Shadows of the Night | BOOK 2 DRAFT

31

31. 

That fiery red hair, the mossy green eyes—staring at Valerie was always like staring at an older version of Flo. But time has not been kind to her. Crows feet carve the sides of her sunken in eyes, and the roots of her unkempt hair have turned grey. In a way, I'm glad. It's easier to look at her when she isn't a carbon copy of Flo.

Valerie doesn't seem at all surprised to see me. She doesn't even shout for help. She pulls me close, her breath warm in my face, and whispers, "Did you think we wouldn't find you?"

A shudder crawls down my spine as she pulls back, looks me right in the eye. She blocks the glow from the lantern on the wall, her ominous shadow cast across the ground. I can't stop myself from thinking about Flo. Did her parents ever find her body or did it rot in the earth? Did they know that she sacrificed herself to save me? Do they even care?

"You knew I was here." It's a statement. Aaliyah's desperate pleas, Valerie's lack of surprise. Have they known I was here the whole time? Did they let me break into the prisons?

She's dropped one of my wrists, I look down at her arm and notice the two dotted lines at her vein—puncture wounds, from an injection—the serum. She's immortal. If I'm fast, I could try to break free, reach for the dagger in my boot and give myself a few seconds. But Valerie must see it in my eyes, because the second I move she's shoving me against the wall, one hand grasping both my wrists and the other around my throat. She's so much bigger, stronger, my struggles barely cause her to budge.

"Thinking about escape?" she asks, voice cold. "You wouldn't even get three feet."

I swallow against her grip. "Maybe I'm not the same Milena you remember."

She tightens her grip on my throat. "You're a foolish little girl. You always have been."

I know that isn't true, maybe it was once, but the girl she knew died the same night as Darius. I've changed, grown stronger. And yet, no matter how much I change, seeing people close to my past somehow pulls parts of myself back—the parts I don't want to be anymore. Weak. Fragile. Afraid. Still, I don't break eye contact. I can't prove her right.

Her grip only tightens. My throat tightens, head lightening. And even though I know there must be some kind of plan behind all this, for a brief moment, as I look into her eyes, I see murder. My vision starts to dot black and my hearing distorts. My struggles weaken with each passing second as my airway is cut off. One second, she's glaring into my eyes, the next she's slumped on the floor, a knife in her back.

I fall to my knees, reaching to grab at my throat as I gasp for air and press myself against the wall. Elias stands above Valerie, his breath uneven as he stares at me and then back at her.

"We have to go." My voice is hoarse and it hurts to speak. "S-she's had the serum, she'll wake up soon—"

"Milena, look." I shove to my feet, stumbling slightly. Elias grips my wrists to steady me, guiding my gaze to Valerie's body on the floor. "She's not going to wake up."

He's lodged the shadow right into her back, positioned so it will go straight through her ribcage to her heart. My breath quivers as I look back to Elias, almost expecting her to move. She doesn't. "It works. Malik was... he was right."

Elias doesn't let me go, holding me close to his chest with my wrists. "Are you okay?"

"You shouldn't have used it, not yet. If the hollowers get it and destroy it you could—"

"Milena." I blink at him. "Are you okay?" I nod, mouth dry. My head doesn't feel so clouded anymore, and though my neck aches from Valerie's grip, I'm okay. "Then we should get out of here. It won't be long before someone finds her body."