by Kaylin Lee
“Come on. I know you’re hungry.” He held the tray a little closer.
I lunged for it, but he yanked it away again. More spilled soup. More rage.
“So close! Don’t give up. C’mon. You can do it.” He lowered the tray.
“Where is Lucien?” I snarled, feeling exactly like the animal he was turning me into. My voice was hoarse from the night I’d spent screaming curses at the door.
He laughed. “Long gone, little Asylian. We’ll be taking care of you now.”
“Who is we?” I watched him lower the tray, forcing myself to wait and not seem so desperate.
“Us Wolves who stayed back are the ones in charge now.”
“Stayed back?”
He sneered. “Everyone else is on the way to your beloved Asylia. They left this morning.” He leaned one shoulder against the doorframe. “Demetrius said to keep you alive until he gets back.” He glanced over his shoulder at the empty hallway then back at me. “I doubt he’ll care much if we fail.”
I shuffled backward. My pulse thundered. “Lucien will …” I swallowed, my hoarse throat aching at the movement.
Ruby, you idiot. Lucien betrayed you. He doesn’t care what happens to you. “If you harm me, I … I …”
A metallic crash reverberated outside my window. The cell walls shook, and dust floated down from the ceiling.
The Wolf paused, casting a confused glance at the window. He cocked his head as he listened to the conversation outside.
“Chloe,” a guard called. “What did you do that for?”
“You dare. Dare! You dare to address me directly when you had the nerve, the audacity, to bring me a fomecoach that hasn’t even been polished?” She sounded like she was right outside my window.
More feet pounded around the building. “What happened to that fomecoach?” shouted one guard. “It was parked, and then it just flew through the air and—”
“Was crushed like the piece of refuse it is?” Chloe’s sharp, icy voice cut him off mid-sentence. “I want every guard on duty in front of me immediately. Demetrius goes on a trip, and suddenly, clan discipline disappears? I think not. Every guard,” she shrieked. “Here. Immediately!”
“Chloe, hold on.”
There was a deafening, creaking noise, and the cell walls trembled. From the hushed silence that fell among the protesting guards, I had a feeling she’d just used her magic to lift the fomecoach again. Shrieking metal and shattering glass accompanied her tirade.
The Wolf swore, looking torn between staying out of the way and leaving me to find out what was going on.
I rubbed my eyes. Chloe was a madwoman, and I was hungry and tired of waiting. “Please, just leave my food.”
He stepped out of the cell, taking the tray with him, and shut the door. The lock clicked into place.
I groaned and sank back into a sitting position, but a little while later, a new sound came from the door. Whack. Whack. Whack.
The door splintered then fell in two pieces. Kalem appeared in the gap, his axe in his hands and his crossbow over his shoulder.
“Kalem? Why— How—”
“No time.” He reached out and hauled me to my feet.
I stumbled out of the cell, my legs shaky from three days of misery but jittery with a sudden rush of energy.
When we stepped outside the villa into the afternoon snow flurry, my head ached at the sudden brightness.
“This way.” Kalem jerked his head away from the direction of Chloe’s fomecoach-crushing tantrum, which sounded like it was in full swing. “Come on. Quickly.”
We scurried along the side of the villa. Then he froze and put out his hand, stopping me at the corner of the villa. He edged around the corner, then turned back to me, looking apprehensive for the first time since I’d met him. “This is our best chance. We must be quick. Do you have enough strength to run?”
I nodded, though my legs were shaking and close to buckling.
“Go. Now!” We rushed around the corner. “Keep your head down,” he hissed.
I ducked my head into the collar of Lucien’s jacket, so it formed a hood of sorts over my auburn hair. We rushed across an empty courtyard toward the compound wall, my feet slipping in the icy snow. When we drew closer, I realized the spikes on the top had been covered by a thick piece of canvas in one place.
A rope dropped down from the sheet, and Astrid poked her head up from the other side of the wall. “Hurry,” she whispered. She looked just as terrified as I felt.
I grabbed the rope, but I was too weak to even grip it tightly.
