Page 46 of Dare Not
Why did it still feel as though we were balancing on a knife’s edge?
Reluctantly, I pulled away, searching Bullet’s eyes for a long moment, verifying he was okay. He was fine and he was here, and we were all going to be okay.
We had time. There was still time.
“This is where I leave you,” Arsène said a couple of hours later, giving us an apologetic look as we stood on the shore, getting used to the feeling of steady ground beneath our feet again. Grace had draped herself in a blanket that covered her head, something we’d seen both men and women doing along the way, so she didn’t look too out of place. “You’ll be okay traveling on foot from here?”
I nodded curtly while Grace shot him a grateful smile. “It’s only a few hours. I’m sure we’ll be fine.”
Her optimism was probably misplaced. Dare and Riot hadn’t slept at all since we’d gotten on the boat, and Bullet had almost died a few hours ago. Walking for miles in the freezing darkness was the last thing we needed.
Arsène didn’t look as confident, but like any normal daimon, he was disturbed by the idea that we were going to the home of the agathos.
“Where will you go?” Riot asked, sounding faintly curious.
Arsène looked back at the boat. “The cabin you were staying in once belonged tomydaimon lovers, decades ago.” He swallowed, shaking his head. “They are both gone from this world now. One was Vasileios’ father. We all wanted to be more than what we are, and we tried. We lived at sea to resist the temptation.” He snorted. “But we couldn’t. There was no hope for us, but there seems to be for you. I will go to Leonidio, to see what I can do for Vasileios.”
Grace nodded, silent tears streaming down her face. “I’m sure it wasn’t easy for you to bring us here when it meant leaving Vasileios behind. I’m more grateful than I can say.”
Arsène smirked. “Vasileios will be fine. He was always a smart boy—even when he’s thinking with his dick. You should go, Grace the Agathos. It doesn’t matter how smart any of us are. We will all die if the darkness doesn’t lift.”
“I’ll do everything I can,” Grace promised. I gave Arsène a warning look over her shoulder when he looked like he was going to respond with something I wouldn’t like. Something that would put even more on Grace’s shoulders than the impossible weight she was already carrying. He wisely kept his mouth shut, handing Dare a bag of emergency supplies from the boat he’d put together for us before disappearing back to his vessel.
He’d avoided the port, rowing us to a quiet beach in what was probably a bustling resort town under regular circumstances. It was bustling now too—but not in a good way. The blazing flames of buildings on fire had been easily visible well before we got to the shore. The temperature was growing colder each day, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the inferno had been caused by a well-meaning attempt to stay warm that had quickly gotten out of control. Though we were a few miles away from the flames, the stench of smoke was overwhelming. Beneath it was the faint, stomach-turning smell of sewerage, and I guessed whatever Gaia had done to kill technology was impacting that too.
Just fucking delightful. And Gaia wondered why no one ever worshipped her, the fucking sociopath.
We watched Arsène go before trudging up the sand to the road, keeping our flashlights off to avoid drawing any unwanted attention.
Not that anyone was paying us any attention. People were burning furniture, books—everything short of each other.
They’d get to that point too, I realized uneasily. If there was one thing mortals would do in dire circumstances, it wasanything to survive.The smell of violence in the air called to my Keres senses, a faint metallic taste coating my mouth. I wanted it. I craved it, even knowing it was wrong. These people would destroy each other, and my inner Keres reveled in it.
“Wild?” Grace whispered, looking back at me as she walked arm-in-arm with Bullet. “Everything okay?”
“He’s probably also wondering if they’ve resorted to cannibalism yet or not,” Riot muttered, his head moving as though it was on a swivel. Without technology to communicate with, I felt even more useless than usual. Luckily, Riot and I were more in-sync than I’d expected. Often, when Arsène had asked me a question, Riot had predicted exactly what I’d wanted to say.
“They wouldn’t do that,” Grace murmured. I gently grabbed her arm to slow her down for a moment, pulling the blanket more securely over her head so she would only see the ground in front of her and not the litany of corpses nearby.
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Dare replied absently, his focus also on the bodies as we started moving again. “Half of these people have no idea what’s going on or why. Those who do know probably assume that nothing can be done, and this is truly the end. Veer left, Grace. There’s, um, broken glass over here.”
“This is not the end,” Grace said stubbornly. “I’m going to ask Sophia for guidance, and we’re going to make it right.”
We walked for hours, leaving the chaotic seaside town and finding ourselves on a quiet tree-lined street with overgrown grass on either side, using the flashlights sporadically to see where we were going. Grace’s nerves grew more pronounced with each step we took away from the city, which I hadn’t expected. Maybe because she’d always been surrounded by people, but the quiet of the countryside didn’t bring her particular comfort. After a few miles, Dare stole her away to walk with him, a fairly miserable way to celebrate their new bond, but it was the best we could do under the circumstances. In spite of that, he did manage to make her laugh quietly at least twice.
He was good for her. A good final addition.
My heart hurt at the discomfort I picked up from Grace through the bond as she leaned increasingly heavily on Dare. The rest of us had raided Arsène’s supplies for more functional clothing, and while Grace now had a heavy jacket and knit beanie, none of the shoes had come anywhere close to fitting her. She’d put on thick woolen socks, but the sandals were still causing her pain.
Avoiding humans was easy enough—all of us were tuned in enough to their presence because of our gifts that we could direct ourselves away from them. We didn’t have that same internal warning system for agathos or daimons though, and the idea of us walking into an agathos stronghold blind had me on edge.
We were either strolling quietly into a trap or allying ourselves with a formidable force. One that could maybe turn the tide of agathos support to our side, to make them realize they were just pawns in Gaia’s war, and that she’d never actually cared about them.
Bullet stumbled, and I rushed forward, my hand shooting out to grab his elbow. Riot looked back at us and I waved him on, trusting him to keep watch for both of us while I steadied Bullet.
“Thanks,” Bullet muttered, leaning into my side while I linked our arms together. It wasn’t a show of affection, I didn’t think. He didn’t want the others to see how much he was struggling. Bullet shot me a sidelong look, his purple eyes taking on a silvery sheen from the flashlight. “I shouldn’t feel this shit, I had more sleep than any of you. Riot and Dare haven’t rested at all.”
I huffed in irritation, lightly pinching his elbow. “Right, right, they didn’t almost die, I know. But Ididn’tdie. That’s my whole point.”
