The Destiny (Blood and Destiny Book 4) by E.C. Jarvis

a
solemn nod to the remainder of their group.
    “Still incapacitated?”
she asked Holt when Vries had headed back to his men. “Or do you want me to ask
Kerrigan to carry you?”
    “I will walk,” he said
with a grunt as he sat up.
    “Do you have a plan yet,
Captain?” Cid asked.
    She looked to the city
in the distance. It would be a long walk, and they had no money to rent a room
in which to rest. They needed food, water, and clean clothing. As soon as she
thought of her clothes, an idea struck her; there was at least one person in
the whole city who owed her a favour, and it was as good a place as any to start.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
     
    It took a frustrating amount of time for
the group to trudge across the fields into the city. Larissa ached from head to
toe, and her feet felt like she walked with razor blades in her shoes. The rain
persisted, though it had reduced to a light drizzle. They had begun by taking a
direct route across the fields but changed course when a line of steam-driven
enforcement carriages and fire trucks had emerged from the city. Cid muttered a
surly comment about the fact that they’d waited until the battle was over to
approach the carnage, and while Larissa agreed with his sentiments, the
laziness of the local law enforcement had worked to their advantage. She’d had
quite enough of being locked in cells.
    By the time they
reached the outskirts of the city and crossed the train tracks, she began to
doubt if any of them had the strength to make it all the way into the center. An
upturned cart lay abandoned and half-sinking in the mud. There was still one
lone steam train parked up on the track, and as they drew close, it seemed as
though the entire station was abandoned.
    “Shall we rest here? It
seems quiet enough,” Friar Narry said from somewhere behind.
    “No,” she replied,
determined to get where she was headed before the break of dawn.
    “Forgive me, Miss
Markus, but I must rest.”
    “I feel the need for a
break also,” Cid said.
    She stopped and looked
around at the others. They were a bedraggled bunch with bags under their eyes,
caked in mud though the rain had washed some of the grime away. Holt, who had
been walking silently at her side the whole way, seemed brighter than she would
have imagined possible.
    “Anyone who needs a
break can rest here. I need to go into the city to speak with someone who may
help us…who will help us, whether he wants to or not.”
    “I’m going with you,”
Holt said. She smiled; he finally seemed determined to stay by her side.
    “I think you know my
position,” Narry said as he hobbled towards the platform ledge.
    “I have no desire to
revisit anywhere in town. I will wait with the Friar. Maybe the buffet car on the
train still has supplies.”
    “Good thought, Cid,”
Narry said with a cheerful laugh.
    “I could use a rest
too,” Sandy said. It had been the first time she had spoken all night. Larissa
looked at Kerrigan and Saunders, hoping they too would stay behind and give her
and Holt some much needed private time.
    “I’m coming with you,”
Kerrigan said to Larissa. “Lieutenant, you stay here and guard the others.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “All right, then. We’ll
be as quick as we can and meet you all back here. If the station comes back to
life during the day, just try to keep out of the way somewhere. We’ll find you
when we return,” Larissa said.
    “I don’t think this
place has been used in weeks,” Cid said.
    “That may work to our
advantage. See if you can find out why while we’re gone.”
    “I thought I was going
to be allowed to get some rest.”
    “You can be restful and
useful at the same time, Cid.” She smiled as he rolled his eyes at her and
headed off toward the train.
    It didn’t take long
before the smaller group became surrounded by an awkward silence. Holt still
walked by her side; it seemed as though he were making a point of doing so.
Kerrigan walked a few paces behind them both, almost as if