“I’ll start up first,” Kalem said grimly, “then help you over.” He grabbed the rope and himself up, his legs bracing and occasionally slipping on the icy, stone wall.
I waited at the bottom, huddling in Lucien’s coat as the sounds of chaos on the other side of the villa grew louder.
“—lazy, good-for-nothing guards! No discipline to speak of,” Chloe was saying, her voice sharp. “You! Where do you think you’re heading off to? I’m in the middle of speaking!”
“I thought I heard—”
“This is exactly the kind of poor discipline that concerns me!” Chloe’s spoke faster. I heard another metallic creak, like she’d just given the fomecoach a threatening crunch.
“Your turn!” Kalem braced himself halfway up the wall, leaned down, and held out his hand, drawing my attention away from the commotion I was beginning to suspect Chloe had created on purpose. “C’mon, hurry!”
I gripped the rope and copied the way Kalem had used his arms and legs to climb the wall. He pulled me by the collar at the same time.
I was halfway up the wall when the strength in my arms gave out. The sudden jerk of my weight pulled me out of Kalem’s grasp. My legs scrabbled against the wall as my hands slipped down the rope. I didn’t dare scream, but the impact when I hit the ground would be—
A rush of warm air lifted me mid-fall and launched me over the wall, dumping us none-too-gently onto the snowy footpath on the other side.
Golden sparkles shimmered into the air as Astrid gaped at us.
“Chloe,” Astrid said after a moment, her eyes wide. “She’s crazy. I like her.”
“Get in the back!” Auntie stuck her head out of her rusty fomewagon, which was in the street beside the footpath. “Let’s go, before they notice you’re missing.”
Kalem helped me and Astrid into the back of the fomewagon and climbed in after us. Auntie accelerated away from the curb.
“You must be freezing, my dear.” Professor Kristof sat in the back of the fomewagon, holding out a blanket and looking thrilled. “Warm up.”
The fomewagon sputtered and shook, making me nervous, but finally gained speed as we rounded the corner and entered traffic.
Opal twisted around in the front passenger seat to face us, her crossbow at the ready and an excited gleam in her eyes. “I told you we take care of our boarders.”
Draicians.
When they weren’t scaring me half to death, they were pretty amazing.
Chapter 37
Less than an hour after the jailbreak, Chloe came to see me in my bedroom at the boarding house, where I was scarfing down a thick slice of buttered bread and stuffing a small collection of supplies for the Badlands into a bag.
At her icy glare, my group of excited rescuers stopped fussing over me and trooped out of the room. Astrid lingered, but when she finally shut the door, Chloe rounded on me. “I know who you are.”
I swallowed the bite of bread in my mouth. “Um …”
“After your demicoach accident.” Chloe waved her hand impatiently. “When Luc asked me to heal you, he told me you were a reporter from Asylia. That he’d brought you here to expose Demetrius and his role in selling aurae.”
“That’s true,” I managed after a moment of shock. “I didn’t know he’d told anyone.”
Chloe rolled her eyes. “He doesn’t tell anyone anything, apparently.” She pursed her lips. “So you did what you came for.
You exposed Demetrius and ended aurae in Asylia. Why didn’t you go home?”
I frowned. “I wasn’t done. Lucien may have given up, but I hadn’t. And now that I know aurae is a curse and Lucien …” The bread I’d just eaten soured in my stomach as I thought of what he’d done. “I have to get back to Asylia,” I finished numbly. “Immediately.” I went back to stuffing things in a satchel I’d begged from Opal. “Why did you help me? Won’t you be in danger when the guards realize what happened?”
“Luc told me he’d given up. That the more he learned about Demetrius’s Master, whoever it is, the less he believed it was possible to save Draicia. And that he was unwilling to risk your life for a plan that would fail anyway.” Chloe inspected her nails and sighed. “I’ve always been loyal to Demetrius. He swore never to take my True Name, and he’s been true to his word my whole life. I’ve been more secure in the Wolf clan than I would have been in any other.”
