9.

Blood pounds in my ears. My feet thud against the earth like a drum. The screams stopped but my anxiety only increases as we get closer, the possibility that we could be running towards a group of hollowers both terrifying and promising. Maybe they've seen Elias. Maybe they know where he is.

But both my hope and fear dwindle away when we scramble up the cliff face and reach the mouth of the cave. Eric cradles his shoulder and curses loudly while Malik stands at the entrance, the hollower wrapped in his arms and his hand slapped over her mouth. She struggles in his hold, eyes wild and frantic, but he's too strong.

"Eric?" Cassia rushes over. "What happened?"

"It bit me! Bit me!" He scowls, moving his hand from his shoulder. His shirt is torn and blood prickles from bite marks around his bicep. "I'm going to kill it!

"Eric, calm down—"

"Don't tell me to calm down." He shoves her out of the way and starts towards Malik. "Malik, let the hollower go."

Instead, he holds her tighter and away from Eric's grasp. "Eric, think about this—"

"All I'm thinking about is the chunk of skin it took out of my arm!" He storms over. "Give it to me right now!"

Cassia grabs him. "You're being irrational, stop!

"Cassia, get out of my way or I'll kill—"

"Don't finish that sentence." Cassia roughly shoves him backwards. "Stop being an idiot. We need her."

I look at the hollower. Her breath is short and ragged, eyes wide and frightened. Against Malik's broad frame, she's tiny, feet dangling a few feet above the ground and the outline of her body dwarfed by his. She looks harmless.

"It bit me, Cassia!"

"And I'm sure she's very sorry."

"This isn't funny!" Eric huffs, murmuring something beneath his breath that makes Cassia frown. Then he looks at Malik. "Knock her out and make sure she stays that way till we reach the coast."

Malik opens his mouth to say something but I beat him to it. "Let her go," I order. He shoots me a perplexed look and Eric stares like I've grown an extra head.

"Are you insane?"

"Let her go, Malik, you're hurting her," I say. He watches me warily, but I see the way his grip loosens. "She's our only hope at finding Elias and she sure as hell won't help us if we treat her like a prisoner."

"It's a hollower," Eric spits, "we can't trust it."

"I'm not saying we have to trust her, but we don't have to treat her like an animal," I say. "That'd make us just as bad as them." I reach into my pack to retrieve the rope used on her earlier before offering it to Malik. "Let her go, Malik."

This time, he listens, his hands leaving red marks where they indented her wrists. Before she can make any sort of escape, he takes the rope from my hands and ties it around her wrists, keeping a firm hold on one end. "If she bites you, don't come complaining to me." Eric huffs angrily, picking up one of the packs and making his way into the cave.

Cassia stares after him, leaning over with a sigh and grabbing the hollower. Surprisingly, she doesn't resist, just shuffles after Cassia—not that she could get away if she tried. I sigh, running a hand through my hair and turning to Malik.

"For what it's worth, I don't agree with Eric," he says. "I just hope you're right. About her helping us, I mean."

I stare after her retreating figure and feel my heart drop to my stomach. She owes us nothing and we have nothing to offer her. If I were her, if any of us were her, we wouldn't help. So why would she?

But I just shake my head a force a tired smile. "Yeah. Me too."

~

Even after a long run, Cassia, Eric, and Malik volunteer to scout the area, desperate to stretch their legs. I offer to stay at the cave, on babysitting duty. And despite the fact that I'm the only one who didn't exert extreme physical effort, I need the rest. I don't have the same natural fitness as the shifters, and I don't want to be the one slowing us down when it really counts.

The cave is damp and dark. Malik managed to get a fire going, and it casts ominous shadows on the walls. The hollower and I sit on opposite walls of the cave. Her hands and ankles are tied together, making an escape nearly impossible. Dust tangles in her hair; she looks exhausted. I rifle through the pack and pull out a bottle of water.

"Do you want some?" I ask.

She's silent, her small frame barely creating a shadow behind her. I shouldn't be afraid. She's restrained and looks very weak. But a shudder crawls down my spine at her intrusive, unwavering stare. I pretend to busy myself with something else, opting for the small sketchbook I found in the library and decided to bring along.

