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“Onlyafteryou explain all of this.” I glance around before my gaze lands back on his face… which is quickly losing its ire and shifting to guilt and concern.
A warmth brushes down my back, distracting me from our little disagreement. It quickly seeps into my sore muscles and tired bones, relieving each ache and pain. Within a couple of minutes, my back feels completely healed, no pain or ache left behind. I never experienced a healer’s ability before, but it is not something I am ever going to forget. My entire body feels rested, as if I slept an entire night, and my muscles are relaxed and revived.
Matthias steps around me with an amused smile, and I wince. I had forgotten he was still here with us. I give him a sheepish look that only makes his amusement grow.
“Thank you,” I tell him.
He dips his head to me. “Any friend of Jarek’s is a friend of mine,” he says.
I hop off the bed and move toward the door with Jarek.
“Don’t be a stranger, Seren,” Matthias says, wearing another warm smile.
“I won’t,” I tell him, meaning it. The type of involvement Jarek has with the rebels is more solidified than I had originally thought. I doubt it is something he would easily leave now. But the more I see and think about it, the less I would want him to.
I always thought the rebels to be nothing but misfits and troublemakers. But after tonight and seeing their willingness to help anyone in need, maybe it is time I stop judging people based on my narrow-minded experiences with them.
Jarek thanks Matthias and says his goodbyes before following me out into one of the empty hallways.
“How long?” I ask him as soon as we are alone.
Jarek swallows hard. “Three months.”
I nod to myself, and he jumps to plead his case, as if he’s afraid, thinking this is something that would break our friendship. But he is a silly fool if he thinks I would ever let anything like this come between us.
“I’m sorry. I should’ve told you. I just wanted to help, and they thought I would be of use. You’re a league above me. You have the captain and Aloisia. I just wanted to find a place where I could fit in.” His face is drenched in desperation, his voice full of dejection, making my heart clench.
“Jarek—”
A loud commotion quickly cuts off our conversation, drawing our attention to it. Sharing a look, we move through the stonehalls to the main room we entered to find a group of men and women in a heated discussion spanned out across it.
“They are blaming those deaths on us,” shouts a man who appears to be close to my age, his tawny eyes burning with anger. “My friend died, and they named us their killers!”
“We all know the truth,” Nikos says, adopting a reassuring tone and a softer demeanor. “Every Sidus in this town knows who therealkillers are, Andres.” He gives Andres a look full of sympathy before turning to the others and continuing.
“We need to organize more teams to spread out throughout the day. I do not want anyone by themselves. The dark creatures are getting stronger and smarter. And we need to stay vigilant.”
The others around him nod, waiting on his every word as he continues to set his rules. And from the admiration on their faces, it seems the rebels have a leader after all. One that sounds capable and fair enough to make deliberate and reasonable actions.
Once he’s finished his speech, I set about asking some of my own questions, hoping they have some information that might help us.
“How long have they been getting through by the river?” I ask him directly.
The entire room turns to me with startled looks on their faces as if they had forgotten I was here.
“A fortnight,” Nikos answers, not bothered by my interruption. “We’ve kept them at bay, but they’re getting stronger,” he reveals, only confirming what I have learned.
“But you and your men and women have been killing them?” I ask while glancing around at their wearied faces. “While making sure they don’t pass into the town?”
Their eyes tell a tale of some of the horrors they have seen and have had to deal with. My chest tightens when I realize that they have been protecting us a lot longer than I assumed. Whichmeans the dark creature problem is a lot worse than even I expected.
“Who else will protect the Sidus if not us? The captain and your mother and friends are a small group and cannot fight them all. There are too many of them getting past the shield now.Weare not even enough anymore. At this point, we need an army.”
I glance around at the group as they nod in agreement, each one of them weary and bone-tired, but with a spark of determination to help their people. Something I did not realize would happen. At least not anytime soon.
If only that spark grew among the people around them. Maybe we might stand a chance after all. A seed of that dream starts to form as I look to Nikos.
“Then make one,” I tell him, and he gives me a questioning look.
