𝔇𝔞𝔴𝔫 𝔱𝔬 𝔇𝔲𝔰𝔨 (The Legacy Duet - 2)

Concursuros

Taimoor

𝕺minous clouds hovered overhead like dark smoke, but I ignored the approaching storm, barreling out the back door, and marched across the stone patio. My shoes pounded down the outdoor staircase as I jogged toward the lawn and the hedge maze looming beyond.

Harsh winds whipped through the rose garden sending bits of grass into my face. Quiet relief swept through me once I was running between the manicured walls of evergreen. With the impending storm, it was dark out, and the landscape lighting that dotted the path couldn't seem to penetrate the shadows. I stumbled blindly deeper into the gardens with no destination, my feet sending pebbles skittering over each other.

I didn't see a flash of lightning. It was only the growling moan of thunder that made me aware of its existence.

Cold raindrops pricked at my skin, but I pressed on.

The clouds darkened. Rain pelted down, stinging and unforgiving.

Lightning burst from the sky in a jagged slash, and more thunder followed right on its heels. Only this time it wasn't a low rumble, but a sharp, hateful crack. Like the sound of a slap across a face, magnified a million percent. The wind swirled around me with unease. It propelled me along the path, ushering me toward the exit. Like it knew I shouldn't stay. Or . . . perhaps not. I wiped the rain from my eyes and stared at the decorative statues before me, surrounded by hedges on three sides. A dead end. There were statues at some of the ends, and urns at the others. This one looked like the rest. No idea why my grandparents had been obsessed with the Romans and Roman mythology.

Lightning lit everything in unsettling white light for a sliver of a moment. The booming thunder seemed to anger the wind. It made the hedges come alive and undulate around me. They shook their disapproving branches at me, wagging their fingers at the scarred Mughal boy.

I shuffled along the path as fast as I could. The heavy, frigid rain soaked my clothes and weighed me down. I thought I was headed in the right direction until I turned a corner and lurched into the opening at the center of the maze. It was pouring down so hard now I couldn't tell if the tiered fountain at the center was even running.

I'd achieved my goal of losing myself, but I hadn't expected to feel so tired and alone. Insomnia had kept me awake most nights, along with the recurring nightmares of being burnt to ash. Sometimes, the dreams were so real that I swore I could feel the flames tearing into my flesh and the hot burn of my skin separating. I lifted my gaze to the sky, blinking rapidly against the torrents of rain, and winced as another bolt of lightning ripped from the dark clouds. The storm was like my grandfather's gaze on me. It didn't let up, no matter how uncomfortable it made me. Perhaps he clouded my thoughts, but when I found myself facing the same damn turn in the dead-end, an angry sigh punched from my lungs.

I could tell it was the same one from before.

Part of a hedge root curled over the edge of the base.