Broken (Disappeared #2)

Chapter Fifteen

Theodosia woke up entwined in Ahuil's arms, warm and immersed in the scent of his skin. She opened her eyes. His were still shut. His eyelids twitched and his lashes fluttered slightly against his cheek as if he were dreaming. She waited patiently, watching him. It felt like an incredible privilege to be the only one to see him wake up.

He smiled as soon as his eyes opened, and he drew her close, kissing her gently and letting his breath mingle with hers. She kissed him sweetly, never wanting their embrace to end.

There was still a wonderful glow around them from the night before. Everything was wrong but Ahuil was still in front of her, still looking at her with that gaze of his, still touching her fingers and wrapping his arm around her waist.

Yet she gradually became aware that they had to get up and face the day. She caressed Ahuil's rough cheek.

"What's going to happen to us?" she whispered.

He took a deep breath. "Izel and Tipelli called a gathering last night after we got back. The people voted me out as leader. I just heard this morning. And we have to leave the settlement — you, me, and Xochitl."

Theodosia swallowed hard. "Do we have to leave right now?"

He closed his eyes. "I'm so sorry," he whispered.

She sighed, her mind racing, and then kissed him. "It wasn't your decision. Come on. Let's get packed and find Xochitl. We have to plan our next move."

It didn't take long for them to pack up. Neither had many possessions. What they did have they stuffed in Theodosia's carpetbag.

Xochitl was waiting for them in the main hall with her own satchel. Her eyes were red and puffy and her cheeks blotchy as if she had been crying all night. Around them, people at breakfast shot them bitter looks. Some even yelled insults. Theodosia felt stabbed in the heart. She couldn't imagine how the other two felt.

She took Xochitl by the shoulders. "Your daughter?"

Tears welled and fell over the woman's red cheeks. "Tipelli and Izel have agreed to care for her. I don't dare bring her with me. It's too dangerous out there. Oh Theo, what will I do without my baby?"

Theodosia wrapped her arms around her and Xochitl laid her head on her friend's shoulder and began to sob in earnest. Theodosia looked over the unsympathetic crowd angrily. Banish them? They might as well line them up in a row and lop their heads off. How would they ever survive out there? Yet they were all going to disappear anyway. In the end, perhaps it didn't matter.

They climbed into the hammock elevator and descended to the bottom of the tree. Izel and Tipelli were nowhere to be seen. The three stood there, uncertain.

"So what happened?" Theodosia asked.

"Izel and Tipelli told everyone what happened," Xochitl replied, putting down her satchel for a moment. "There was a vote. My brothers said that you saved us, Theo, and that we decided to reverse it for the sake of the half-people. Everyone was angry and there was a vote. Ahuil was removed from the leadership and it was decided that my brothers rule jointly. Not everyone is in favor, I suspect, but they're keeping quiet for fear of being banished too."

"I have never known our people to be like this," Ahuil said fiercely. "Selfish, punitive. The Nextic don't usually feel the need to attack their own. And it was your own brothers, too, who led this." He put a hand on Xochitl's shoulders.

She shrugged, her red-rimmed eyes brimming with unshed tears. "That's kind of the final kick in the pants, isn't it?"

He shook his head and looked out into the forest. "Forget them. Let's head to Xochitl's lodge. There may be some protection left there. We'll have to hedge our bets."

Ahuil grabbed their bags and they set off. The guards watched them go from the perimeter.

The forest was in a state of massive destruction. The mist was thick and oppressive and the trunks of the trees splintered like matches as new buildings sprang up. Yet they emerged only half-formed, chunks of their sides missing. Great flocks of birds soared past as if fleeing the scene.

The sheer number of people was the most terrifying thing of all. They were fully visible. And then there was the problem of how to navigate the streets themselves, as there wasn't always enough forest to hide in. This meant creeping down alleys and running along deserted streets.

Theodosia ended up leading, as her friends seemed unsure how to navigate this unnatural environment. Despite her time spent in London, she wasn't prepared for the strange, horseless carriages that hurtled down the streets. They drove at the speed of a train, leaving behind the smell of burning. Added to that were the bizarre costumes of the people and the flashing signs on some of the buildings. Theodosia had to remind herself to focus on where they were going and remain unseen instead of continuously gawking around her.

With so few markers of the old world left, Xochitl and Ahuil had a hard time directing her back to the house. They crept behind her, occasionally pointing out a familiar tree or the remnants of a stream. But when they finally got there, the house was nothing like it was before. The stream was almost dried up and the platform was surrounded by the horseless carriages, all squeezed together and resting in place.

They hid behind a tree and looked at each other with wide eyes.

"We can't stay here," Xochitl hissed. "There are too many of them around."

"What are our alternatives?" Theodosia asked.

"What about the Great Tree?" Ahuil said. "It's the only hidden place I can think of. It sheltered us before. Maybe it'll still be safe."

They agreed and spent a painstaking hour walking through the new city again, hiding and running down alleys. Theodosia couldn't help but notice that the other two looked gray and haggard. The onslaught of the mist and being out of their natural environment was affecting them. She grasped for Ahuil's hand and he squeezed it affectionately, trying for a smile.

"I'm fine," he whispered. "Stop worrying."

The Great Tree was still standing, though it was bathed in shadow by the tall buildings that surrounded it. They crawled into the hole that led to the great cavern within and leaned against the walls as they caught their breath.

"How do you both feel?" Theodosia asked.

Xochitl coughed and looked blearily at her. "Not so good. I feel like I can't breathe. It's like we aren't even meant to be here anymore. Is this how it's going to be? We're just going to suffocate? Or be killed by one of these beings?" She looked at her hands miserably. "I don't want to go like that. I don't want my daughter to go like that." A sob escaped her. "So much for being strong."

Suddenly, something that had been simmering at the back of Theodosia's mind came forward with full force. She hadn't wanted to consider it, mostly because it meant giving up her new home for real. The paradise she had wanted to spend the rest of her life in. And giving it up also meant returning to the very shackles she had fled.

Yet at that moment she knew there was no other good option. Nor was there time to consider what she wanted. The Nextic world was disappearing along with the people she loved.

"Why don't you come to my world?" she said.