At the gate, soldiers scrambled up onto the walls. They ran past Mel and Marcus with hurried steps and wide, beady eyes. An officer with a navy blue cloak stood a few paces behind the massive closed gate. He yelled at the people running to go faster, to keep their eyes open, to get ready.

Marcus’ hand held Mel’s in a tight grip and Mel could feel her heart beating out of her chest. Her stomach tightened and her legs went numb. She pulled back her hand, forcing Marcus to notice her presence.

“Why are we moving toward the danger?” Mel asked.

“I need to help, Mel. We need to help them.”

Mel shook her head. “No, we don’t. This is too dangerous. None of us can fight.”

He gave her a stiff glance. “I can.”

Marcus turned back toward the fighting and pulled Mel with him toward the officer in command, yelling orders and trying to keep his soldiers alive. Mel swallowed a scream in her throat, feeling like she wanted to yell at Marcus to stop this madness. He couldn’t fight this.

Then a man above on the walls let out a horrified scream. One that cut through the darkness, the yelling, and all the chaos. Everyone seemed to stop, watching him as a smokey substance evaporated from his body. Like the night was escaping out of his flesh.

Eyes watched them from inside the smoke and Mel felt them drawn to her. She pulled Marcus’ hand again, wanting to cut loose and run away from this madness. She wasn’t a fighter; she wasn’t someone who could deal with this. But Marcus didn’t even seem to notice her futile attempts to get away. Maybe because Mel didn’t have the strength in her to fight even him. She felt like her energy had been zapped out of her, like the terror had taken over her body. Making it heavy and slow.

“What can I do?” Marcus asked.

The officer turned on his heel, glancing over at Marcus quickly.

“Go home, kid.”

“I’m in the army,” Marcus said, puffing up his chest and letting his navy blue uniform show.

“You’re not on duty,” the officer said. “We can handle it. Take that girl with you. Hide until the bells stop ringing. You’re only in the way down here.”

“No,” Marcus said. “I can fight.”

The officer turned back to Marcus, this time sinking his gaze into him.

“That’s an order,” he said. “If you get her or yourself killed, I will make sure you never see another fight in your life. Understood?”

Marcus wavered, his hand flying up to snag at his dark hair. He took a step back from the officer, who turned his back to him again. Mel pulled at his hand once more, and this time, Marcus took another step back.

“Don’t let that thing get inside the city,” the officer yelled to his soldiers.

Three soldiers turned toward a shadowy substance trailing down from the wall and toward them all. It swirled around in the center between the soldiers, smokey and shifting. Then a form took place, that of an animal with horns. Eyes of pure white light shone from the animal's face, watching Mel. She felt connected to it somehow, like she knew this creature. Mel took a step forward, toward the shadow, and extended her hand.

A man in a navy blue cloak ran past her toward the shadowy creature, his hood drawn and a sword gleaming in his hands. Mel heard a soft ringing in her ears and then the shadowy creature before her charged one of the soldiers trying to hold it back. Its horns slipped inside his skin, the soldier's eyes rolled back and Mel saw him gasping for air.

The cloaked man thrust his sword into the creature and the smoke became alive as blue light emerged inside it. Crystals formed at the edges and ice weighed it down. The man slipped out his sword from the shadow and it trailed back up the wall, falling back. The soldier, who had been hit by its horns, fell stiff to the ground and Mel saw his eyes glaze over and death covering him in a blanket of red.

The man in the navy cloak swirled around and took notice of Mel and Marcus for a quick second before he sank his eyes into the officer before them. His eyes and hair were black and his face had angles Mel felt she knew all too well. His body was taught and muscular and an emblem on his uniform shone in the shape of a diamond in a blue light.

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“Try to keep at least a few soldiers alive, Mark,” the man said. “Pull them back from the wall.”

“This is not your fight, Taveck,” the officer named Mark said. “The army is in charge of protecting Aldrion.”

Mel’s heart sped up. He had called him Taveck.

Marcus pulled her hand as Taveck snarled at Mark and ran up the wall to meet the shadow. Mel followed Marcus toward Falden and at the town square, he stopped. The marketplace was filled with people, yelling, and running around in panic. A man shoved Marcus in the side and almost knocked him over.