The library was Elias' sanctuary, and every time I stand in the doorway, I can picture him stretched out on the sofa, a book in his hand, and a stack on the floor beside him. The first month after he left, I combed through the hundreds of books, trying to find some sort of connection to Elias amongst the dog-eared, musty pages. Fairytales, weather books, geography books, history books—each and every one worn with love. But nearly all too dense to read. I found the sketchbook tucked between the fireplace and one of the shelves one night, and it wasn't long before it was my favorite book in the entire castle, and not only because there are no words. But because, as I run my fingers along the rough lines of Ana's face, I can picture Elias doing the same.

"Your name is Milena."

My eyes dart up at the sound of the hollower, fingers pausing against the page as my gaze meets the hollowers. I shift slightly, trying not to show how uncomfortable she makes me.

"Yes." I close the book carefully. "How do you know who I am?" She presses her lips together and ducks her head. "What's your name?" When she shifts, I notice the red marks on her wrists left by the ropes. I reach forward and she flinches away. "Relax, I just want to help you."

"I don't want anything from you."

"Those cuts could get infected." No answer, just a cough. I thrust the bottle toward her. "Here, you must be thirsty."

She doesn't take it so I put it in front of her instead, moving away with a sigh. My head feels blocked in this cave, and her presence is unsettling. I need air. Grabbing my pack, I start back towards the entrance of the cave. It isn't very deep and doesn't seem to have more than one accessible path, so as long as I stay at the entrance, she won't be able to escape.

"Anastasia." I pause, turning to look over my shoulder. She's staring at me, the bottle quivering in her hands. "My name is Anastasia."

She looks away and I continue toward the end of the cave. Anastasia. There's something about her that makes me feel uneasy, like staring into her eyes is like staring into a window of what could've been, a life I could've lived if I'd been born into a different body or if my village hadn't tried to murder me. And the thoughts that follow are destructive.

At the entrance to the cave, I press my back against the rock and slide to the ground. I have a good vantage point up here, a view over the tops of the trees. They seem endless, only coming to a halt at the base of the mountain in the distance behind us. In my lap, I brush the cover of Elias' sketchbook.

"Nice spot you've got there."

I jolt in fright as Malik appears beside me. He's rolled his sleeves to his elbows, but his hair is still perfectly brushed back from his face. "Where are Eric and Cassia?" I ask.

"Still coming." His eyes brush across my face before landing on the book in my lap. "What's this?"

"It was one of Elias' old sketchbooks." I grip it tighter, showing him one of the pages. It opens to a drawing of a lone wolf standing amongst a cluster of trees. "I don't know." I can feel his stare on the side of my face and shift self-consciously, suddenly aware that it might be strange that I brought it with me. "It's nice to look through sometimes."

"The bastard always was good at everything." When I look up, he's smiling, and I can't help but return it. I search his face, looking for Elias somewhere in his icy eyes, but all I see is Malik.

"I've been thinking," I say, "about the shadow."

His expression grows less teasing and more serious. "You have?"

"You said that Ana knew where it was. Did Elias know about it, too?"

"Everyone knows about it. Elias grew up hearing the same legends we did."

I mull it over in my head, letting the distant bird songs fill the silence between us. Malik's already looking at me when I turn back, his intense gaze sweeping over my face. "And it could end the hollowers?" I ask. "They wouldn't be immortal anymore?"

"That's what I'm hoping."

"Why did Ana ever let it get out of her possession? It doesn't make sense. She knew Elias was a wisper and that the shadow could destroy him. Wouldn't she want to hide it from the world?"

"She did hide it, Milena," he says. "You have to understand, the last time the shadow was created was nearly a century ago. Ana was smart to keep it a secret. She was smart telling no-one where it was or how to use it."

"How did you find out about it?"

"I put the pieces together," he says. "It's so well hidden those who possess it don't even know its true power."

"The hollowers?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't Ana just destroy it?" I ask. "I was merely an innocent baby and she sacrificed my life to protect Elias. If it's the biggest threat to him, why would she keep it around?"

He pauses, seems to mull it over himself, like he's not sure of the answer. Finally, he speaks. "To tell you the truth, I don't know why Ana did what she did." He looks at me, his expression softer. "I don't understand any of it, nor do I agree with it."

Something tells me we aren't talking about the shadow anymore. Around us, the air stirs, blowing Malik's hair across his forehead. Questions poke at my mind as I stare at him. How long has Malik known about me? How long has he known that a human was used as a decoy to protect Elias? If he was with the elders, perhaps he's known all his life.

"She did what she had to in order to protect Elias," I say. What Ana did to me wasn't all too different from what Charles or Cassia did. "She sacrificed my life in hopes that it would save the lives of many."

