Renegade: An Elemental Novel by Antony John

Author:Antony John [John, Antony]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2014-11-13T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 22

I staggered back from the tiny space as Dare edged toward me. Behind me, Nyla closed the galley door and locked it. “Let us explain,” she said—not me, but us.

I wasn’t interested in an explanation. I was overcome by blinding anger, so I lunged for Dare and poured my element into him. Unlike Nyla, he didn’t resist. Or couldn’t. He just accepted the punishment, and when I was done, he slid through the gap and collapsed in a heap on the floor.

Blood flowed from a wound on his head. Barely conscious, Dare stared at me with a blank expression. This was my chance to kill him, to apply my element until his eyes rolled back in his head and his heart stopped beating. No one deserved to suffer as much as he did.

But then, why had he let me attack in the first place?

“Go ahead,” he wheezed. “Do it.”

He was a seer. He’d foreseen everything so far. He’d probably even foreseen getting captured and locked up. So what was his endgame?

Nyla passed by me and handed Dare a water canister. He tried to take it, but couldn’t grip. It fell to the floor and rolled out of reach, dripping water onto the wooden planks. He closed his eyes.

I couldn’t bear to look at Nyla. We’d given her a chance to survive, and she’d betrayed us. “How could you do this?” I hated how breathy and nervous I sounded.

She picked up the canister and gave it to him again, careful to make sure he had it this time. “Dare helped Alice and Jerren escape from Sumter. You and Griffin too. You’d all be dead if he hadn’t turned on Chief.”

“He’s the one who risked our lives in the first place!”

Dare drank a little. “Where . . . Alice?” he rasped.

“She’s been captured,” I told him. “Her and Jerren, both.”

He clicked his tongue. “I told them to take me.”

“You’re a seer. Don’t pretend you don’t know what’s happened to them. What about my mother? Is she still alive?”

“Was alive, last time I saw her. But that was days ago.”

“We found the wooden box in Skeleton Town—the one you carried her ashore in.”

Dare winced as he stole short breaths. “I didn’t want to do that to her, but she was distracting.”

“What does that mean?”

“She seemed scared. She’d asked to come to Roanoke with me. Said she wanted to see you, and your father and brothers. But when we got here, she changed her mind—said something terrible was going to happen.”

“What was it?”

“I don’t know. She said she couldn’t see it clearly.” He looked at me at last. “I thought she was stalling, to give you time to escape from me. But a hurricane was coming and my men were worried. That’s why I hid her in the wooden box. There was no distraction after that, for us or for you.” His face relaxed, as if he was satisfied by his answer.

“Well, now she might be dead. Along with everyone else.”

“My men won’t hurt anyone.

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