Page 33 of The Garnet Daughter (The Viridian Priestess #3)

He doesn’t like the sound of that, pressing his shoulder closer against mine and crossing his arms, his jaw flexing and setting into a hard line.

“Found food,” Sav says, jumping to a rock next to us. “And water.”

If I wasn’t already dehydrated, I would cry at even the possibility.

“Everything ok?” Sav jumps down to the ground in front of August.

“Everything’s perfect.” August beams at her. “Show us the way.”

We climb upward with Sav leading the way, scaling the uneven terrain with minimal effort.

My fingertips tingle from me touching the hot surface of the rocks, using them to balance and pull myself up.

Here, the boulders turn into rolling cliffs, different levels of smaller mountains and ridges housing plateaus of sand and dry vegetation.

Sav gestures for us to come to a stop and then points to a flat rock below, where a man is sitting crossed-legged in light clothing and staring out onto the horizon.

The man resembles the people with conjunction sickness in the village we came from, down to the clothing and blank stare.

A woman approaches him from the cliffs behind, dressed in nicer garments than Sav but just as dirty on the edges where her feet kick out her long skirts.

She places a satchel next to the man, with two waterskins in a pile of others left previously, untouched with a layer of sand on the surface.

“Conjunction devotees have no need for food or water. We wait until she leaves and pick what we can.”

“No,” August says firmly and gives me a knowing stare.

“Then you both die. There is no food or water for miles. He won’t accept either. I have seen it before.”

“I can fold down and bring the supplies back,” I offer. I don’t like the thought of stealing from him, but it is clear he has no intention other than staring at the horizon.

August exhales, frustrated with the choice of taking food from this clearly sick man and keeping us alive. “It’s not right.”

“There are older waterskins untouched. She’s right, he has no need for it. We do.” I give August a pleading look.

The moment the woman providing supplies below disappears out of view, Sav begins a creeping descent down the rocks to claim the modest bounty.

August seems to have a silent inner struggle with it, working his jaw and exhaling loudly. “Will you stay back?”

I nod. “But if something is off, I will fold down and get you out of there.”

He smiles on one side, an understanding crossing between us that makes me feel warm down to my marrow. “I would expect no less.”

I sigh against the physical ache when he turns away from me, realizing whatever is brewing between us is changing me, softening me.

A cozy sensation of being with someone who makes me feel safe but not suffocated.

We need to talk about what happened, what it means for us.

But first, I need to figure out what it means for me, to ignore the fluttering in my stomach for a moment and think logically.

August is right behind Sav as she approaches the sitting man. They are far enough away I can’t see if the man has the same milky eyes or if he is aware of them at all.

She easily takes the bundled supplies, tucking them under her arm as naturally as someone who has never thought twice about stealing, and begins climbing up toward me again.

August is slower. I can tell he is struggling with it.

He glances up at me briefly and takes a bundle of food and two waterskins.

But he doesn’t walk away with both. Instead, he places one gently in the man’s lap, muttering something to him, and only then does he jog back toward our secure spot nestled within the giant rocks.

“We can stay a few hours, eat and rest, but this area is not safe for long,” Sav informs us as they both return.

August hands me the waterskin, waiting until I have taken several big gulps before taking a turn.

“It’s alright to stay so close to—” He points to the man below.

“Yes. He will not move until the conjunction now. Late-stage eclipse devotee.”

“He is too sick to move?” I ask.

“His eyes looked like they had melted out of his head,” August mutters.

“Yes, and you don’t want to be anywhere near one of them at the peak of the conjunction.”

“What do you mean, Sav?” I unwrap the bundle of food, bread with a thin layer of sand that is easily brushed off.

I have eaten worse. Maestra didn’t mention anything about them being dangerous or even indicated to stay away from them.

Other than the obvious unnerving nature of their stare and blinding devotion, they seem harmless, just unfortunate people who have fallen victim to something they believe in.

Sav shakes her head. “Bad luck to speak of.”

“I’ll take watch,” August announces after a brief, silent pause.

