Against Human Nature (Spirit Seekers Book 4) by Janna Ruth

Author:Janna Ruth [Ruth, Janna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-12-02T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

I FEEL LIKE I’ve been thrown eight years back in time. Once again, I’m this little girl with nothing but the clothes on her back, in a city she hardly knows. Only this time, I can’t even speak the language of the people here, and there will be spirit seekers on the lookout rather than the police—or perhaps both. But eight years did happen, and I know things about survival now I didn’t know when I was fifteen. And I’m not alone.

The salamander is still sitting on my shoulder, dozing slightly while the ice spirit strides alongside me with his long legs. He doesn’t look too good, losing water with every step.

“We should go into a supermarket,” I tell him. “They’ve got ACs.” It might not be officially summer here in Rome, but the heat is already sweltering.

“A supermarket?” His voice is dripping, as if it’s melting as well.

I realise that he’s probably never been in a city. “You’re from the tundra, right?”

He nods then raises his hand, mirror-glazed palm facing me. It’s a strangely peaceful gesture. “Demyan.” A greeting.

“My name’s Rika.” With a smile, I raise my hand in the same way, even though mine’s dirty and blistered. Then I nudge the little salamander on my shoulder. “What’s your name?”

Lazily, he opens one eye. The heat is comforting to him. “Glut.”

“Hello, Glut.” Just then, I notice people staring at me. Normally, I wouldn’t mind—I couldn’t care less if people thought I was crazy—but I don’t want anyone to be able to pass on information about my whereabouts to the SSA. I take Demyan’s hand, hoping I’m not offending him with my body warmth, and say from the corner of my mouth, “Let’s go.”

It takes us a couple of blocks to find a proper supermarket with a large chilled-food section. My grumbling stomach tells me that it has had no food for lunch, and I don’t have the heart to tell it that we probably won’t have food for dinner either. I’m sure there must be food banks in Rome, but I don’t know them yet, much less how they work. I’ll have to find some other homeless people and hope they’ll lead me to one later.

Demyan is slowly getting back into shape. He leans into one of the ice cupboards while I pretend to browse the chilly bins in front of it. It feels wrong to stand still after my spontaneous flight from the castle and looking at food I can’t buy doesn’t help. The danger is far from over. For all I know, I’ve doubled back to the Castel Sant’Angelo. Wouldn’t that be glorious?

I need to leave the city, or even better, the country. Return to Berlin or perhaps go to a new place altogether. Sure, the SSA has people everywhere, especially in the cities, but it’s summer now and there’ll be plenty of food in the countryside and forests. I could accompany Demyan to Russia. Surely, Siberia is remote enough to hide.

And then?

When I ran away from the youth home eight years ago, I had a goal.

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