulder. “And we’re all going to be on Torrin’s shit list for weeks. But we knew that anyway. It was a good idea. There were just factors we didn’t consider.”

Enough with this. “Let’s just speak the truth, shall we?”

“Bianca,” Astor sighed. “Look—”

“You’re both right. Something went wrong, okay?” I didn’t let him finish. “I’ve been strong and fine this whole time, but sometimes, something goes amiss with me. It’ll correct. I’m just sorry it happened today.” I looked away. “You should know there is nothing I hate more than pity.”

Mattis leaned his head against mine. He yawned. “I don’t pity you. Neither does he. We’re both wishing you had said something earlier, but as I once kept the fact that I’d broken my foot a total secret for two miles in training, I get trying to tough things out. And Astor—”

The aforementioned royal held up his hand. “Nope. Don’t tell her.”

“Fine. I won’t. Point being that we get it. We’ve done the same. And I’m glad to hear you’re going to be okay.”

I couldn’t guarantee that, but my history told me I’d make it through this mess. I always had. The fact that I was living and breathing was a good indication that I was tough and capable. It had taken us a long time to get here. Presumably, it was going to take us that long to get help and…

That was when I heard it. The sound of running feet approaching.

The guys must have heard it, too. They were on their feet fast. I tried to get up but wasn’t moving quite as quickly as they were.

“Stay down,” Mattis said to me. “Nothing is getting near you.”

Okay. As I had no choice, I remained where I was. Seated in the face of danger.

I was still sitting there when five Reamers roared into our tunnel. Ugly, scary, smelly, and wanting to eat the flesh off our bodies. Or maybe that was just what they wanted from Astor and Mattis. From me, they wanted something else entirely.

Mind over matter, I pulled myself up. If there was going to be an attack, I had to at least be standing. And in less than a second, there was no question about the ‘if.’ It was happening.

They rushed us.

People talk about moments of crisis happening in slow-motion, but they don’t tell you how clear details become. Like, I noted each weapon holster on Mattis’ body as he found them and armed himself and Astor. Both of them—weapons at the ready and looking fierce—stood between the Reamers and me. They didn’t hesitate at all. And they didn’t pass me a weapon. Not a single one.

This was how my guys lived, what they knew, probably like daily showering or meditation used to be for me. Part of me wanted to be right there in the middle,