The Dark and Hollow Places Read Online Free PDF

darting to the left as we leave the alley and weave around buildings to put as much space between us and the Recruiters as possible.
    We run until my legs burn and my throat is raw and I half believe my own terror. The girl tugs at me when I slow. “What about the Resurrected?” she pleads, her eyes wide, and I have to remind myself that she doesn’t know I made it all up to save her.
    The boy bends over, hands braced on knees as he tries to catch his breath, his face broken with pain.
    “It’s okay,” I tell her, holding her close against my side. “We’re fine. I was just trying to distract them from you. You’reokay now.” I’m surprised at how much their safety actually matters to me.
    The boy looks up, trying to focus. “You’re sure?”
    The girl shudders. They have no reason to trust me, which is the way it should be. They need to learn that no one—no place—in this city is safe anymore.
    “What’s your name?” I ask her.
    “Amalia,” she says.
    I think about my sister and the way she looked when Elias and I left her in the Forest. Her knee was bloody from where she’d fallen and scratched it. The scent was driving the Unconsecrated around us into a burning need. They pushed against the fence for us, moans curdling up long-dead throats.
    How easy it would have been for me to have made a different decision. To have taken her hand and led us both home. How long I’ve tortured myself for choosing to follow Elias down the path away from her.
    “Where do you live?”
    She starts to turn and point but the boy grabs her hand and pulls it down. He stands as straight as possible, his arms pressed to his side where he was kicked. “We can make it,” he says, trying to sound as though he’s strong enough to take care of the situation. It’s easy to see neither one of them has eaten in a while—cheeks sharp and eyes smudged with bruises.
    “They said they were looking for you—why?” I ask, still not sure I should leave them on their own.
    They glance at each other, clearly warring over what, if anything, to tell me. “They’ve been after all the Soulers,” the boy finally says. “We don’t know why. We just know that they’ve taken the ones they find.”
    The clouds hugging the mainland have shifted over theisland, dropping the temperature, and I’m finally glad to be wearing so many layers. Amalia hugs her arms around herself and I pull a scarf from my neck and drape it over her head and shoulders. The boy pulls her against him.
    “I can walk you home,” I offer, not sure how much help I’ll be against another band of Recruiters, but at least we’d have more numbers between us.
    “We’ll be okay.” His voice is firm, though I still see the hesitation in his eyes. The lingering terror of what almost happened to both of them.
    But what else can I do? And so I nod and turn back toward the Palisades, hoping that somewhere out there a stranger might take pity on my sister and ensure that she’s safe and alive.

T he incoming storm erases the lingering daylight early, and wind smelling of fires and rot curls down the street, seeping through my clothes. Even though I try to make my way back to the Dark City as quickly as possible, I’m still stuck weaving through the Neverlands when night falls. Feet shuffle down an alley nearby and I shiver, rushing toward the nearest fire escape so I can climb up to the roof to escape the claustrophobia of crumbling walls.
    It’s safer up high at night, less possibility of the wandering dead sneaking up on you in the darkness.
    My sister is near, I think as I hurry toward the Palisades. Abigail’s here just across the river at the Sanctuary. I close my eyes and try to feel her. When we were kids I thought we had some sort of connection, a thread that tied one to the other. If she was sad I could sense it—any intense emotion would reverberate through me no matter where I was in the village.
    It was like we shared everything: one heart, one soul,