Scourge by Gail Z. Martin

Author:Gail Z. Martin
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2017-07-15T14:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

MACHISON FLED, KNOWING, without needing to look over his shoulder, that his enemy was nearly upon him. The corridors of the Lord Mayor’s palace were strangely empty, unusually silent, except for the sound of his heaving breath and running footsteps. His pulse pounded in his ears, and the muscles in his side twinged painfully. He had not run so far, so fast, since his army days, many years ago. The benefits of his position had made him soft, vulnerable.

He stole a glance behind him. The old woman kept a steady pace, closing the distance. Wiry and gaunt, all bones and sinew, her unkempt gray hair fell in straggles around a lined face. She shouldn’t be able to catch him, shouldn’t be able to even get close, but her steps sounded just behind him, and her outstretched hands clawed at his robe.

“You’re not real,” Machison puffed, but he lacked conviction, and did not stop running. “I’m dreaming. You’re not real.”

“What makes you think dreams aren’t real?” Her voice sounded like shifting gravel; it reminded him of the Oracle. “Dreams are real. So are curses. All those curses called down by the ones who’ve lost their loved ones to your guards and monsters—oh, they’re real enough. You’ll see.”

“I’m not here. You’re not here. None of this is happening.”

A mirthless laugh answered him. “You’re certain that you control the living. It’s the dead you’d best be fearing.”

Machison found himself in the dark, no longer running. He could not see the old woman, and in the silence his heartbeat hammered in his ears. “The dead bear witness,” the old woman said. “The dead remember. They will have their justice. They will be avenged.”

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