A snowstorm arrived, but its chill warmed me. Flakes settled on my body, comforting me as I ran a hand through my wet hair.
The forest drew closer. And the she-wolf with amber eyes called to my heart.
I tried to close the distance between us, but something immobilized me. I stretched my arms toward her, waiting for her to pull me closer.
No! Why had I stopped? I was so close to reaching her.
I fell to my knees. The snow chilled my skin with an intensity that almost burned.
No, come back!
For how many lunations had I dreamed of that? Despite the interruption, the dream soothed my restless spirit. I regained my senses but kept my eyes closed. Numbness dominated my arms, restrained by nanocuffs and metaropes.
"She has a wolf keychain…" Luiz murmured. "A necklace with an M. Could it…?"
"It can't be. That M ain't for Maia." Kai cleared his throat apprehensively.
The mere mention of her name calmed the storm dwelling inside me. I bit my trembling lips. I didn't know what would happen to me, who had ordered my capture, or what their motives were. But in that instant, hearing Maia's name was enough to make everything else lose its importance.
"What if it is?" I felt Luiz's hands searching my pockets. "She asked about her…"
"Bro, we'll hand her over, and that's it. Put that back. Removed the blades? We'll rest here tonight. I'll keep watch."
The vehicle stopped somewhere destroyed and poorly lit in the Infinite Abyss.
Arms wrapped around my waist and carried me outside.
"Can you walk?" Kai asked Luiz.
"More or less. She got me good. Didn't think she'd fight."
"Yeah, brother, appearances can be deceiving. Haven't learned that yet?"
"Fuck if I know. This life's shit. Hard to trust anyone."
"Same in Jamaica, but here's better than there."
My chances of escape seemed nonexistent. For that moment, I resigned myself to my fate.
Kai placed me on the floor and activated a light in the middle of the abandoned house. The nanodevice began radiating heat, warming the room. Kai's dark irises examined me. "Awake, huh? Gave us some trouble."
How could they remain so calm after what I had done? Apart from the wounds on my head and neck, I had no other injuries. No. They weren't my hunters in the sense I feared. They needed to preserve me for delivery to the client, preferably as intact as possible. They could be friendly, but they didn't hesitate to capture me when necessary.
"I'd do the same. We all would," Luiz remarked.
"No, not all of us." Kai drew on a joint. "We were twelve cycles old. Me, you, Maia, and Kyle. Playing in Nobody's Land. The mercenaries told the inspectors. Remember what Maia and Kyle did?"
"Always gonna remember that shit." Luiz stared at the floor. "We ran like cowards."
Kai passed him the joint. "After that day…"
"…things were never the same. Maia grew distant, and Kyle…" Luiz broke off. "A shit life." He lowered his head.
"A shit life," Kai repeated, looking at the ceiling. "But now things seem to be changing. See the news?"
"Yeah. Assholes. My father died of that fucking disease."
Damn it. I felt their pain. The weight of the burdens they carried, present from so early in their lives. They had grown up marginalized. Now they were taking me to someone in exchange for thirteen million, in a reality where their choices seemed to have been profoundly narrowed. It was crystal clear. They couldn't even play in peace. I felt fury grow, but the target of that indignation lay elsewhere.
"I-I'm sorry." The words escaped like the air I breathed, carrying an immensity of feelings that couldn't fit inside that expression.
I'm sorry. I don't know. I felt guilty. I'm sorry was insufficient. Those two words wouldn't alter their pasts, the situations they had lived through, or the suffocating pain they still carried. Wouldn't even bring me relief. Being sorry came at the price of depth.
"What?" they asked in unison.
"N-nothing." I withdrew into myself. Maia, did you think that too? If I had known sooner, would anything have changed? Could I have helped with your pain?
"Let's give her a sleeping pill. Just to be sure."