“Are you hurt?” He held his hand out to brush her hair away from her face, but jerked it back when she flinched at his touch.
Fine. Her response pissed him off royally, to quote his roommate, even if he understood why she felt that way. The sooner he got her topside the better. “Come.”
Sasha shrank away from him. “You’re one of them, aren’t you?”
He ignored how much her reaction hurt. He’d always known she’d hate him when she finally saw him for what he really was. “Right now what I am is your way out of here.”
She retreated another step. “But where are we going? The elevators are back that way.”
He snagged her arm before she gave in to panic and glared down at her. “So is the fighting, Sasha. Too many from both worlds are already bleeding, so you’ll understand if I’d rather not kill any more of my people. Now, follow me or not. It’s your choice.”
He let go of her, hating the fear in her eyes when she looked at him and hating himself for his part in putting it there. Then he walked away, stopping long enough to retrieve his blade before moving on. Surely she’d show the good sense to stay with him. If not, he’d force the issue, but he hoped she’d at least trust him enough to get her to safety.
• • •
Sasha stared at the four broken bodies fallen on the ground. So much blood. Its bitter copper scent filled her head and overloaded her senses. Her stomach churned, foul acid burning the back of her throat. God, would this nightmare never end? It had been hours since she’d last eaten, so it was nothing but dry heaves as she leaned against the wall and retched.
Please, let it stop. She needed to follow Larem even if he was one of them—Kalith, Other, the name didn’t matter. If she lost sight of him, her life might very well end right there in the bloody passageway. She tried to straighten up between heaves, but that only made the pain worse. After stumbling forward a few steps, she had to stop and close her eyes to ward off the dizziness.
As she did, she felt someone beside her and panicked. “No, please no! Get away!”
“Sasha, calm down. It’s me.”
She sagged in relief at the sound of Larem’s deep voice. Despite everything, he hadn’t abandoned her.
“Hold still and don’t fight me.”
His accent was deeper than usual, but his voice was far more gentle than it had been only seconds before. His hand, cool and soothing, rested lightly on her forehead, and his arm slid around her waist, supporting her weight.
He murmured something. The words were unclear, perhaps in his native tongue, but their effect was miraculous. The nausea disappeared almost immediately, as did the cramping. When he removed his hand, she looked up into his pale gray eyes.
“Better?”
She nodded. “Much.”
The chill came flooding back into his gaze as he stepped away and retrieved his sword. “Now, let’s get out of here.”
She glanced back toward the other end of the passage, careful to avoid looking at the bodies along the way, and then followed Larem around the corner. He was moving fast enough that she almost had to run to keep up with him.
She had so many questions for him—now that her brain was starting to function again—but she suspected she wouldn’t like his answers. Like, why had he let her think he was human? She’d known there were Kalith living among the Paladins, but no one had even hinted that they had the run of the place. Was he even supposed to be down here?
Now wasn’t the time to worry about it, not when her life depended on him. Her eyes strayed to the bloody blade he’d wielded with such skill and terrible grace. Would she ever get over the horror of seeing four lives ended right in front of her? Or the knowledge that she’d come so close to being—no, don’t go there. What might have happened didn’t matter right now.
Larem came to an abrupt halt. “Quiet now. We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves. Wait until I make sure the way is clear.”
Sasha froze, her ears ringing with her ragged breath and pounding heart. Gradually, other sounds began to make sense. Horrible sense. Swords banging and clanging. Screams of pain and whimpers of agony. Larem progressed a few feet, holding his sword out to the side as if expecting to be attacked.
Finally, he motioned her forward. “Don’t look.”
But of course she did.
The ground was littered with bodies. She watched as a line of Paladins formed up. They slowly pushed forward, forcing the ragged band of Others to retreat back across the barrier. Men in guard uniforms were busy dragging the dead and wounded Paladins back out of the way, leaving the Others where they’d fallen.
Larem drew back beside her. “Sasha, snap out of it! We’ve got to get the hell out of here. Those guards might not hurt you, but they’ll come after me given half a chance. I do not want to die because of your stupidity.”
Okay, enough was enough. “It wasn’t my stupidity. Lonzo left me a note telling me to meet him down here.”