Chapter Forty Two
Coal led me by the hand back into the forest. The cool morning mist still hung in the small spaces between tree roots. The trees themselves were alive with the sounds of birds singing to the new dawn. Shafts of sunlight pierced the canopy above us, highlighting patches of flowers in every thinkable colour which were opening their petals and drinking in the light.
We reached a thick swathe of vines which Coal swept aside, causing a cascade of pollen to swirl around us in a golden cloud.
Behind the vines was a beautiful pond, the water so still it could have been a pane of glass with big, white lilies floating blissfully in its centre. It was like something from a fairy tale. A little brown rabbit appeared and quickly drank his fill from the glistening water, ripples spreading out before him as he did so.
A tree with faint, silvery bark had fallen down next to the pond and gotten stuck against one of its neighbours, leaving a cave of roots half torn from the ground. They reached out like boney fingers, wrapped with gloves of ivy. The trunk of the tree created a sort of bridge above the water and Coal helped me to climb up onto it.
Half way across, directly above the rippling pond, the tree's trunk widened creating enough space for us to sit.
Coal pulled me down and he lay against the rough bark. I sat next to him and hung my feet over the edge.
"I found this place when I was looking for Blane. I like to think that maybe he got to spend that night here, at least that one night, hidden away," Coal said quietly.
"Sometimes, all I want is to hide from the world. Not to have to worry about all the things that need to be set right," I replied.
It had been three weeks since we'd gotten back from the bunker and nothing had changed. I was finding it harder and harder to just stay put.
"That's why I brought you here, I think it's easier to forget out here. To let go of a few of your worries, just for a little while." He smiled.
"Thank you." A bird cried out his joy to the morning and was rewarded by another returning his song in the distance.
"Do you think we can do it?" I asked and he didn't need to ask what I was talking about.
"I think it would be wrong not to try." At least he didn't lie to me.
"I feel like it's impossible, but I agree we have to try. Or rather I have to." I looked sideways at him.
"I have to too," he said stubbornly.
"You don't. I don't even know if I should be asking you to," I sighed.
"You didn't ask, we offered."
"And if people are hurt? Or killed?" I tugged on a strand of my dark hair nervously.
"It would be because we were doing what we knew had to be done, what we felt was the right thing to do. Not because we felt we had to do it for anyone else's sake." He folded his arms and stared at me.
"But I feel like you are doing it for my sake."
"I would do it for you." He nodded.
"Does that make it right?"
"It's not the only reason I'm going to do it. It's the right thing to do with or without your parents needing our help. They aren't the only people that the city is holding captive. In a way, they're holding everyone within those walls hostage." He ran his fingertips along my arm softly.
"But is it worth your life? Or mine, or Alicia's, or anyone else's?" I held his gaze, hoping he had the answers I needed to hear.
"Yes." There was no doubt in his voice and I knew he was right.
"When?" I asked.
"Soon. But not now." He pulled me closer to him and ran his hand down the side of my face. I shivered and moved towards him, feeling the heat radiating from his body. My hair tumbled down around us, blocking out the world.
"No, not now." I smiled as he pressed his lips to mine and I forgot to breathe, or think, or feel anything other than him.
It was almost as though everything in the world was perfect. Almost.
The Story Continues in...
Linked
The breathtaking sequel to
Chained
Susanne Valenti
Continue reading for an exclusive peak at the first chapter...
Chained - Everything you know is a lie... Page 42
