Don't Let Go (Third Book to the Other Side)

Chapter Five

"Go away."

I sighed and knocked again, refusing to give up. This answer was exactly the same as the last one, but I didn't back down from the door. "I'm staying out here," I said. "Don't think for a moment I'm leaving you alone."

"Why can't you just go away, Alexander?" she snapped. It felt wrong to be hearing her so angry, so frustrated. "I just want some time alone."

"Because that's not what you want, despite what you might claim. Why can't you let me in, Eliza? I just want to help you. I know you're hurt, and I also know that pretending you aren't isn't going to do any good. You should just let me help you."

"I don't need your help!"

"You keep saying that, but I know that isn't the truth."

There was no answer for the longest time. Finally, there was a creak from the other side of the door, and it slid open, revealing the dark contents of Eliza's room. She stepped aside, staring at the ground as I passed through, and closed the door behind me. "What do you want?" she asked, voice hoarse.

"I'm just here to make sure you're alright."

"Don't you have enough problems to worry about?" she asked, and the question hit me like one of her sharpest daggers. Eliza winced as soon as the words left her mouth. "Okay. I'm sorry. That was unfair."

"Yeah, a little," I responded. "But it's fine. I understand." I dropped to the floor in front of the fireplace, the warmth it radiated licking up my skin, but it hardly did any good against the cold that had seemed to be getting worse lately. Patting the ground beside me, I smiled at her as comfortingly as I could.

Eliza stood still, and for a moment, I was sure she would decline my invitation. But, slowly, she joined me, her back pressed up against the table and her face buried in her arms which were propped up against her knees. She didn't speak, but she didn't have to. I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close.

"I'm sorry," she murmured after a moment. "I shouldn't have stopped you from attacking him. I just thought...well, we had just lost Thomas. I don't think I could have handled losing you too." Something that sounded like a whimper escaped her mouth. "But it doesn't matter. We lost Angelica."

"Hey, we didn't lose Angelica," I said, as softly as possible while trying not to make it seem like I was treating her like a child. I had been in her place enough times to know that I hated it when people did that to me. "Angelica's going to be just fine. We're going to save her, and then we're going to kill that bastard we have for a king."

Eliza looked up at me wearily, and it seemed as if she couldn't bring herself to believe it no matter how much she wanted to. I wasn't sure if I completely believed it myself, but the way she softened against my body was enough. I rubbed her back as reassuringly as I could, trying not to remind myself how much Thomas liked it when I did that to him.

"What if she's already dead?" Eliza murmured.

"Think about it. Why would the king go through the trouble of kidnapping her when he could have just killed her?"

"Kidnap?" she repeated, trying the word out on her tongue like she had never heard it before. "What does—?"

"Like, to take somebody. Abduction I guess? Do you really not know what that means?"

She shook her head. "That doesn't make a lot of sense. Why do the kids nap while they're being stolen? And what if you aren't a child?"

I shook my head, but couldn't help but smile. It was good she wasn't too upset to question me. "Don't worry about it. Anyway, as I was saying, if the King wanted her dead, why not kill her then and save himself some trouble? And why Angelica?"