Reveal Me (Shatter Me Novella) - Tahereh Mafi Page 0,22
certainty.
“You know,” she says softly, “I think there was a part of me that was really hoping you’d catch me.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” she whispers. “Otherwise—why didn’t I just fly away?”
I take a second to let that sink in.
And then—
Damn.
She’s right. I never stood a chance against this girl.
“Hey,” I say.
“Yeah?”
“You’re completely insane, you know that?”
“Yeah,” she says, and sighs.
And somehow, impossibly—
I’m smiling.
Carefully, I reach out, grazing her cheek with the tips of my fingers. She trembles under my touch. Closes her eyes.
My heart stops.
“Nazeera, I—”
A wild, piercing, bloodcurdling scream brings the moment to a halt.
Twelve
Nazeera and I share a split-second glance before we’re running again. I follow her through the woods, toward the source of the scream, but almost as quickly as it came—the world goes quiet. We rush to a sudden, confused stop, nearly falling over in the process. Nazeera turns to look at me, her eyes wide, but she’s not seeing me, not really.
She’s waiting. Listening.
Suddenly, she straightens. I don’t know what she heard, because I heard nothing. But I’ve already realized that this girl is way out of my league; I have no idea what other skills she possesses. No idea what else she’s capable of. But I do know that there’s no point doubting her mind. Not when it comes to shit like this.
So when she starts running again, I’m right behind her.
I realize we’re heading back toward the beginning, to the entrance of Nouria’s camp, when three more screams pierce the night. Then, suddenly—
At least a hundred more.
And then I realize where Nazeera is headed. Out. Out of the Sanctuary, into unprotected land where we could too easily be found, captured, and killed. I hesitate, old doubts asking me if I’m crazy to trust her—
“Stealth, Kenji— Now—”
And she disappears. I take a deep breath and follow suit.
It’s not long before I understand.
Outside of the protection of the Sanctuary, the screams intensify, rising and multiplying in the darkness. Except that it’s not dark, not here. Not exactly. The sky is split, darkness and light melting together, clouds falling sideways, trees bending, flickering, bending and flickering. The earth beneath us has begun to pucker and crack, divots forming midair, puncturing nothing and everything. And then—
The horizon moves.
Suddenly the sun is underneath us, searing and blinding and fracturing light like lightning as it skids along the grass.
Just as quickly, the horizon swings back into place.
The scene is beyond surreal.
I can’t process. Can’t digest. People are trying to run but can’t. They’re too overcome. Too confused. They make it only a few feet before something changes again, before they’re screaming again, before everyone is plunged into darkness, into light, into darkness, into light.
Nazeera materializes at my side. We’ve pulled back our invisibility. It seems obvious now that there’s no longer any point in stealth. Not here. Not in this.
And when Nazeera turns abruptly and starts running, I already know she’s heading back to camp.
We have to tell the others.
Except, as it turns out, they already know.
I see her before we’ve made it back. Right outside the entrance, backlit by chaos:
Juliette.
She’s on her knees, her hands clamped around her temples. Her face is a picture of pure agony, and Warner is crouching beside her, pale and terrified, his hands on her shoulders, shouting something I can’t hear.
And then—
She screams.
Not again, I think. Please, God, not again.
But it’s different this time. This time, the scream is aimed inward; it’s an expression of pain, of horror, of travesty.
And this time, when she screams, she says a single, unmistakable sentence:
“Emmaline,” she screams. “Please don’t do this—”
About the Author
Photo by Tana Gandhi
TAHEREH MAFI is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of A Very Large Expanse of Sea, the Shatter Me series, Furthermore, and Whichwood. She can usually be found overcaffeinated and stuck in a book.
You can find her online just about anywhere TaherehMafi or at taherehbooks.
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Books by Tahereh Mafi
Shatter Me
Unravel Me
Ignite Me
Destroy Me
Fracture Me
Shatter Me Complete Collection
Restore Me
Defy Me
Imagine Me
Shadow Me
A Very Large Expanse of Sea
Furthermore
Whichwood
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REVEAL ME. © 2019 by Tahereh Mafi. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of e-books.
EPub Edition © 2019
Digital Edition OCTOBER 2019 : 978-0-06-290627-4
10987654321
FIRST EDITION
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