"She knowingly ruined the life of an innocent," Malik corrects sharply. "In my eyes, that's unforgivable."

His eyes captivate me entirely. I can't look away. There's something liberating in his words, something nobody has bothered to say to me before—that I was an innocent child, and my life was ruined to protect someone more important. That just because it was in the hopes of doing good, that didn't make it right. The same thoughts have crossed my mind, but it felt selfish to entertain them.

"Well what was the alternative?" I ask. "If not me then it had to have been someone else. Otherwise the hollowers would've gotten Elias and we would've ended up—" Here. We would've ended up here, with the hollowers turning immortal. "Would you have done any different?"

He doesn't break my gaze. "There were other options available. Ana chose her path and there was nothing anybody could to stop her."

"Who would've stopped her?"

He opens his mouth to respond but something catches his attention over my shoulder. His brows furrow. My shoulders tighten. "What is it?"

"I thought I heard... " He shakes his head. "Don't worry."

A chill runs down my spine as I look out at the forest. Up high, we can gaze over the treetops, but that just makes the forest more ominous. I shudder. Talks of the past make our surroundings seem more sinister and make the air harder to breathe; it's dangerous to think about 'what ifs'. I shift closer to Malik.

"What was Elias like as a kid?" I wonder.

He shrugs. "He never really seemed like a kid to me, to be honest. Always hiding in the shadows, watching us through the window whenever all the kids would play games in the village. The only times I ever really saw him out was with Ana or Eric."

I look out over the trees as I think of Elias, the sun basking us in a warm glow. "It sounds kind of sad."

"We all thought he was a bit weird," Malik admits. "It all makes sense now, though. He did what he had to do. Makes me feel sorry for the guy."

It's peculiar how our childhoods were so drastically different and yet, in some ways, the same. I grew up ostracised, striving for closeness and connection. Elias grew up isolated by his own doing, never truly letting people close to him in fear that he'd destroy them. Both so different and yet both so terribly alone.

"What about you?" Malik says.

I turn back to Malik. His eyes are soft, expression curious. "What about me?"

"You grew up with the hollowers. What was that like?"

I sigh as memories flash through my mind. Not so long ago, I thought of my childhood as normal. I didn't know that the way I was treated wasn't normal. I didn't know that everybody I knew watched me grow up knowing they were going to kill me. So now, even the good memories I have are tainted by the truth of their betrayal.

But then I think of Flo. Her laugh echoes through my head, the same one that haunts my nightmares. It was hard to fathom after what happened, but she loved me, I know that now. And she was sorry for what she'd done. In the scheme of things, without Flo there, my childhood could've been a lot worse.

"It wasn't all bad."

He looks doubtful. "Somehow I find that hard to believe."

"I wasn't tortured and whipped, if that's what you're thinking."

"Perhaps not. But not all torture is physical." Silence stretches between us, his words hanging in the air as the truth to them sinks in. "When I heard your story, I thought it was incredible."

I shift uncomfortably. "It's nothing—"

"You grew up with an entire village plotting your murder. Any normal person would be too traumatized to go outside, too afraid to trust anyone ever again, and yet you still stand here as one of the bravest people I've ever met." His eyes burn with conviction, making my breath catch in my throat. "It's something."

He's close enough that I can see the grey in his eyes, feel the warmth of his skin, the vibrant energy of a shifter humming through the air between us. In all my time spent with the shifters, I haven't gotten used to the way I feel drawn to them. Eric explained it once as a feature meant to lure in prey. Humans are meant to be drawn to them—like a moth to a flame. Malik is no exception. I can't help but shift closer to him. It'd unnerve me if I didn't already know it was just part of their make-up.

At the sound of a cough, I snap my gaze away. Eric stands a few feet away, red eyes on us, and expression stoic. "Get inside," he orders. "There's a group of hollowers a couple of kilometres west of here. We can avoid them if we stay concealed."

He marches into the cave without another word. I create distance between Malik and I, shaking my head clear before meeting his gaze. He offers a small smile as he brushes his hands on his pants. "Guess we should head in."

I clutch Elias' sketchbook to my chest and nod. "Yeah. I guess we should."

~

DISCUSSION:

1. I'm interested to know your thoughts on Malik. Based on the comments from book one, we have some Elias haters and some Elias lovers, so I suspect the reception to Malik and Milena will be mixed.

2. Do you agree with Malik or Milena? Was Ana in the right or wrong for what she did?

3. What do you think might happen next chapter?