One Night

Chapter Thirty Five

Alara

My feet knock against the ground as I run through the souk. There are men chasing after me. They caught me stealing a pair of fancy slippers from a stall and they're relentless. I must have been running for twenty minutes and they are still close, not giving up.

I can't outrun them. They're not stopping; not giving up like they usually do, even when I begin weaving through buildings.

I can still hear their footsteps behind me. "No, no, no," I say to myself. My mom. My mom. I need to get back to my—

"Yes, yes, yes. Alara. Wake up. It's time, and we don't have much of it."

I suck in a deep breath like I was stuck under water and I am finally set free. Oh wait, I actually am stuck under water.

Zayen's face is right in front of me, his hair falling forward as he looks down at me. He has changed and somehow found a shirt.

"How did you . . .?" My voice is groggy and I clear my throat, sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

How does he know? There's no sunrise here. There's no sense of time.

Everyone seemed to have chosen when they sleep in unison. It's such a strange place. How can they possibly live without the sun?

"No time for questions. We need to be out of here in five minutes. I'm worried the man who is helping us, who told me where the stone will be, might also rat us out so we have to be quick."

What? This plan is sounding worse and worse by the minute.

But, what else will we do?

For a second, my mind goes back to my dream. This is what I have always done: run. I've been stealing the things I want but don't have my entire life. It has always been to save my mom. That's what I was doing when I pretended to be royalty with the Hakeem, and it only put me in more danger.

Is this, the stone, really going to be what saves her?

When the Hakeem let's her go, and life goes back to 'normal', then what? Will we still struggle? Will I find myself back out in the souk, struggling and running and stealing again?

"Zayen, I—"

"Three minutes!" he insists, tugging on his shoes.

I throw of the covers, get ready and pull my hair back into a twisted bun. Running is always easier without hair in the way.

My heart feels like it is growing bigger and bigger, the feeling of it seeming to move from my chest to my throat and then the throbbing feeling shifts to my entire body.

Every inch of me is pulsing, shaking, but moving forward one step at a time to what Zayen called the Bayt buildings.

It's empty now, unlike when free food was offered. We waste no time getting into the building, where it seems to be free and available access for everyone.

Everything is dead quiet, and makes me feel even more uneasy. It's better to be able to see the threat, to know where to look and where to hide—but here, it's like this stone, which is obviously important, is being left with no security.

This doesn't feel right. "So we have no other plan?" The butterflies in my stomach seem to be getting out of control.

"This place is all out in the open. There's windows to see everything. If something comes up, we'll see it from a mile away. We're allowed to be in this building—anyone here has access. Just keep your head up. Keep looking for something that seems off."