Free Genesis: A Soul Savers Novella by Kristie Cook Page B

said, “I’m sorry … .”
    “Please reconsider. The world is very harsh for women. I can protect you.”
    “I don’t need protection.”
    “But you do. As soon as you set foot in an agora—”
    Cassandra’s nostrils flared. So Niko was, after all, very much like Jordan in this regard. “Jordan has told me it’s no place for a woman. But I’ll do what I have to do.”
    “You don’t understand. You go anywhere in any village, they’ll see you as a slave. When they realize you have no husband or master, they’ll capture you and make you their property. But if you come with me—”
    “I can be your property?”
    Perhaps her accusation wasn’t fair, but what Niko told her scared her. When Mother met Father, she’d been fleeing men who’d wanted to take her as a slave after her parents died. Father had saved her from that life. But Cassandra didn’t want to go with Niko out of fear … or pity. The way he looked at her now reminded her of the way Father used to look at Mother, but, regardless of how parallel their situations seemed to be, she and Niko could never have what they had.
    “No, thank you.” She turned her back to him, biting her lip to hold back the tears.
    “Cassandra, I—”
    She spun on him and made her voice come out as hard as possible. “I said no. I can’t. I’m sorry.”
    Niko’s eyes turned a stormy gray for a moment as pain filled them. Then he blinked, raised his chin and nodded. “Okay, then. I will not bother you anymore.”
    He turned back for the hut and went inside without another word. Cassandra hugged herself, not just against the damp, chilly air, but against the coldness she felt inside. She could feel his hurt feelings as if they were her own and she had caused it. She had broken his heart and hers. But she had no choice.

 
    Chapter 6
     
    Jordan and Eris traveled north for weeks. The initial stab of guilt Jordan felt for leaving Cassandra had dissipated into just a twinge and then disappeared altogether as he became more enthralled with everything Eris told him. Eventually, he’d return to his sister, but not until he understood it all and felt sure he could convince her to see things his way. That would take time, especially with this journey taking so long. Eris’ patience grew thin with his “human inadequacies.”
    “I can run faster than any human, including you,” he growled, tired of her whining.
    “But you cannot flash.”
    “What do you mean, flash?”
    “This.” She was instantly gone from his side, standing at the crest of the mountain they climbed. Then just as quickly, she stood next to him again. Jordan was impressed.
    “Why can’t I?”
    “You don’t have the power. The Ancients can give it to you. If they want to.”
    Jordan suggested she flash to keep up with him and they tried the idea, but it was still too slow for Eris. In one flash she could travel farther then he could run in a day. The next morning he awoke to her crouched over a black metal pot sitting in their campfire, waving her hands through the orange steam rising above it. She scooped a bowl into the pot and handed him the foul smelling soup.
    “Drink this,” she commanded.
    Jordan wrinkled his nose. “You can’t be serious.”
    “If you want to travel with me, you need the magick within. We are taking too long and if we don’t arrive soon, the Ancients will be angry. You don’t want to see them angry.”
    Jordan drank the soup that tasted as bad as it smelled, struggling to keep it from coming back up. When they were ready, she took his hand and the air whooshed out of his lungs and his vision went black. He stumbled over his own feet when they reappeared. Then she did it again. And again. And again. Each time they appeared somewhere new and, disoriented, he staggered and once even fell, nearly toppling over the edge of a cliff.
    “We’ll stay here for the night,” Eris finally said when they appeared outside a cave on the side of a mountain. She had to shout