The Whispering Echoes by Melissa Giorgio

Author:Melissa Giorgio [Giorgio, Melissa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-05-08T22:00:00+00:00

THE SUN WAS SETTING, WHICH meant the carnival was waking up. As the sky turned blood red and orange, people were slipping from their tents and heading down a hill where more tents, larger ones of varying shades of color, were set up.

“These tents are where they sleep and eat,” Claudette explained, guiding me toward the edge of the carnival, in the opposite direction everyone else was headed. Aeonia’s tent was set away from the others, adjacent to a thick, wooded area. “The other tents—the ones they’re walking to now—are for the patrons to visit. It’s where they do their tricks and have their shows and sell trinkets and food.” Her grip around my shoulder tightened unconsciously. “I went there every night with Aeonia and Emile. It was fun. It was wonderful. But these people… They killed everyone in my city, and they cheered.”

“We need to go,” I said softly as Claudette stared at the tents. Her brown eyes were reflecting the colors of the sunset, and when she turned to me, I could see they were glassy with tears. “I’m sorry.” Because I was. I was sorry Ayres was gone, that Claudette and Emile had been forced to witness such unspeakable horrors. But if we didn’t move, if we didn’t get this stone far, far away from Aeonia, something even worse would happen.

“You’re right,” she said. “Come on.” Wordlessly we headed for the wooded area, skirting trees and exposed roots. My breathing was labored and I was afraid if we stopped, even for a moment, I wouldn’t be able to go on, not with the way my head was spinning and my limbs feeling like they were encased in lead. I didn’t understand what was happening to me. Parnaby had stabbed my hand and a dragon had emerged from it and all I’d felt was a dull ache in my palm. Now, it felt as if Aeonia was still standing there, twisting the dagger round and round again.

We broke free from the woods and Claudette paused, glancing around. The sky was turning dark and a few stars blinked into existence. “I wish Emile was here,” she said. “Him and his maps… He never gets lost. I wish I hadn’t left him behind, but when I heard you screaming…”

If Claudette had waited for her brother, I would have woken up in the tent alone with Aeonia stabbing me to her heart’s content until she finally realized Jaegger’s Essence was no longer with me. I shuddered.

Oblivious to my bleak thoughts, Claudette nodded to herself. “We need to head toward Fairfield. That’s where they would have taken your captain, and it’s our rendezvous point.” Walking again, she kept talking, her words providing me with the energy to lift my foot and take the next step. “We always had a rendezvous point, in case we were split up. It’s never happened but…” She laughed humorlessly. “There’s always a first time for everything, right?”

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. Instead, I pictured Leonid waiting for me.

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