Hearts & Minds: Book Six in the Crown of Blood series

by White, Gwynn

  She didn’t argue. Silently, they raced through all the familiar, hated passages in this dark, forbidding place. She guessed five minutes had passed since Clay had interrupted her and Axel until she joined Blue, Nao Woo, and Hinge at the bottom of the stairs leading to the Cascades. They each carried two shotguns, bandoliers of ammunition, and knapsacks stuffed with incendiary balls.

  Lynx reached the top of the stairs first. The crack of bullets ricocheting against rock echoed through the tiny chamber. She raced for the opening and almost tripped over the ladder. She swore. Someone had tossed it onto the ground. Even if Nicholas had tried to get back into the mine, he couldn’t have. She scrambled to pick it up. Clay grabbed the other side of it and helped her fix it in place.

  Blue, a red-haired Trevenite, handed her a shotgun and a bandolier.

  “The plan?” she asked Clay as she checked her weapon.

  Clay tossed a shotgun over his shoulder and picked up a knapsack of incendiary balls. “I’ve got a good idea where the shots are coming from, so I’m going up first. I’ll chuck some balls to screen Nicholas and Anna.”

  “You heard my discussion with Axel. Aim carefully. I don’t want you to harm the children.”

  Clay frowned at her. “I’m not a savage.”

  She squeezed his arm. “I know. It’s just—”

  Clay turned to the others. “The rest of you follow. Lynx, your job—”

  “Is to get Nicholas and Anna safely back into the mines.” She shoved him. “Go! Go! Go!”

  Clay darted up the ladder.

  “Blue, you’re next.” She waved him on then gestured for Nao Woo and Hinge to climb out. Judging by the racket the bullets were making, Clay would need that support while she got Anna and Nicholas back into the mines.

  Clay reached the top. He triggered a ball and lobbed it. He followed it up with a second and then a third. She caught the whoosh as they exploded. People screamed. It sounded like both adults and children. “That complicates things,” Clay muttered and then he was out of the mine. The others followed him over the top.

  She was next. By the time she tumbled out onto the ledge, the firing had stopped. Where the rock ledge vanished into scrub and grass, a shield of fire roared. Clay and his men loped across the ledge away from her. She guessed they planned to circle around to hit the attackers from behind. She had her own task to worry about.

  Nicholas was on his feet.

  She scanned him but saw no holes in his uniform. “Inside! Now!” she yelled.

  “On it. Get Anna,” he yelled back as he sprinted for the ladder.

  As if she’d forget Anna, the girl she hoped was part of Nicholas’s future.

  Anna raced to join Clay and his team. Lynx dived for her. She caught the back of Anna’s fatigues and dragged her to the ground. “Get inside with Nicholas.”

  Anna looked at her in astonishment. “Why? I’m a fighter. This is what I was born to do. I’m protecting my home.”

  “No, you’re not. You’re getting inside. Now.”

  Anna’s perfect heart-shaped face tilted up defiantly. “I have as much right to be in this battle…”

  “I’m giving you a direct order. Get inside. Now.”

  In the months when Lynx had first arrived in the mines, she and Axel had been at loggerheads about Nicholas, and how to use him as the Light-Bearer to free the world. During that time, she and Anna had spent many days on patrol together and had been in many battles. They were friends rather than commander and subordinate.

  But Anna was too well trained to disobey. “Yes, Commander.” She snapped a salute and scrambled to the ladder.

  Only once Anna’s head vanished below ground did Lynx allowed herself to breathe. It was too late for her to join Clay’s operation, so she climbed down after Anna.

  Arms brushing, Nicholas and Anna stood together at the foot of the ladder.

  Lynx hit the switch to close the door across the hatch. If Clay needed to come back this way, she’d open it again. Then she pulled Nicholas and Anna into a tight group hug.

  Anna threw her arms around Lynx. Nicholas was a little slower, but when his arms slid around them, his hug was even tighter than her own.

  Part of her wanted to lecture them on the sheer stupidity of going out alone with Xipal still a threat. The other part couldn’t deny her joy that the two of them had sneaked out together. It certainly implied a level of progress in their relationship. She thanked the Winds for taking care of them.

