by Amy Tintera
“I’m sorry,” he said. “We’ll have another talk with the guards tonight.”
“Is it true the guards were instructed to pull their weapons if a Ruined uses their power on them?” Em asked.
“Yes.” Mateo held her gaze. “If they strike first, we were told we could defend ourselves.”
“I didn’t strike first,” Selena protested.
“I’m sure you didn’t,” Mateo said, and one side of his mouth actually lifted in a smile. Patricio looked from Em to the guard, like this was some sort of trick. “Dominic is jumpy, and frankly, sort of an asshole.”
Selena giggled and nodded her agreement.
“The guards will just pull their weapons on us anytime they feel threatened?” Gisela asked.
“No,” Mateo said. “We’ll talk to them again.” He turned to Em. “Cas asked me to coordinate security for you and the Ruined, if that’s all right. And help you get the Weakling shields and armor started.”
“Security?” she repeated.
“Making sure idiots like Dominic aren’t threatening you.”
“You’re not going to follow her around everywhere like Cas’s guards do, are you?” Selena asked.
“Not unless she’d like me to,” Mateo said with a smile. Selena blushed.
“I’m fine, thank you,” Em said.
Mateo jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “I was going to show you a spot where we could work with the Weakling, if you’re free. I still need to recruit a few people to help, but I thought I’d let you choose a working spot first.”
“Sure.” The panic in Em’s stomach started to subside. Cas was still wrong—everything wasn’t fine—but maybe she was wrong too. Maybe she needed to have a little more faith in the people around Cas.
“Why don’t you two take Patricio and Selena back?” Em asked Mariana and Gisela. “Let everyone know they shouldn’t be using their powers unless they absolutely have to. And tell them where the Weakling is, so they can steer clear.”
Gisela looked from the guards to Em, her face scrunched up in confusion. “Are we fine with letting the Lerans guard it?”
Em looked at Mateo. “I’m assuming Dominic won’t be assigned to guard it?”
“No, he was never on that list. We’re rotating a select few through that post. I can introduce you to all of them, if you want.”
“I’d like that, thank you.”
Gisela was still looking at Em, like she was waiting for final confirmation. Cas was right, Em realized. They were following her lead.
“We trust them to do this, then?” Mariana asked.
“Yes,” Em said. “We trust them.”
TWENTY-SEVEN
OLIVIA WOKE TO a growling stomach and an angry face staring down at her. Ester had her hands on her hips, her lip curled.
“What?” Olivia sat up and took a discreet look around. It was midmorning, judging by the sun, and the Ruined around her were still lounging about, or napping, or huddled together eating some berries they’d picked. They were in the middle of the jungle, beneath the shade of thick trees. Jovita sat tied to one, bloodied but still alive. Most likely alive. Her eyes were closed, but Olivia was pretty sure she was just sleeping.
Olivia only had twenty-five Ruined with her. There should have been more, but she’d woken the first morning after Em left to find about ten of them had disappeared. None of the remaining Ruined had a clue where they’d gone. Or they just weren’t saying.
“I told you we had to take feed for the horses. I told you we couldn’t ride them constantly,” Ester snapped.
“Is there something wrong with them?”
“Two of them collapsed,” Ester said. “And two more are dead, including yours.”
She let out an annoyed breath. “We’ll have to get more horses, then.”
Ester gestured around wildly, as if to point out that they were in the middle of the jungle. It wasn’t like there was a barn full of horses waiting around the corner.
“It’s not my fault they couldn’t keep up,” Olivia snapped. Ester just turned and walked away. She said something to Carmen, who looked at Olivia and then quickly averted her eyes.
The Ruined hadn’t looked at her the same since Em left. Olivia had decimated Jovita’s hunters—she would have killed the Olso army too if those cowards hadn’t run—but it was like they’d decided Olivia had lost somehow. She’d won. She wanted to scream it at them.
It was all Em’s fault. Olivia wished their mother were still alive. She would have been on Olivia’s side. She would have rather seen Em dead than partnering with humans.
Or maybe their mother could have talked some sense into Em, and Olivia wouldn’t have to kill her at all. The thought made her insides twist painfully.
Olivia got to her feet, folded her blanket, and stuffed it in her pack. She stomped to Jovita and knelt down in front of her, snapping her fingers in her face.
Jovita sucked in a breath as she woke. Her gaze fell on Olivia, and Olivia was pleased to see a spark of fear in her eyes. Jovita had only anger at first. But Ester had been in her mind a few times, making her see terrible things, and she had the good sense to be afraid now. Or perhaps her grasp on reality was slipping.
“Do you have anything useful to tell me yet?” Olivia asked.
Jovita just stared at her.
“I don’t understand why you’re protecting Casimir. If you can tell me the best way to get into the castle, I’ll kill him and my sister. It’s a win-win for you.”
Jovita turned her face away.
Olivia stood and waved at Ester. “Work harder on her, will you? I think you’ll need to break her mind before she tells me anything.”
