Cut From A Tattered Cloth

Chapter 14

Eijiro saw red.

Melia was covered in it. Red marks on her neck from where she'd been grabbed. Red stains on her hands and along her side. There was so much blood. How much of it was hers? Her whole body shuddered as she struggled to breathe.

Her thorns were still there. As was the man impaled upon them. Eijiro didn't look at him. The word "pincushion" didn't even begin to describe what had happened to him. Personally Eijiro thought the dead man should feel lucky. He would've done a lot worse.

He looked down at Melia, feeling more afraid than he had in years. Red lines on her neck...red lines on her face...red lines running down her hands and splattering against her back. Her breathing came in shallow gasps. Color drained from her cheeks. Eijiro started shaking, the scene all too familiar.

Melia looked just like Tsubaki.

No...he thought. No, please....

He couldn't do this again—couldn't watch another child die in his arms. Especially not one that meant so much to him. His mind went back to the night Tsubaki died. He felt his insides shrink, remembering how much that had broken him. And then there had been the night when—

"Ano ko yokose," someone said. Give us the child.

Eijiro's head shot up. Both surprise and relief flickered inside him. He felt relieved to have something else to focus on, and surprised to see a figure standing in front of him.

It looked like a woman, with a narrow waist and curved hips. Her face was shrouded by a white veil, and she wore a matching jumpsuit. There were streaks of grey against the baggy suit, and with a start Eijiro realized it helped her to camouflage against the outer wall. She held a pistol in one hand. As she leveled it at him, Eijiro saw more figures creeping out from the shadows. Like the woman, they wore cameouflaged suits with their faces veiled. More guns came out. Eijiro counted twelve pistols pointing at him.

"Come now," the woman said, switching to Zaramian and holding out her free hand. "Don't go taking things that aren't yours, again. I thought you learned your lesson last time."

Eijiro frowned, not sure what that was supposed to mean. Was she talking about Sayuri? Is this why someone wanted her dead? Had she been framed for stealing?

He shook his head, not wanting to think about that. He had to get Melia out of here.

She stirred in his arms, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. Her fingers curled into his shirt and she stopped shaking. Eijiro was glad she wasn't showing more severe symptoms, but he didn't dare let himself relax. Not until this was over.

The woman in front of him sighed. Eijiro looked up to see her resting her free hand on her hip, shaking her veiled head in a sign of disappointment. It was eerie to see that without her face—as though the woman were some sort of mannequin instead of a person.

"Alright, then. You've had your chance," she said. "You always did have to learn things the hard way."

She held up the gun with her right hand and two fingers with her left. Along the wall Eijiro watched the other jumpsuits pull the slides back on their guns, loading the barrels. Gritting his teeth, he pulled Melia closer to his chest.

"Shinuna, kusogaki," he muttered. You better not die, you stupid kid.

Pulling out all of his coils he ripped off his cloak, throwing it in front of him and Melia as bullets fired. With the cloak blocking them from view, Eijiro scooped up her legs and dove behind the thorns. A bullet grazed his shoulder as he dropped down, grunting. For once, he was grateful to Melia for growing these as it gave them plenty of room to hide. With a twenty-foot wooden sea urchin in front of him, Eijiro could keep himself and Melia out of direct fire while still getting a good visual through the thorns.