“What will you watch for?” Sav challenges.

“You tell me.”

“Anything that moves and some things that don’t.” She smiles over a bite of her food, but there is a wild edge to her pupils.

“Two lookouts are better than one then.” He smiles at her, trying to deescalate her sudden mood change. “Callia, feel free to rest while Sav and I keep watch.”

She eyes him suspiciously, no longer falling for his friendly act. But that doesn’t deter him. He keeps a pleasant expression even if his shoulders are stiff and alert.

We settle into our spots. Sav perches on top of a rock within eyesight but too far to carry a conversation.

August plants himself on the boulder directly across from me, adjusting his damaged armor and removing his broken wrist comm entirely.

He chews hard on the tough bread and glances at me just as much as he does the surrounding area.

The few times our glances meet, my stomach does a little flip because he seems genuinely happy I am looking at him too and tries to hide his charming smile behind his portion of food.

I decide it would be best if I took advantage of our break in travel and close my eyes for a while to solve both problems, my exhaustion and how irritatingly sweet August is being.

I’m certain he understands when I turn away and get as comfortable as possible on the pebbled sand.

Sleep comes easily, but staying fully unconscious seems impossible. I float between a waking and falling state. I pass into uncontrolled dreams but am awake enough to process them.

Except, the dreams aren’t dreams suddenly.

I am folding.

Slow, like I am stuck between one location and the next, my body unable to decide which direction to proceed.

As soon as I become aware of that fact, something shifts and then I am standing in a dark room not of my choosing.

It’s small and unkempt, and the air is thick with someone else’s breath.

When I turn around to find the source, a young woman sleeps on the floor peacefully but her hands and feet are bound.

With a gasp, I am flung dizzily to the edge of a cliff, my feet wobbly as I sway.

I’m somewhere far from the birthlands’ brutal heat or so high up that the fog I can see all around me is actually the cold softness of clouds.

I peer out into the dense murkiness, as if I am staring into the eyes of something behind the veil. The air shifts, moving the fog in swirling tendrils, and then I hear it, the voice calling out to me. Deep and beckoning me all over again.

Startled, I step back, but the voice gets closer, more demanding.

I wake myself fully, begging my mind to clear and come out of the dreamlike state of this place.

The moment I do, I fold back to my sleeping spot on the ground of our camp in the birthlands. But August is not on top of the boulder above when I scan my surroundings, praying for something to ground me in this reality.

“Calliape!” he bellows from some distance away. His voice is pleading and desperate. “Callia!”

“She’s here!” Sav runs over from a different direction.

Still groggy, I fall back into the solid cliff wall as she approaches, her expression as confused as I am.

August brutally jumps down into the sand and heaves on air like he has held it the entire time I was folded away.

His hands are on me, squeezing my shoulders and pressing me into his torso in a full-body embrace.

His chest quakes a little as he breathes in, asking me if I’m alright and taking my sleepy nod as answer enough.

“You folded.” He holds me by my arms and leans down to meet my eyes. “One moment you were there, and when I looked back, you had vanished.”

“It has not happened in my sleep since Frith. I don’t know why.”

A horrible shriek cuts across open air of the valley below us, bouncing off the rocks and disorientating the pitch in a haunting echo.

Sav scrambles to the boulder above and looks out. “Every animal in the area heard you calling for her.”

August holds up the large gun he has kept slung at his back until now.

“What kind of animal is that?” A chill runs across my skin, sending every nerve ending in my body into a frenzy, making me want to run like a small mammal being hunted by the night predators on the mountain.

Whatever it is, it screeches again, followed by unworldly chirps as it gets closer to the rocks we are sheltering in.

“We need to go!” Sav calls out as she jumps to the next rock without making sure we follow.

August grabs my arm and pulls me along before I even gain purchase in the sand.

We break out into a full sprint, leaping over rocks and fallen dead trees.

We run relentlessly into the desert, not daring to look back as more chirping sounds are returned from another shrieking animal seeking easy prey.