  Nicholas pulled away first and squinted up at the door covering the opening. “What about Clay and the others?”

  “Clay will wipe the floor with Xipal. I wish I was there to see it,” Anna said wistfully.

  “Anna’s right. Clay will contact me if he needs to come back this way.” Axel’s troops would probably be fanning out on the mountain by now. Hopefully, they would quickly defuse the situation and get the children to safety.

  “Okay, next question,” Nicholas said. “How did Xipal know that we were up there?”

  Anna looked down at her feet.

  “Tell him,” Lynx commanded.

  All trace of embarrassment gone, Anna looked boldly at Nicholas. “I come here often with my friends. I guess the Blades who defected from us told Xipal.”

  “Idiot,” Nicholas said, smiling at her. “It didn’t strike you that Xipal would guess there’d be a party tonight?”

  “I’m glad he saw us together. Let him think I have someone far better than him.” Anna looked up and yelled, “Xipal, eat your heart out.”

  A small smile played on Nicholas’s lips.

  It made Lynx itch to know what they’d talked about. Had they kissed? As exciting as that was, her practical side took over. “Who removed the ladder?”

  They looked furtively at each other.

  Lynx took a guess. “Farith?” It would be just like Farith to push the two of them out onto the mountain to sort out their relationship.

  Nicholas shook his head. “What does it matter? I wanted to see the stars, so Anna took me up.”

  She looked at Anna for confirmation.

  Anna bit her lip but didn’t make eye contact. It was a dead giveaway. Anna had never been good at deceit.

  Although Nicholas scowled at Anna, he was no better at lying.

  Anna shrugged. “Like Nicholas said.”

  Lynx suppressed a smile, secretly pleased that he was willing to protect his friends, however badly it was done. “And did the stars help?”

  Nicholas smiled ruefully. “I’m not sure, but I’ve got more things to think about. A whole lot more.”

  Intrigued, Lynx glanced at Anna.

  Her face gave nothing away.

  How frustrating.

  “Well, perhaps we’ll have time tonight to discuss some of these things. In the meantime, Anna, take him somewhere where nobody will be able to find him if we have an incursion.” It was highly unlikely that Xipal’s army would break into the mine, but she wasn’t taking any more chances.

  “I know just the place.” Anna smiled at Nicholas. “Let’s go.” Hips gently swaying, she started for the stairs.

  Nicholas grinned but didn’t follow. “Are you going tell me where it is? Or am I just supposed to follow like a dog?”

  Anna whistled.

  Nicholas rolled his eyes. “She’s getting as bad as Farith.”

  Lynx smiled. “Surely that’s a good thing? We all know how much you love Farith.”

  “What’s not to love? She’s grumpy, mean, brave, funny and kind all in one breath.” Although his voice softened with affection as he spoke about Farith, his eyes didn’t leave Anna’s swaying hips.

  Just as well; Farith had given her heart to Meka. She shooed him with her hands. “Go. Be an obedient pup with your master.”

  “Mistress, you mean.”

  “Ha,” Lynx said. “You mean it’s advanced that far?”

  She chuckled as a flush of red rushed up Nicholas’s neck and claimed his face. Before he could reprimand her, she leane
d in and kissed him on the cheek. “I’m only joking, Nicks,” she whispered. “But I do approve of Anna. I’d like to see the two of you work something out together.”

  He gave her a shove, “Mom! I’ve got enough to think about right now without all of this!”

  But he followed Anna down the stairs.

  Lynx heaved a sigh of relief. If only something could be normal in her son’s life.

  And in Anna’s.

  Chad had betrothed Anna to Xipal when Anna had been very young. The betrothal had stopped her giving her heart to any of the numerous teenage boys who’d fallen for her. She had compensated by crushing on Clay, who was so much older than her. Although Clay and Anna were close friends, he’d never shown any interest in her on that level. Like Nicholas, Anna deserved to be happy. Once they had time to get to know each other, Nicks and Anna could be a very good match.

  “Mothering is tough work.” Cricket stepped out of the ether. Whole and corporeal, she smiled at Lynx.