Her expression grew dark. “But as time has gone on, it’s become clear that Demetrius’s activities are destroying Draicia. I can’t sell out the whole city for the sake of my own safety any longer. Whatever the clan does to me, I can take it. And if I need out, the Hawk clan is always trying to poach me.” A hint of red colored her cheeks.
“Thank you.” I met her eyes for a moment. “I am grateful, Chloe.”
“Fine, fine.” Clearly uncomfortable with my gratitude, she shifted her gaze away and began shoving things into my satchel. “Let’s get you to Asylia.”
~
By the time I was packed, late afternoon had arrived. Chloe had helped me acquire a demicoach with my last few marks before she returned to the Wolf compound. Opal, Kalem, Astrid, and Auntie accompanied me to the city’s south gate. Professor Kristof had remained back at the boarding house with Chloe.
Snow drifts piled up everywhere, but the road out of the city was clear.
“Trade caravan mages blast the snow out of the way on every trip south,” Kalem murmured, gesturing toward the road. “That doesn’t mean your fool plan will work.”
Opal handed me my hastily-packed satchel and helped me strap it across my back, but her expression was sour. “Demicoaches weren’t meant for the Badland. They barely function inside the city, much less outside of it!” She scowled. “I thought Asylians were supposed to be careful and safe. You’re insane.”
I shoved another bite of winterdrop roll into my mouth and chased it with a gulp of hot coffee. “I’m not insane.” Lie. My sanity had fled the moment Lucien turned his back on me and locked the door behind him, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever get it back. “I’m just in a hurry. I need to get to my grandmother before Demetrius does. If I can warn her, we can hide her elsewhere before he arrives, and he’ll have to turn back when he can’t find her. Prince Estevan won’t let him leave the city alive a second time.”
Astrid studied me from behind her large glasses. “Is Prince Estevan your friend or something?”
“Or something.”
Auntie looked slightly bewildered. “What does the Praetor want with your grandmother, again?”
“I don’t know.” I had a feeling it was something to do with Zel, and somehow, Zel was connected to everything else Demetrius had been plotting—his Master, aurae, questus—everything. But I couldn’t even sort through the facts in my own head, so how could I possibly explain it to them? “I just know he wants her, and I need to save her. It’s my fault he knows where to find her. I can’t change what I did, trusting Lucien.” My throat grew tight, but I shook off the feeling. “I can’t change it, but I can warn her. And I’m going to.” I tossed down the last bit of coffee and coughed. “Thank you, everyone. I have to go.”
I hopped onto the demicoach, feeling awkward and unbalanced without a driver in front of me. I grabbed the handlebar and tested the demicoach. It surged forward suddenly, fueled by an extra tank of magic Chloe had helped me install.
Astrid bit her lip, then she stood back, looking small and lonely next to the others.
I opened my mouth to say good-bye, but the word stuck in my throat. I shook my head and leaned forward, kicking off from the ground and igniting the demicoach’s magic by squeezing the handlebar.
The demicoach shot out of the city gate and into the Badlands, and I didn’t dare look back.
~
It took a few minutes to get used to driving the demicoach, holding on tight with my legs and keeping my balance as the road twisted toward the mountains.
When I felt stable enough, I squeezed the handles tighter, allowing the speed to increase.
The demicoach shot forward, far faster than I’d ever seen one go in the city. I bit my lip and bent my head low as cold wind whistled into my face. I was thankful Professor Kristof had insisted I take a hat. I’d been so scattered after our rescue, I would have walked into the Badlands in my green ballgown if they hadn’t stopped me and forced me to prepare.
I squeezed the handles tighter. The speed increased even more. My eyes watered. I was flying across the snow, buoyed by the demicoach’s magic. It glided over the snow that had been falling on and off all day.
The snow was falling faster, and the sky darkened. How long did I have until nightfall? The demicoach had a small light on the front. I planned to drive straight through the night, but I hadn’t counted on such thick snowfall.
I leaned slightly to the side as I came around a curve in the road, then nearly swerved into the snowbank. I wasn’t alone. A huge, bulky shape lumbered in the road ahead of me. I sped closer and surged past the fomewagon in the space of a breath. Was I actually traveling that much faster than a regular trade caravan? Perhaps I really could beat Demetrius to Asylia.
