Page 66 of The Souls Harvest
I stop sobbing and stare at her. The sound of that word feels so wrong after all I’ve been through. So unreal.
Tabitha snorts, “Shit, I forgot the wordfreedomis basically banned from this shithole. Ironic, isn’t it?”
Galen groans, twitching in her arms, and her face immediately turns grave. She motions to the dark space behind her, “We need to hurry the fuck up! Notgonnalie; I’ve never seen him this battered. You want him to live? Forget about this stupid island and followme.”
Chapter 27 - Good Casualties
Evelyn
“That wasn’t part of the plan.”
“You, better than anyone else, should know that plans are feeble little creatures, Eve. What were we supposed to do? Let them take her? I saw the bird flying through the Wards, by the way. Did you think that was safe?”
From my window, the wall of flames looks like one of those bonfires young Harvesters light up on the beach to celebrate the end of Winter.
Except for the myriad of people scurrying away from it like a colony of ants fleeing their crumbling nest.
“The scratches on my hands are the only proof it was even here; don’t worry about that. What’s with the fire, though? Did you really need to destroy the building, risking so many lives?”
“Collateral damage…..Besides, Roden played us dirty there. We had to think fast—” Nikrah’s voice breaks, making his words an annoying riddle I don’t have time to decipher.
“Are you sure the line is safe?” I lower my voice. Static electricity crackles in the background.
“What difference would it make now? Have a look outside again. I’m sure unwanted ears overhearing our conversation is the least of our problems now.”
“They shouldn’t have crossedat all.” My voice rumbles.
“But that’s not all bad news. Roden is acting erratically, Evelyn. That’s scary, but also tells us he may trip and fall in one of his own traps,” Lily Drestall’s voice joins us from a different line.
My eyes widen, and I’m glad I’m alone in the room. I take a breath in. “We should have thought about that; we acted in a hurry and left too many doors open.”
“We don’t know for sure.”
I stare at the phone as if speaking directly to Nik and Lily. “I hope you’re wrong…Casualties?”
Nik jumps back in, “If you meangoodcasualties, oh yes. We found two of them dead on the main tower before the building collapsed, and took the bodies away before anybody could see them. Galen’s artistry for sure; one was missing a few teeth.”
I scoff, ignoring his tone. Luckily for Nikrah, I’ve known him long enough to silence my real thoughts. “Did you recognise any of them?”
“Well, we were in a bit of a hurry. You know, trying to save our lives and report to you…But—no. I’ve never seen them before, right, Lils?”
I sigh, not sure if I should feel relieved or reconsider my decision to bring Nik in. The echo of the bright orange light, gleaming like an early sunset, hypnotises me for a few seconds.
“Eve, are you still there?” Nik drops his voice.
“Yes,” I pause to recollect my thoughts. “Any news of Galen and July?”
“No sign of them yet.” Lily’s smooth voice doesn’t do anything for my increasing worries. “Galen didn’t make it to the top, but we had a brief contact while he was abandoning the Wise. Are you sure Tabitha followed the plan? I mean, Eve, how sure are you she won’t go on a tangent and decide she’s done waiting?”
“She would never—”
“What? Betray her people? Betrayyou? So sentimental. Open your weary eyes, Silent End; we both know she wouldn’t blink twice before aiming at Roden’s head and burning the island to the ground. Despite you, or anyone else, standing in her path…”
I move the phone away enough to swear under my breath without Nik or Lily hearing it.
Then I take a big breath, pinching the bridge of my nose. “I reckon Nik hasn’t shared the latest with you yet.”
There is a moment of silence. Easy to imagine Lily trying to control her broken pride after discovering she’s not the one moving the strings for once.