  Lynx clapped her hands with delight. “It’s been so long.”

  The first time she’d met Cricket, she’d come to Lynx with the news that she was pregnant with the Son of Prophecy. After Nicks’ birth and all through his growing up, Cricket had been a regular visitor at the cottage. She and Tao had often spent hours chatting together.

  Cricket held a book in her hand. One Lynx had never seen before. While Cricket tapped it against her fingernail, Lynx waited expectantly. The dead didn’t come bearing gifts without a specific purpose.

  “It’s sad that the boy can’t read,” Cricket said.

  “By boy, I assume you mean Nicholas?”

  “Him, yes. It’s sad he can’t read. I gave this to him on the night he first escaped from prison. It didn’t mean much to him. Certainly not enough for him to hang onto it. Dmitri found it on a street in Cian. Now we want to return it to him, but I’m not sure how to do it. This time, we need him to take note.”

  It wasn’t lost on Lynx that Cricket hadn’t handed the book over to her. She twirled her feathers and braids. “Are you asking how I suggest you give it to him? Or are we just making conversation?”

  “You’re his mother, but he’s at the age where mothers are not the greatest influence in his life. Still, how would you suggest that I give this to your son?”

  Lynx liked Cricket, she always had, but she felt the gentle goad that Nicholas was growing up. He wasn’t a boy anymore. He was a man. While she still had some influence over him, was it enough? That was a topic of thought for another day. “I can think of only one place where Anna is likely to take Nicholas. A place only one other person in these mines ever goes to.”

  Cricket’s smiled convince Lynx that Cricket already knew where Nicholas was going.

  She folded her arms. “Why are you sporting with me, Cricket? You know that Anna will take Nicholas to Farith’s reading hole.”

  Chad had given his daughter Farith a small cave with a low entrance. It was perhaps compensation that, unlike her twin, Anna, Farith was short and despised for it by many of the Trevenites. Anna was tall and lithe and beautiful and loved by everyone. In that tiny little cave, Farith had gathered her treasures, books of every kind, shape, and description. When Anna and the other teens came up to play on the ledge outside, Farith—alone, forgotten, misunderstood, disliked by so many—had gone to her little reading hole. It was to there that she had taken Meka. It was there that they had fallen in love. It was the logical place for Anna to take Nicholas because it was the one place in the mines where no one would look for him.

  “You can read my thoughts,” Lynx said to Cricket. “You can read Nicholas’s thoughts. You know exactly what is happening. Why have you come to me?”

  “You’re his mother. Do I need another reason?”

  Lynx wasn’t convinced that was Cricket’s motivation, but experience had taught her that when on official business, the dead only parted with information they wanted you to know.

  Again, Cricket tapped that book against her fingernail. “Thanks for your help. I’ll take it to Farith’s room.” And then, Cricket vanished.

  Puzzled by the encounter, Lynx wished she could go straight to Farith’s cave. Only the need to be here to open the door for Clay and his men stopped her. She settled down to wait for Clay to contact her.

  Ten or so minutes passed in boring silence, then her informa pulsed. She pulled it out and checked the screen. Clay was above ground, waiting to be let back in. She pressed the button to open the door. The cogs turned slowly as the door opened.

  Clay was the first to climb down the ladder.

  “Winds!” Lynx said. “What happened up there?”

  His clean uniform was bloodstained. Her heart sank. “Children?”

  “No. All adults. Five of them. We slit their throats.” He wiped his bloody hands on his clean uniform.

  Lynx grimaced. “That was quick.”

  “No. We’re just that efficient.”

  “What about Xipal?” She wanted to hear that he was dead, as much as she wished she’d been the one to kill him for what he’d done to Nicholas, Farith, and Anna.

  “No sign of him. But we did capture ten teenagers. The youngest can’t be much older than fifteen.”

  Lynx looked up at the hole. “Where are they?”

  “We met up with Ferret’s platoon. They also captured children. Easily a hundred of them. Blue, Nao Woo, and Hinge added ours to the bunch. They’re helping Ferret get the youngsters to Hatch Seven.”

