The Coalition (Book 1)

Chapter 20

They crashed through the woods. Shai stumbled over a root, scratching her face on a low-hanging branch.

"Aliah, stop!" She tried to yank her arm from his grip, but he grasped her firmer. "Stop! You're hurting me! Where are you taking me?"

Aliah didn't stop until they reached a three-strand barbed wire fence that blocked their path. Aliah looked for the cut in the fence and they slipped through it. He led them along his most familiar route to Thunder Manor. When they reached his hide-away, he stumbled through the door and pulled her inside by her wrist again. Only when the door was shut did he yank his hood off.

She whirled around to face him. "Where are we?" Shai's round blue eyes flicked from his face, to their surroundings and back again. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear that had sprung loose, and crossed her arms.

"Sorry it was so abrupt, but I had to get you out of there. I worked it all out. You've been exiled. Welcome to your new home. We're outside of Lael... in the Borderless." He breathed heavily and wiped the sweat off his face with the back of his hand. He reached out to touch the scratch on her face but she slapped his hand away, her cheeks red.

"What do you mean you worked it out?"

"Your infraction, your exile. I made it up. You're shaking. Here." He pulled her into the living room and grabbed a thick, grey Laelite blanket to wrap around her shoulders. He took a seat close to the fire in the Great Room but she remained standing.

She looked around the room, face pale and lips pressed into their familiar thin line. "I can't believe this! First you faked my exile then you kidnappedme? What were you thinking? Where are we?"

"We're at Thunder Manor." His head spun and his skin prickled in spite of the sweat pouring in rivers down his face and back. He shivered then stood and walked to the window; the curtains were drawn, but he could think better if he didn't look at her.

"Thunder Manor? I don't understand. I thought it was just part of a story. The story that I have pieces of in my mind. It was supposedly destroyed during the War Between Worlds. What is going on?" The anger in Shai's voice stabbed at his heart. Silence filled the room. He removed his cloak, draped it over the arm of a nearby chair then turned back to the window. He ran a hand through his hair and breathed deeply. Out of the corner of his eye he glimpsed her sitting down with her head in her hands, her hair catching the golden glow of the fire. How many times had he seen her vulnerable like this? More times than she'd care to admit in the past few days.

He turned back to stare at the folds in the thick, red drapery, his heart summer-saulting in his chest. There was no turning back now.

He strode to the front door and shoved a large steel deadbolt into place. They were safe from the Laelites, but not from Samael.

Aliah slowly turned from the door to look at her blanket-clad back for a moment before speaking. "The Leader never destroyed Thunder Manor. He sealed it up when he fenced in Lael to protect it. I've been staying here for a while." He couldn't tell her that guilt drove him here.

"I... I don't understand. Why did you bring me here?" She shrugged off the blanket and got up to stand by the fire.

"To protect you."

Shai met his eyes. "You faked my exile! How is that protecting me?"

He licked his lips with a tongue too dry to moisten anything. "I had to save you. I...I had to play the part of a Watcher to get you out of there before... Recruitment Day." Aliah crossed the floor to stand in front of her then reached out to touch her shoulder. He had to make her understand. She needed to trust him.