After the Walls

Chapter 38

We run, leaping up the stairs, swinging our arms to propel us faster. Our boots clatter against the floor like a quickening drum and our breaths and grunts echo.

"Faster!" I shout, my voice straining.

I grab her wrist, tugging her along.

"I can run!" she barks, yanking her wrist back.

We fly out of the stairwell and onto the main floor of the palace. Our boots squeal as we spring. The floor trembles and shudders as if a beast of wrath has awakened. My ears ring as the world groans and creaks. Cracks and fissures slither throughout the floor. A scream flies from my lips as the ground shifts and sinks with a jolt. I fall to my knees.

"Get up!" Hera shrieks in my ears, yanking me up.

We sprint as pillars split and crumble around us, the thuds of falling marble roaring around us. The sunlight spills through the entrance and the doors quake, squeaking against their hinges.

I cry out as we hurl ourselves across the threshold and stumble down the groaning stairs. We don't stop, pelting across the trimmed grass. We stumble and stagger until we fly through the palace gates and skid to a stop on the side of the boulevard that leads to the heart of the Concave Sector.

Hera and I are frozen. Throngs of people gather around us. Concaves, even Convex and Red Movement. We all watch in silence.

The dozen towers fall first. They collapse and reverberate, sending dust clouds into the air. The main structure of the palace sinks into the ground, piece by piece, crunching, exploding, screaming, and roaring, contributing to the dust, and flame and smoke erupting into the air.

The mighty palace collapses into the earth, which swallows it up, creating a mound of flaming rubble, marble, and stone. I try not to fall, too, as the earth tremors and weeps. Despite the low rattle and hum emanating from the bones of the palace, the kingdom is now utterly silent.

And I grab the hilt of the dagger at my waist, bracing myself for the attack of the people around me. But no one makes a move. No one even says anything to me. Some of them, finally, gasp and chatter amongst themselves.

My ears still ring and I am vaguely aware of Hera muttering, "You were going to leave me."

She snaps her finger in my face. "Oi. You were going to leave me, Elle!"

I cast her a cold glare. "Yeah. And you can thank me for letting you out by leaving the Walls for good."

"I thought you wanted this city to be a haven for people?" she says through gritted teeth, her words laced with poison.

I pull the dagger out. "I did. I do. But you and your bloody sirens are ungrateful. How dare you try to kill the people I love just for the sake of stealing the throne? Can you not just be content with having a home? Edward is... a little strange but he was a good leader."

"Oh, Elle. You know that's not true. The man was becoming more deranged with each sip of the shadowteeth blood."

"I know! Which is why I was trying to help him. But you just... got in the way and ruined it for us all. Now, no one can have the throne and you need to leave. Find another home."

Her nose scrunches and her lip stretches towards her ears. "For a girl who claims to be a hero, you truly have the most twisted morals, Elizabeth."

I stiffen. "I never claimed to be a hero."

Hera bears her yellow teeth. "You're a monster, Elle. And you don't deserve to stay in the Walls either."

My jaw tightens. She shifts her weight and quirks a brow. "And even you know that." Her voice is shrill as she revels in watching me squirm. "You don't even plan to stay yourself."