  Lynx’s breathing evened. Hatch Seven was one of the mine’s exterior doors. As long as Xipal and his Blades didn’t interfere, those children would soon be safe in the mine.

  “I came back here because I guessed you’d be stressing.” A cocky smile. “I know how much you love your little brother.”

  She punched his bicep. It was rock hard. “It’s the cocky arrogance that gets to me. It reminds me of Axel.”

  Clay grinned. “In your dreams is he anywhere as interesting as me. But, dull as he is, I guess we should go find him.”

  Lynx shook her head. “Anna has taken Nicholas to Farith’s cave. You should join them.”

  “Why?

  “The dead. Cricket. She brought Nicholas a book.”

  Clay’s eyes widened. “I’m on it.” He sprinted to the stairs.

  She called, “I’ll be with Axel. Come find us when you have it.” Burning with curiosity, Lynx set off to find Axel.

  Eighteen

  The Wrong Time To Lie

  Something unseen but soggy brushed Grigor’s cheek. Feet scrambling for grip, he came up, gasping for air. The water now reached his knees. He heaved a sigh of relief. Disgusting as it was, he could cope with wading through a pitch-black sewer. Swimming in crap was another level of gross altogether.

  The slow tug of water on the back of his legs suggested a current.

  “I assume this goes under the wolf enclosure?” he said aloud, hoping Cricket would answer, although he suspected that she’d left him. His voice echoed eerily back at him. From the sound, he figured he was in a long tunnel.

  Sloshing far more noisily than he liked, he waded with the current. If his brain was working the way both he and Cricket wanted it to, this tunnel had to eventually drain all this muck into the sea.

  Cian stood between the palace and the ocean.

  Chances were good that he’d find another tunnel somewhere under the city to escape from. What would happen then, he didn’t know. In just a few short hours his whole world had shattered. His mother and an unnamed guardsman had died for him. Natalia would have been required to kill her family because she hadn’t managed to rip out his heart. He couldn’t have made this up if he’d tried.

  A misery feast doesn’t help anyone, he told himself sharply.

  He swooshed on—and almost fell over a ledge. He teetered back in time and only just managed to grab onto the wall before the water rushed him to who knew what. He peered into the darkness but saw nothing ahead of him.

  It finally
dawned on him that the tunnel probably zig-zagged down toward Cian, dropping levels as it went. The workmen who had built it would have needed to traverse it. That implied a ladder. Cautiously, he waded to the drop-off and knelt to duck his hands into the water. His fingernails clawed along the edge of the tunnel until he found the first metal rung.

  Please, please don’t let it be rusted through.

  He eased down it. Some rungs had fallen away. Two more crumbled beneath his feet before he landed in a new tunnel. It was just as black and putrid as the one he’d just left. This time, a light glimmered ahead of him. It looked to be on a level above his head, but still lower than the tunnel he’d just left.

  It could bode both good or ill. He paused and then shrugged. In the absolute blackness, he’d seen no side passages off this tunnel. Unless he spent the rest of his life here—Dragon’s butt, no!—he had no choice but to approach the light.

  He plodded on, more slowly and, hopefully, with less of an echoing splash. Not that it mattered; the people at the lights would have already seen—and heard—him coming. They’d picked the perfect spot for an ambush.

  Who the heck are they expecting to ambush down here?

  The water picked up speed, signaling another drop-off ahead of him.

  He slowed even more.

  Through the painful glitter of light, a crumbling wall emerged. On top of it, a fire burned. Ghostly shadows flickered across nine ragged boys. They stood shoulder to shoulder, watching him.

  Street urchins.

  Metal flashed in the firelight. They were armed with an assortment of homemade weapons.

  Grigor gulped. Alone, unarmed, and injured, he was no match for them. Worse, his first and last official act as the crown prince had been to unleash a thousand guardsmen on the citizens of Cian during Axel’s attack. He doubted the order had won him much support, least of all amongst the city’s urchins.

  He’d either make some friends, or he’d die here.

  Something sharp sliced through his shirt. It pierced his ragged back. He flinched, gasping with pain.

  “Try any tricks,” his assailant snarled, “and it’ll be the last thing you ever do.”