I sped up, driven by the wild urgency in my stomach and the memory of Lucien’s blank, distant expression when I’d last seen him. I’m sorry, Ruby, he’d said.
No, he wasn’t. If he cared anything for me, he never would have betrayed me like that.
I passed another fomewagon. Half an hour later, I passed a third.
Mad heat simmered in my veins. Demetrius had left that morning, but he’d taken a huge crew of men with him, including Lucien. There was no way they were moving as fast as I could by myself. Perhaps I’d even passed them already, too fast for them to realize it. I had a chance.
I increased the demicoach’s speed as the trade road entered the mountains.
The temperature dropped as night fell. Snow banks higher than the Wolf compound walls piled up on either side of the road, and above them, snow-covered trees loomed ominously over the road. Wind whistled through the narrow valley, beating spray from the snow drifts and wetting my clothes and cheeks.
I shivered and slowed slightly as the wind shifted my balance. A sudden flurry of snowflakes hit me like a cold, wet wall, but instead of dying down like the other flurries had, it just kept growing thicker.
I tried to increase my speed, but against the snowy wind, nothing made any difference. The demicoach slowed, driven back by the wind, and sank into the soft, thick snow beneath its wheels.
Suddenly, there was a wall of white ahead. I crashed into the snow bank and landed hard on my back behind the demicoach.
In the distance, over the rushing wind of the blizzard, I heard the low rumble of a fomewagon. I had to get out of the way. Disoriented but desperate, I clambered onto my demicoach and used it as a ladder to reach the top of the snowbank. I gripped the lowest branch of an enormous tree, pulled myself up over the top, and collapsed on my stomach, panting from exertion and terror.
The fomewagon rushed by on the road below, making the snowbank and tree shudder as it rumbled away. It had been going slow compared to me earlier, but now that I was off my demicoach, the fomewagon was traveling frighteningly fast. I didn’t dare go back down now. I’d have to find shelter in these trees until the blizzard died down and hope to dig my demicoach out of the snow.
Thick darkness and the blustery wind greeted me everywhere I turned. I could barely see a few steps in front of me, but I edged awa
y from the road, hoping to find shelter farther into the forest.
The anxiety that had been simmering since I’d left Draicia rose up in one giant wave. I was blinded by the snow. I was alone. I could die.
Should I stay here, exposed, steps away from falling blindly down the snowbank into the road? Or should I seek out shelter and chance not being able to find my way back to the road when the blizzard ended?
The next surge of wind answered for me. When I could finally breathe, I knew what I had to do—find shelter away from the road or perish.
I stumbled into the forest with my arms out in front of me to warn me of tree branches in my way. I kept my eyes shut. Whenever I dared to open them, icy wind and snow stabbed at my vision, forcing them shut out of instinct.
I didn’t know how long I walked. One hour? Two? Every time I stopped, the chilling wind forced me forward again.
There was a strange noise, like the wind had an echo.
No. A voice. I wiped snow out of my eyes and forced them open, but I couldn’t see anything.
There it was again—the rough, low rumble of a man’s voice and another, more youthful voice. A boy.
“Who’s there?” I croaked. “Please, help me.” My words were barely audible. “Please!” I shouted. “Help!”
A shape appeared directly in front of me. I squinted, but the snow was too thick to see it clearly.
A strange, white light lit up the shape.
I stopped in my tracks.
Wide, light eyes. Freckled skin. Light hair sticking out from under a snow-blanketed hat. Who was he?
The young man’s face mirrored my shock. He spoke, but the words were jumbled and unintelligible.
I shook my head, my mind reeling. “I don’t understand,” I rasped.
He spoke again, louder, but the words were still impossible to understand.
Another shape joined us in the odd white light. An older man’s light eyes met mine as the blizzard whipped around us. He spoke several short, brusque words that I didn’t understand.
The boy answered the older man in the same jumbled speech, his brow set in a deep frown. He placed a firm, gloved hand on my arm. “Come,” he said with heavily-accented words. “We have shelter.”
