“You don’t even know me,” Deidre said, her surprise clear.
“I’m going to be like Rhyn. I’m going to take care of you, because it’s the honorable thing to do,” Katie said.
“Maybe you should become the protector of humanity.”
“Not a job I want. I’d be happy living with Rhyn in some cave like hermits. We could raise our …” Katie’s hands faltered with her voice. She cleared her throat and focused hard on cutting her newfound ally free.
“I hope we’re not dead,” Deidre said. “You deserve better.”
“Rhyn deserves better. I think I got what was coming to me for being as selfish as my bitchy sister.”
The roots around Deidre’s left foot snapped free. Katie shoved it aside before it could change its mind and started on the roots around her right foot. Deidre moved her foot with a look of pain. She rubbed her ankle, and Katie cut her arm again.
By midmorning, Deidre was free. Katie grimaced as she wrapped the dismembered sleeves of her sweater around her wounds. Blood soaked the sweater quickly, and she held it over her head. Even before she stood, she felt woozy. Deidre tested herself and limped a few feet. Katie steadied her breathing to keep from dropping to her knees.
“Where were you headed when you found me?” Deidre asked.
“I’m not sure. I had a guide, but he … they left me,” Katie said. “I was told to walk in an eastern direction.”
“I came from the east. There’s a fortress that way.”
“Then that’s where we’re going.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes. I think that’s where Death is. I think that’s my way out,” Katie said, not fully convinced but unwilling to admit it. She had no other option. “You in?”
Deidre smiled faintly and nodded.
“Is it far?”
“Maybe a day away.”
Katie’s mind went to Gabe’s words about needing to leave before the seventh day. It was day six. She wasn’t sure they’d make his timeline – or even why it still mattered that she reached wherever he was taking her. There had to be something to what he told her, and she wished once more he’d told her why.