Mel put a hand to Marcus’ side and steadied him. Marcus pulled her closer into his body, as if to protect her from the madness of the people in Aldrion. He dragged her away from the open square and Mel kept her eyes on the statue in the center. The one of Terri Taveck, riding a horse.

Marcus dragged her into the alleyways. People were still screaming here and running for their lives. Mel didn’t know if they even knew where they were going. As far as Mel knew, the shadow hadn’t made it inside the city yet and she couldn’t quite understand all of this.

Further into the narrow streets, they found people sitting with their backs against the stone walls, watching the sky, and covering their ears. The bells were still ringing and Marcus pulled Mel down against the wall of a building, a bit away from the rest of the people hiding here.

He pulled her close to his chest and Mel let herself sink into the warmth of him. She could hear his heart beating furiously, just like her own. His breaths were ragged and forced and for some reason this seemed to calm her. Knowing that he was struggling with this too. That he wasn’t as strong as he had seemed to be down by the gates.

“I need to go,” Marcus said. “You will be safe here. Just stay hidden and I will come and find you later.”

He started to untangle himself from Mel, but she pulled at his shirt, forcing him to stay put. His hand wrapped around her waist and Mel could feel an almost burning sensation from it. She felt her breath pushing his hand, and she knew he was only a slip away from caressing her breast.

“What are you doing? You heard the officer.”

“But I need to at least see if there is anything I can do. I need to report to the base and speak to my sergeant.”

“No, you don’t. You need to stay here with me, hidden and safe. If you leave, I will follow you.”

Marcus glanced at her, and Mel’s gaze caught with his. Her body was flushed against him and his hand still rested on her rib cage. She felt his heart beating in a different rhythm now, not frantic or scared, but something else. She felt him drag in a quick breath and his eyes seemed to grow in size. His pupils were wide and all-consuming.

Mel’s gaze trailed down to his lips. They were full and soft and when her eyes landed on his again; he had fire in them. For a moment Mel felt like he might kiss her now and this time she thought she wanted him to. But then the bells stopped ringing, and it was like the air had been knocked out of her lungs.

A quietness spread over the city and found its way inside the alleyways. She heard people standing up from their seats against the stone walls of buildings and she knew it was time to move on from this moment.

Marcus’ gaze flew up toward the sky and there were no more flashes of light coming from the east, no more screams of horror. Marcus pressed his lips against her forehead and his hand stroked her back, leaving her. Then he stood up by the wall. He looked at her for a moment, seeming to find it difficult to go.

“I need to go to the base,” he said. “Can you make it back to Falden? I think the danger has passed.”

Mel nodded, standing up beside him. She felt her cheeks flush and a desire burning low in her belly. Something she hadn’t felt before, especially not around Marcus. She wanted to take a step toward him, closing that last distance between them. But she worried she could never take it back if she did.

“I’m going to ask them about this,” he said. “I need to know how to protect you and we need to figure out how we are going to make it into the wasteland someday with those things out there.”

Mel felt an icy liquid spill down her spine, and the moment of desire left her body completely. She swallowed hard, not wanting to think about those white eyes watching her.

“I’ll ask around Falden, too,” she said.

“Please don’t tell Austin,” Marcus said. “I still don’t trust him.”

Austin was the least of their problems, Mel thought. But yeah, he didn’t exactly seem trustworthy since he hadn’t told her about the other Taveck she saw down by the gates today. There always seemed to be something new he was hiding from her and, for once, she agreed with Marcus. Austin was not to be trusted.

“I won’t,” Mel said. “Let’s meet up tomorrow night, at sundown, by the statue.”

She grabbed Marcus’ hand and stroked his knuckles with her thumb. His gaze flew up to her eyes, roaming over her face, and then landed for a moment on her lips. He dragged in a quick breath once more and then his eyes shot down to her hand.

His fingers wrapped around her, squeezing her tight before he let her go. Marcus walked out of the alleyway with the rest of the people streaming out toward the market again. Mel felt her legs heavy and that tired feeling seemed to take over her body. She dragged her legs toward Falden and took her time going up there. She passed people who looked like she felt.

No one seemed to want to speak, not to her or to anyone else. It was like the city had screamed its lungs out during the attack and now it had no voice left. There was an eerie quiet covering Aldrion. The people mourning the dead and wishing the next attack would never come.