Page 141 of Sands of Atonement

With caution, I cracked the door open only to gasp as soon as I laid eyes on the dead body outside the door. But no one else was around.

This was real. This wasn’t practice at Garamgai’s studio or training at Ezra’s arena. There was a fight happening beyond the hallway, and people were dying. My heart pounded against my rib cage.

All I could think about was getting Norrah to safety so I could be of use. This oasis was under attack. For Ezra, for Norrah, for me, I didn’t know. All I knew was that Ezra was out there, but Norrah wasn’t safe. She didn’t know how to fight. She couldn’t defend herself.

I handed a third dagger in her palm, and she shook her head. “I can’t—I don’t even⁠—”

“Norrah, I’m not letting you out of this room without one. I can’t promise you’ll be safe without it. Norrah!” I whispered-yelled when her eyes went wide, looking at the dagger in the palm of her hand as if it were a live Silver Snake. She raised her fear-filled eyes to mine. “You can do this! I need you to do this.”

There was a long, pregnant pause between us, with every second silently begging her to agree.

She nodded slowly and absently. “Okay.”

I swallowed the lump threatening to choke me and grabbed her free hand.

But I paused at the door and clarified, “The pointy end goes into a body.”

“Watch it, or I’ll use your body as a test subj⁠—”

“Okay, oh—kaay,” I said defensively, “How am I supposed⁠—”

“Let’s just get out of here!” She squealed in a whisper.

We quietly walked through the threshold and turned right, the opposite direction of the main hall.

We hastened across, and Norrah flinched when a voice bellowed in the main hall. It sounded like hell had made its way here.

Screaming, murderous sounds, grating through the halls, rattling the center of our bones.

“Eshe,” a voice panted nearby.

A gasp escaped me as I whirled toward the voice that had haunted me for years. Ezra. I did a full-body scan before I rushed toward him. It was dark and dimly lit from the hallway behind him. I could see blood dripping down the side of his face as he held out his palms, still wrapped in daggers. “Go! Leave, take Norrah and get out.”

My eyes snapped to his. He didn’t linger for another moment before his hand wrapped around my neck and pulled me in. This wasn’t right—I tried to pull back from his kiss, but he wouldn’t let me. Anger surged through my veins. He had taken me from everything, and now demanded I leave him.

My tongue went heavy, and I didn’t say anything when his lips touched my forehead. Eight years went by, and I didn’t see him because of something like this—an attack in the night. My heart lodged in my throat as seconds went by.

I didn’t know when I’d see him again.

I went to reach around him, to return his embrace, but he left, rushing down the hallway where the voices of hell sang.

I stood there, every cell in my body screaming for me to be with him, to fight by his side.

Something wasn’t right. I was supposed to be with him, not leave.

With Norrah’s trembling hand searching mine, she gave me a little squeeze. I met her eyes, and my heartstrings pulled. We jumped as we heard the screeching persist. Something snapped inside of me. I couldn’t leave her, and without waiting another moment, we sprinted to the side of the next hallway and pushed on the door to the outside. Without letting her go, we hurried over to where the horses were yanking against their reins, tied to their posts.

Norrah and I swung onto one horse, ensuring there were enough for Ezra and Casimir when they escaped. And they would.

“We’re just going to leave them?” Norrah asked with glistening eyes.

I didn’t know what to do: listen to Ezra and leave, or find safety for Norrah and come back to fight.

Each second felt like a lifetime.

I swallowed dryly. “I… Ezra is the strongest fighter I know… They will survive,” I said, mostly for myself. I felt so guilty not being there with them, but I couldn’t be in two places at once, like Ezra said. Right now, I had to protect Norrah. She couldn’t be by herself. She wouldn’t know the first thing about how to defend herself.

I whispered words to quicken the pace of the beast beneath us, forcing myself to keep going. After riding for a while, we both turned our heads over our shoulders. The oasis’s trees and cliffside were a beautiful silhouette against the dark blue night sky. I could faintly see the building with the torches around its perimeter.