Chapter 8
"Pride, calm down, we'll find her! Cat, I need you down here as soon as possible!" Lex's voice echoed through the mall as he called after a frantic Pride, while, in contrast, his discourse with his sister remained unheard even to those standing next to him.
"Lex, she's been gone for four days!" the young man returned in anguish, "I can't just sit here and do nothing!"
As Pride disappeared out the door, Lex sighed, thinking "I don't need this!", before grabbing his coat and bolting out the door after the distraught Pride.
"I heard that, little brother," Cat's voice echoed in his head as he ran through the darkening streets.
"I know. Is Tai San with you?"
"And watching me like a hawk!"
"What am I going to do?"
"You'll get by, you always do."
"Can you get away from my wife? You've seen more of her than I have these past few days!"
"I'll make my way down to the city at first light tomorrow. Tai San is staying over at the farm again so I'll persuade her come down with me, which shouldn't be too difficult. We'll meet you at the old library, level five."
"I'll be there."
--
Cloe sat in the corner of the basement, her knees brought up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them as she stared at the dark, cold floor, slowly rocking back and forwards.
"I've got him!" Jack exclaimed, the elation in his voice cutting through the silence like sunlight through the darkest storm-cloud.
--
Salene wandered aimlessly through the city suburbs. The houses were thinning now, but she didn't notice. Nor did she notice the hunger gnawing at her insides, the thirst drying her throat and lips, the cold night air cutting through her and chilling her to the bone or the blood running from a gash on her leg when she had stumbled over something unseen and treacherous. Her eyes were glazed. The only thing she could think about was finding him. They had taken him away, the Chosen, and now she had lost their baby, the one he had wanted so much. She had to find him, wherever they had taken him. She had to tell him, needed to tell him, that she was sorry, that it was all her fault, that she had lost their baby. She had to.
--
In a hut woven from branches and lined with grasses and old blankets, Amber lay, sleeping in Sasha's arms. Her son, Zac, lay nearby, sleeping soundly within the warmth of his blankets. Outside, the remains of a fire lay dormant like a sleeping guard and an owl hooted a warning as a shadow approached.
