Page 131 of The Souls Harvest
My jaw drops, and - it can be a trick of the light - but Galen and July seem to share my reaction.
But Mack nudges me gently to one side, stepping before me. “Excuse my dramatic sister,” he sighs with a hand to his heart. “Merya, you can’t be serious. She’s one against all of us, her wrist is probably broken and - I mean - look at the state of her!”
I scoff, averting my eyes from the back of his shirt, clinging to his lean but broad shoulders.
The woman he’s just called Merya studies him, then her ice blueeyes fall on me. “She’s a Harvester.” She bares her teeth, disgusted, before addressing Galen and July, “No offence.”
“None taken,” they answer in unison.
“And her wrist issimplytorn,” she adds after looking at my hand.
“Broken or not, she’s wounded and clearly in pain. Shouldn’t we let her talk and understand how she knows Tabitha is here and why she’s looking for her?” Mack asks.
I give him a nod and guide my eyes across the room, silently asking everyone for permission to talk.
Moving slowly, as if close to a wild animal, Mack pushes a chair towards me, and I fall onto it, exhausted.
“I’m not a threat,” I tell them, uncertain whether they’ll believe me when I’m the first to doubt myself.
I feel July’s eyes on me—another person I cannot yet place on my already extremely shrunken list of amicable acquaintances.
Leaning against the panel, arms folded and with a bandaged leg, Galen breaks the wall of awkwardness that divides me from these people. “How did you get here?”
“Miss Popplewish told me the way before we got separated…”
“Evelyn knows this place?” July’s confusion matches mine as I’m still trying to understand how Miss Popplewish could be involved with the rebels we’ve often heard about.
I nod and let it all out. “We took a pod and abandoned Libera because it was on fire, and we got chased by bad people…And they followed us to Brenath…I watched a video…I think it’s my fault…and then—Popplewish stayed with them…”
Nobody dares say anything. Even Merya offers me some respite by averting her judgemental eyes to focus on the screens behind her, while Galen approaches my chair, limping.
“Are you sure? Perhaps you were just—in shock?”
I twist my fingers nervously. “I saw what I saw. She helped a man get away from the shore, and there were no firearms pointed at her…”
Galen turns towards the others, opening and closing his fingers.
“This was allhisplan. The attack in Libera, the Wise…But Evelyn…” July exclaims, moving closer and looking at me with apprehension.
Galen picks at the stubble on his chin. “I refuse to believe she’s been on his side all this time. There must be another explanation.”
For a split second, I watch the shadow of a doubt crossing July’s face before she slides a hand up Galen’s back. “If she told Lucretia to come here, it was to keep her safe. She knew she could trust Tabitha. But if Roden is with her now, he will force her to lead him to us. It’s only a matter of time.”
“All very true and verywrong.” Merya towers above my chair. “How the hell does she know where we are?” Her voice cuts through the room like a hard ice shard, straight towards Galen.
“It wasn’t me, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“We had a deal,” Merya replies as if everyone except her and Galen has left. “Tabitha took you in with the promise that Evelyn would never know where to find her. I knew I should’ve aimed higher. You may have already revealed our location toRoden!”
Galen consumes the space between them with only two steps despite his wounded leg, making the floor shake under his rage.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” He stops inches from her face, panting dark purple puffs, one hand stretched towards her heart.
His entire body quivers as he grunts, “Pathetic…Horigean…Always ready to judge, ignoring how insignificant your life is…”
A faint yellow glow starts pulsating from beneath Merya’s black tank top. She glances at her top and then back at Galen. Her face betrays no emotions, but her eyes gleam with unwanted tears.
“I know what I’m seeing,” she hisses, her face beading with sweat.
