Page 74 of Mindeater

Ryx

The longer I spend with Saren, the more memories I can reach.

Random blips in time flash through my skull. I can hardly keep track of them all. No matter what I do, no matter how cruel or vile I act, an image of something contradicting it surfaces.

I fucking lied.

I saw Saren in that tree with me. He had the biggest grin on his face, looking at me like I mattered. The filtered sun was kissing his cheeks, making his lashes and freckles glow. His lilac eyes sparkled and danced with playfulness.

And I hated it. Hated how it made me feel—made me question everything.

But that’s how the pulse works, and not for the first time, I fucking hate what I am.

I get lost in those memories and drop my guard. That’s how I smell the smoke, and he doesn’t.

“SAREN!” I shout when he runs at a breakneck speed.

Growling, I chase after him. How come he didn’t pick up on them earlier? Is he really that weak? I don’t have time to ask because he’s heading straight toward a bandit encampment. When Salem first rescued me, we had dealings with plenty of bandits. Trade was necessary at the time, and mistakenly, he entrusted quite a few groups with our secrets. I quickly take in our location and approximate distance from Hale Valley. Cursing because the odds are not fucking good, I push my legs harder and faster.

How is he so fast?

“Damn it, Saren! Fucking stop!”

The brat ignores me. Another memory shatters my vision. It’s so bright and vibrant I stumble forward, tripping over my feet.

Saren’s laugh rings through my skull, his auburn fluffy locks bouncing as I chase him through a house.

“You’ll have to catch me!”

“Oh, I will!” I shout. It’s a secret of mine, one that I’ll never tell.

Saren does have a scent.

I will find him anywhere in this house because no one smells like him. And New Grove never rains.

I lock onto it, that crisp aroma that fills the air right before clouds open up and dump down over the earth.

The calm before the storm.

Rainwater.

It fills my lungs, tethering me to the idiot running headfirst into danger. They’ll try to kill him on sight. I dart through trees, sharp brambles snagging on my boots and pants. Leaf litter, mud, and the leftover ice patches crunch under my pounding feet. The smoke threatens to smother his scent, but the alpha in me refuses to let it go.

It can’t.

A flash of orange alerts me to his position right before a gunshot ricochets through the forest.

“SAREN!”

My gloves are off before I can even register it. The pulse thrums to life, awakened by my call. Sparks fly off my fingers; fire scorches through my veins as the infection latches onto more of me. I burst through the treeline and find a lone scout. The gun is discarded on the ground while a small fire smolders in front of a lazy tent. Saren has the woman in a death grip. Either hand gripping her skull.

Her nose bleeds in a steady stream, and more trickles from her ears. I freeze in horror.

Saren either doesn’t see me or is too lost to care.

I’ve seen Telex feed before…but this is something else. His eyes are so bright, so unbelievably violet that they don’t even resemble the normal shade anymore. Every minor injury that he sustained in his fall is gone. His hair is brighter, fuller, and shines almost impossibly so.

“Just a bit more,” he groans.