“I’m so tired…”
I shook her. “Then stop being tired. You can do this.” I turned and kept walking, and then a rush of wind hit me so hard that I fell backward.
“Are you okay?” Melanie came to me, her hand moving to my shoulder.
The collision with the ground immediately made my back sore, but I got up again.
The wind hit me again, and I fell.
Melanie was beside me, on her knees. “We have to go back.”
I didn’t want to admit that Magnus was right…but he might be. Sheer will and determination weren’t enough to fight the unconquerable. I didn’t want this storm to defeat me.
But it had.
Ring.
I instantly sat up, knowing I heard it, knowing I heard that church bell ring.
Ring.
“Do you hear that?” I shouted.
Melanie turned into the snow, like she heard it too.
Ring.
I got back to my feet, my boots planted firmly in the snow, keeping me upright even when a gust of wind hit me harder than all the others before. All the muscles in my body tightened and fought against the ferocity of the wind and snow.
Ring.
“Come on, keep going!” I took one step forward.
When Melanie didn’t argue, I knew she heard it too.
This storm wouldn’t defeat me.
Because I would be the eye of the storm.
We crossed the plain and entered another forest of trees. Once we were under cover, the wind wasn’t so harsh. The storm seemed to be abating too. When I looked back the way we’d come, I couldn’t see to the other side. I wasn’t sure if the wind had covered our tracks, but with the amount of snowfall, it must have. And what would the dogs smell? The wind was taking our scent away, the snow piling on and hiding it.
I had a good feeling about this
There was less snow in the forest, so it was easier to move.
Melanie needed another break, so she took a seat. “I need to sleep.”
“No sleep.”
“What?” she asked incredulously.
“The guards have slept all night, so they’re rested. If we stop, they’ll catch up to us.”
“I meant just an hour—”
“No.”
She opened her water and took a drink.
“I couldn’t sleep in these conditions anyway.” I pulled out my water and took a drink before tucking it back into my pocket. Melanie had granola bars, so I ate a few of those.
“Where do you think that bell is coming from?”
“Not sure, but I hope we’re on the right track.”
“I wonder if it’s close.”
I didn’t want to discourage her, so I didn’t tell her the truth. During our trips in good conditions, I never heard the sound. Only in a storm could I hear the ringing of the bell, which told me it wasn’t close and the sound carried to us from its origin on the high winds.
But it was still out there. “We’ll find it.” I took a seat against the tree. “If the wind covered our journey through the snow, they’ll find never find us.”
“I hope so…”
I pulled things out of my pockets to get to my water, including the knife I hoped I didn’t have to use. I set it on the snow beside me.
“Where did you get that?” Her eyes admired the weapon that sank into the snow from its weight.
“Magnus.”
“He just gave that to you?”
“Yes.”
“So, he knew you were going to leave?”
I nodded. “He hid all my supplies under the cabin so I wouldn’t get caught.”
“How does a nice guy like that work in a place like this?”
I shrugged. “He never told me much about himself.”
“Do you think he’ll snitch?”
I shook my head. “No.”
“The guy must be in love with you or something.”
He didn’t strike me as a romantic guy. He never said anything complimentary, and he never touched me, except when he pulled me to my feet. And he had classically good-looking features, like a strong jaw, pretty eyes, a very handsome face… Why would he be interested in a prisoner in a labor camp when he had a life outside that place? “I don’t think so.”
“Then what other explanation is there?”
I leaned my head back and looked up at the canopy of swaying trees. “I think he respected me.” That was my best guess. He never initiated a physical relationship or expected anything from me. Besides, I looked like hell every single day. Not exactly my finest look, in the baggy clothes with unkempt hair.
“I don’t think a man risks his neck like that for respect.”
“This one does.”
We continued moving through the night.
I wanted to stay focused, but my mind started to grow fuzzy.
It’d been two days since I’d last slept.
Melanie moved even slower.
We were back to feeling around in the dark once again. The storm had passed, so now the world was quiet. That was both a good thing—and a bad thing. There didn’t seem to be anyone on our trail, so we used our flashlights to keep going.
“What’s the first thing you’re going to do when we’re free?” Melanie asked from behind me. “I’m going to take a shower, do my hair, have a pumpkin spice latte…get a burger.”
“I’m going to the police.”
“Well…besides that.”
“And I’m going to kill that fucking executioner.”
“I’m not sure how you’re going to pull that off, but he’ll probably be behind bars forever.”
That wasn’t good enough for me—not anymore.
Now that the wind was gone, it was much easier for us to speak to each other. The snow was stationary, so that made it easier to navigate too. The stars came through as the clouds passed, and the moonlight provided us some illumination.
We kept going, Melanie walking in my tracks so she could keep up.
The need for revenge was so paramount in my blood that it screamed in my ears. I wanted to burn that place to the ground, all the guards with the blaze.
Well, except one.
Magnus was guilty because he’d been working
