Free Dorothy Must Die Novella #7 by Danielle Paige Page B

have to let them push you around. We could be so much stronger together, you and I, than we are on our own, and you can’t even see it.”
    â€œI owe Mombi so much. She saved me from—you know whatshe saved me from,” Nox said. “I can’t just turn my back on her for you, Melindra.”
    â€œYou don’t have to turn your damn back on anyone!” Melindra’s voice was rising now, spiraling upward as she lost her temper fully. Lanadel cowered behind her rock. “So maybe you were raised by witches, but that doesn’t mean you can’t act like a human being sometimes! Why won’t you just let me get through to you, Nox?”
    Nox was so stubborn, so unable to see what was right in front of his face. Melindra was right. There was no reason they couldn’t be together. Nothing that the Order could do to stop them. Gert and Mombi were hiding the truth from everyone. From Lanadel. From Nox. From Melindra. Why was he so loyal to people who didn’t even seem to care about what he wanted?
    â€œWe’d be so much stronger together than either one of us is on our own,” Melindra said. “We don’t have to stop fighting Dorothy just because we—just because I . . .” She stopped short of actually saying it, as if she couldn’t bring herself to utter the word “love.” And now it was obvious even to Lanadel that she was crying. She could feel her own heart trying to pull itself apart in her chest. Why was someone like Melindra giving this much of herself to someone like Nox? Couldn’t she see that he would never—could never—be the person she wanted?
    â€œMelindra, I can’t be what you want me to be,” Nox said, as if he was speaking Lanadel’s thoughts out loud. “I can’t—I can’t feel the way about you that you want me to feel. I only have room for the Order. You know that. You’ve always known that.”
    â€œYou only have room for your own pain, you mean,” Melindra said. Now her voice was low and deadly. “We’ve all lost something to Dorothy. Even those little fools Holly and Larkin. And none of us are acting like the weight of the Order is on our shoulders—”
    â€œThe weight of the Order is on my shoulders, Melindra!” Nox yelled. “I’m responsible for all of you! Mombi doesn’t care in the end what happens to any of you. Neither does Gert. Neither does Glamora. You know that just as well as I do. It’s all down to me, Melindra. To me . Do you think I like watching the kids I train die? Do you think I like living like this? Do you think I don’t know what I’m turning into? Do you think—” And then his own voice broke. Lanadel felt tears running down her cheeks.
    â€œI don’t think you think at all,” Melindra said quietly. “I don’t think you know how to think for yourself anymore, Nox. I don’t think you know who you are.”
    The silence was deafening. It stretched out for what felt like forever. Nox looked at Melindra, unblinking, but he didn’t say a word. And a sob caught in her throat before she choked it down again.
    â€œSo I guess that’s it then,” she said quietly. “If I die out there . . .” She didn’t finish, and Nox still didn’t answer. Her voice was stripped raw. There was so much pain in her eyes that Lanadel wanted to break cover and run for her, but she didn’t dare move. Melindra reached one hand out to Nox and then snatched it back before she touched him as if she’d burned herself.
    Without another word, she disappeared in a wisp of palesmoke. Nox stood staring at the place where she’d been, still silent. Lanadel held her breath. And then her cramped leg twitched, sending a pebble skittering across the overlook. Nox whipped around.
    â€œLanadel?” he asked.
    She flushed scarlet and stood up, not daring to meet his eyes.
    â€œHow much