Chapter 61 Devasting Consequences

Chapter 61 Devasting Consequences
Sera POV

The first thing I notice as I come back is that my head hurts.

I open my eyes, but the bright white lights on the ceiling are gone. Now, everything is flashing red. A loud, screeching alarm is blaring so hard it makes my teeth rattle. The air smells like yellow smoke, broken concrete, and copper.

While my body feels like it is on fire. The bad electricity is turned off, but my skin is still tearing. Hard, dark scales are stuck halfway out of my arms and my neck burning to touch.

I try to reach up to scratch them off, but I can't. The thick leather belts are still strapped tight across my wrists, my waist, and my
ankles. While the people who did this to me are on the floor without moving.

As I turn my head, I notice that the big glass wall in front of me is gone. It is just a hole now, with shiny pieces scattered all over the tiles.

Through the hole, the corridor is full of yellow mist. I see Drazen. His face is covered in blood, and he is fighting the giant men. On the floor, Sable is struggling with the Lady.

The Lady kicks Sable away. She stands up and limps backward then picks up a huge, heavy metal gun from the floor.

I know what guns do. The older kids in the Undercourt talk about human weapons.

The Lady doesn't point it at Drazen. She doesn't point it at Sable. She lifts the heavy barrel, resting it on her arm because her hands are shaking.

And points it straight through the broken window. Right at my chest.

I gasp while trying to pull against the thick leather belts with all my strength. The metal
buckles squeak, but they don't open. I am trapped. I squeeze my eyes shut and
hold my breath, waiting for the loud noise.

The noise that follows is deafening. But the pain doesn't hit me.

So I open my eyes.

A shadow is standing directly in front of my chair, her familiar scent hitting my nose almost immediately.

"Nera," I whisper.

She jerks backward until her spine hits my knees.

Thick, three pieces of black rocks are buried deep in her stomach and her chest. They tore right through her clothes. She makes a quiet, wet, gasping sound as her knees buckle. She slides down my legs and falls onto her side on the tiles, right next to my boots.

"No!" I scream, pulling frantically against the arm straps. They cut into my wrists, making me bleed, but I don't care. I just want to reach down. I want to touch her. "Nera! Get up!"

But she doesn't get up.

A dark, shiny puddle of blood spreads across the floor beneath her. I know about the black rocks because I heard the guards talk about them. They stop our kind from healing.

Nera slowly turns her head on the floor as her eyes meet mine. Her face is very pale, and blood is trickling out of the corner of her mouth. She tries to smile at me but it is a small, broken smile, just like the one she gives me when I mess up my shift practice.

She reaches her wrinkly, shaking hand up toward me. Her fingers brush the toe of my dirty boot.

Then, her hand drops. Her chest stops moving, her dark eyes go completely blank, staring at the ceiling.

"Nera?" I say. My voice is very small. "Nera, wake up."

She doesn't blink.

Outside the window, someone yells. The Lady drops the heavy gun and runs away down the yellow hallway.

Drazen climbs through the broken glass. He doesn't look like a King right now. He looks like a monster. His suit is ripped, his knuckles are bruised, and he is breathing incredibly fast. He drops to his knees next to my chair. He doesn't
look for the buckles, he simply grabs the thick leather straps with his bare hands and rips them completely in half.

My arms fall to my sides. Then he pulls me out of the metal chair and crushes me against his chest. He tries to hide my face in his neck, wrapping his big arms around me to block my view of the floor.

Sable scrambles through the glass hole right behind him.

She crawls over the broken pieces on her hands and knees and drops onto the tiles next to Nera. Her clothes are covered in dust and her own blood, but she doesn't seem to care.

"No, no, no," she cries out.

She presses her hands flat against Nera’s bloody chest. The bright orange glow of the Hearthblood lights up the room. She pushes as hard as she can, crying and begging the magic to work.

"Come on," she sobs, her voice cracking. She pushes her glowing hands down again. "Please. You can't leave her. Come on!"

The orange light flashes, but it doesn't sink into Nera. Those black rocks block the heat,pushing the Hearthblood away so Nera’s body stays perfectly still.

When she realizes it isn't working, the glow in her hands flickers and dies.

She collapses forward, burying her face in Nera’s gray tunic and screams. It isn't a normal cry. It is a loud broken sound that hurts my ears more than the alarm. She grips Nera’s shoulders, her whole body shaking with huge, violent sobs.

Drazen holds me tighter.

He doesn't cry or make a sound. But I can feel his massive chest trembling against my cheek. He presses his face into my tangled hair. His jaw is locked so tight I can hear his teeth grinding together. He is trying to be strong, because he is the King, but I can feel his heart breaking straight through his ribs.

My eyes move over Drazen’s shoulder to Sable crying on the floor then move to Nera’s empty eyes.

I should be crying too. I should be screaming with Sable. But the tears won't come out. My throat feels like it is packed with dry dirt. My arms don't hurt anymore. The cold room doesn't feel cold anymore.

Everything just feels completely, terrifyingly empty.

I just wanted to see the animals from all over the world. I just wanted to go to the zoo. I just wanted to know what the sun felt like.

I rest my head against Drazen's shoulder and go completely silent. I don't think I will ever speak again.