Racing Hearts (Shadow Quest 4.5) Read Online Free PDF Page A

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None had risked themselves for her conversation. Not that she
didn't continue to try.
    “How is your day?” she would say to
whoever had been sent to her room. It was a phrase she'd heard
before, through stolen moments from the ship's surveillance. “What
is your name?” she would ask, hopeful for a response.
    When they ignored her, she would only
continue as if the conversation were two sided instead of one,
telling them anything that popped into her head: her thoughts of
whatever room she was in at the time or how she missed the view of
space. She hadn't been allowed to see it in decades.
    She drew some satisfaction from the one
sided conversation, if only a little. It always meant something to
her when they lingered slightly, as though they were
listening.
    But in that moment she hadn’t been
interested in conversation, eyeing the scraps of food the man had
brought for her. Scraps of food not even fit for an animal, but
she'd take it. She was growing thin from hunger.
    Though he hadn't said a word, he had
watched her as she ravaged the scraps. The first bit of food she'd
eaten in a week and it was not enough to fill her belly. She'd
barely tasted it, which, by the looks of it, wasn't a bad
thing.
    After she finished, she looked up at
the man, surprised he was still there. There was something in his
expression she had never seen before. Was it sorrow? Shame? Did he
pity her? Probably. Who wouldn't?
    She’d wondered what she must look like,
unwashed and wearing a tattered dress. Her feet were bare, her
nails were dirty and bitten, and her hair hadn't been brushed in
some time.
    When the man turned to leave the room,
he hadn't left as normal: by closing the door tight and double
checking that it was locked. Instead, he opened the door wide and
withdrew in a rush. Without even a backward glance, he allowed the
heavy door to fall closed from its own weight.
    Analia didn't know what had compelled
her to act in that moment, just that she had. Rushing forward, she
inserted her fingers in the doorframe, just before it shut her in.
She stifled a scream when the heavy door came crashing down on
her.
    Grinding her teeth, she resisted the
urge to cradle her hand and waited.
    One heartbeat. Two. Three. Her breath
was labored. The first rush of adrenaline entered her system,
followed by the spark of an idea. Her heart began to race at the
possibilities.
    Think. What do I do
now?
    Then she'd remembered that
several merchant ships were scheduled to dock. Perhaps…if she were
lucky. If she could only make it to the docking bay. If a ship was
even there, it was possible she could escape Extarga .
    That's a lot of
ifs .
    She thought of the consequences if she
went through with this and failed. A stream of horrific images
entered her mind. She would suffer for days, weeks, maybe longer if
she was caught. Never had she done anything so bold as to try to
escape.
    But if she didn't at least try, she
knew she would regret it for the rest of her life, no matter the
consequences. There may never be an opportunity like this
again.
    Hope flooded her, made her feel light.
The idea of freedom, a better life, possibly being within her reach
was a heady thought.
    What if I do get free and
it's worse out there?
    The idea spread through her like a
poison. If she did escape, and found herself on a merchant ship,
what if the people on board were worse than Darius?
    She pushed the thought from her mind.
It couldn't be possible. Could it? Dark images swirled in her mind,
picking at her resolve.
    Or, what if they found out about her
gift? Perhaps her unusual pointed ears were a clear sign of what
she was, even if she didn’t know.
    Maybe under different circumstances she
would have embraced her ability, but for so long she’d suffered
because of it and only wished it gone. Unfortunately, as far as she
knew, that was impossible. It was a part of her, through and
through, blood to bone. And it was the reason Darius kept her as
isolated as he did. To him