Grudging by Michelle Hauck

Author:Michelle Hauck
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2015-10-31T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 18

Ramiro stood in Colina Hermosa, in the square outside the citadel. A drifting white fog clung and concealed. Everything seemed taller, and he realized he was the timid ten-­year-­old who followed his brother like a puppy. The white world mocked him, keeping him from those he sought. He batted it away, looking for Beatriz or Julian, even a priest, but saw no one. No one to put a comforting arm around him to scare away the demons. No one came to take the burden he fought to hide. He spun in place, yet not a soul moved in the square.

“Mama?” His voice emerged as the voice of a boy with a stubbed toe who needed his mother to kiss it and make it better. “Help!”

The fog parted. Salvador stood across the square. His brother wore all white as he never had in life. Joy filled Ramiro’s heart, and the weight he’d been carrying slipped away. He was his true age again, his full size. It had been a dream. Not real. He threw back his head and laughed in anticipation of seizing his brother’s hand.

Salvador looked at him and smiled. Everything was well. He lifted an arm, and Ramiro felt the danger. Swords appeared, aimed through the fog at Salvador’s heart.

Ramiro screamed a warning, but a gag kept him silent. He tried to run, but quicksand held his legs fast. He couldn’t get there. Couldn’t stop it. The swords descended, stabbing and slashing into Salvador’s unprotected flesh. The hand holding them was his own . . .

He woke with a start, covered in sweat, unable to move as memory overwhelmed him. The blame belonged to him. The promise he made to Beatriz to bring Salvador home lay broken. Now he transported a corpse. He wept silently, a blanket pressed against his face, until a troubled sleep claimed him again.

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