Displaced

Chapter 103

Sofie looked both ways, making sure that the road was fully empty as far as her eyes could see, before rushing across the flat paved surface and into the brush on the other side. She kept moving, as she had all through the night and into the day, memories of eyes filled with betrayal driving her forward.

She'd fucked up. She'd fucked up hard. Looking back now, she should have expected Arlette to fly off the handle. When confronted with a horrible truth like Sofie's unintended deeds, Arlette was the type of person who would explode in anger first, overreact, and then feel guilty about it later. If Sofie hadn't run, if she'd just faced Arlette head-on, the Scyrian would have come to her begging for forgiveness a day or two later and everything would have gone back to the way they should be. But Arlette hadn't been empty-handed; she'd come at Sofie with a knife in her hand and a menace in her eyes. And then there was Gabby, who'd seemed rather upset, and an upset Gabby was perhaps the scariest thing in two universes.

So she'd fled. That choice, and her panicked use of her ability in the process, had reinforced in the others' minds her guilt. The damage was done.

She couldn't go back. Not yet. She didn't have it inside her to face everyone now. She'd grown used to others finding her annoying or overly opinionated years ago, well before her unwanted excursion to another dimension. But she'd never faced outright hatred before, especially not the burning hatred that had helped send her running. She found herself recoiling from just the thought of it.

Maybe that hatred would pass with time. Maybe then, when they'd all had time to think about everything with clearer heads, they'd realize that this was all a huge mistake and find it in their hearts to forgive her.

But first, she had to forgive herself. She didn't know if she had it in her to manage such a feat. Even half a day later, she couldn't stop thinking about what she'd done, the list of her sins running through her head over and over and getting longer each time as she remembered another terrible deed.

And so, Sofie continued on. She didn't have a plan, or even a goal, exactly. All she had was a need to get far, far away, from the people she'd hurt so terribly. Perhaps, if she could do it, she could get away from all people entirely. Then she wouldn't have to worry about hurting anybody else. Nor would she have to face those that she'd already hurt so gravely. It would be the best for everybody involved.

The land around Wroetin had been almost entirely farmland, the land around the city more fertile than most areas in Otharia—a key reason for the city's location in the first place. Now, though, after half a day's travel, the farms had given way to nature in places, a patchwork of farms and brush with the occasional village thrown into the mix. It was good, then, that she'd crossed so much of the most heavily developed area before the sun had risen. The last thing Sofie wanted right now was to be seen.

Barring Blake, Sofie Ramaut was, without a doubt, the most well-known person in the country. Weeks of regular nationwide educational broadcasts did that to you. She didn't want anybody recognizing her and helping people track her down.

That was, if anybody could even track her down. She'd put a geas on Arlette, Gabby, and Leo that forbade them from trying to find her—a choice she'd made in the heat of the moment that she now half-regretted—but there was still Blake... assuming he woke up... assuming that he even could wake up. As much as he annoyed her, Sofie prayed she hadn't inadvertently killed him or injured him so gravely that he would be in a coma for the rest of this life.

But i—no, not if, when—he did wake, would he be affected by the geas too? He'd been there at the time, and she'd wanted him included in the whole thing, but he'd been unconscious and hadn't heard her. Would it matter?