“I’m trying. It turns out her mind is pretty tough.” But Ester walked over and sat down across from Jovita.
“I’m going to go check on the Olso army. They didn’t move, did they?” Olivia looked up at a tree, where a Ruined had been keeping watch, but there was no one there. She let out an annoyed sigh.
“Calm down,” Priscila said in a tone Olivia didn’t appreciate. “Someone just climbed up there an hour ago. They’re not moving.”
Olivia shot her a venomous look and stomped to the tree herself. She grunted as she climbed, her feet and back sore from the endless days of travel.
She reached a high branch, carefully balancing against the trunk. Priscila was right. The army was still there, hiding in the jungle. There were hundreds of them, and they were surrounded by horses and wagons and carts of weapons. The weapons scared Olivia the most. A human didn’t even have to be close to kill them with some of those weapons. That was terrifying, for a Ruined.
She climbed back down the tree.
“We’re still waiting?” Ester asked, without turning around to look at her.
“Yes. I think the army is plotting the best way to attack Royal City, and I want to see what they do.” They’d been following the army for days. When Olivia had first tracked them down, she’d been excited, ready to jump in and kill them all. But then she’d looked around and considered the powers of the Ruined with her. She didn’t have Aren. She didn’t have Jacobo. She had twenty-five Ruined, which was no small number, but none with enough power to help her take down an army of that size.
And to be honest, she wasn’t sure they would even obey an order from her right now.
So she was waiting. She told herself it was the smart decision. With any luck, the humans would kill each other and she could swoop in and take down the rest.
Jovita screamed, then went silent, her eyes wide. Ester turned away from her to face Olivia.
“If you really want to get into the castle to kill Em, maybe you should help them.” She pointed in the direction of the army.
Olivia recoiled and gave Ester a disgusted look.
Ester lifted her eyebrows. “What? Your mother did it. Do you think she entertained Olso warriors at the castle because she liked humans? She needed them. You’ve failed because you could never be strategic in the way your mother a
nd Emelina are.”
The word failed hung in the air. The Ruined around them were silent, watching.
“I haven’t failed at anything,” Olivia spat out. “That army ran in fear from me.”
“I suppose,” Ester said quietly. “But working with humans keeps turning out well for Em, wouldn’t you say?”
Olivia balled her fingers into fists. She refused to admit this to Ester, but she had been wondering what would have happened if she’d gone behind Em’s back to work with Olso. August would have been happy to kill Casimir. They could have taken care of him in Sacred Rock, and then moved on to Royal City. She’d be ruler of Lera by now.
Instead, she’d attacked the Olso castle, and then run all the warriors out of Lera. She’d helped Casimir, in the end.
And now it was too late. She wasn’t dumb enough to waltz up to August and ask for a deal now, not when she’d killed every member of the Olso royal family.
“I don’t work with humans,” she said. “We don’t need them.”
Ester turned back to Jovita. “If you say so.”
Olivia bit back the urge to scream. “We just have to wait. Lera will fall after I kill Em. I just need to get to Em.”
TWENTY-EIGHT
BETHANIA OFFERED TO let Galo and Aren stay the night (begrudgingly, muttering that they were going to get caught wandering the streets of Olso), and they slept on blankets and pillows in the sitting room. Galo tossed and turned most of the night, listening to the sounds of the busy street outside and thinking of what Mateo was doing.
Bethania left in the morning, handing them two hot mugs before rushing out the door. Galo sat on the floor with his back against the couch as he lifted the cup to his lips. Bitter liquid rushed over his tongue. He grimaced as he swallowed.
“Oh, that’s disgusting. What is that?”
Aren sniffed his, then took a sip. He wrinkled his nose and put the cup back on the table. “I don’t know. Maybe she heated up some dishwater to torture us.” He cocked an eyebrow as he looked at Galo. “Maybe to torture you. I think when faced with the choice of Ruined or Leran, I win by a large margin.”
“She does glare at me a lot, doesn’t she?” Galo had gotten the distinct impression that Bethania had never met anyone from Lera, and she would have preferred to keep it that way.
“Yes, she does.”
Galo leaned his head back against the chair. “I did serve the late queen. She didn’t even have a good reason to betray Olso, unlike Iria.”
“She wasn’t in love with the Lera king?”
Galo let out a short, loud laugh. “No. They’d never met before she arrived as a traitor from Olso. If they were ever in love, I never saw it.” He lowered his eyebrows in thought. “I’m actually not sure any Gallego has ever married for love. Cas would be the first.”
“Assuming your people actually let him marry Em.”
“I’d like to see it happen,” Galo said quietly. “It feels like the only good thing that could come out of this.”
When Bethania returned, she had an envelope full of papers and a basket of food. She ignored Galo and thrust the envelope at Aren.
“Take a look at these. It’s the best I can do on short notice.”
Aren pulled the papers out and spread them on the table. Galo edged closer, peering over his shoulder. There were some old articles from a local newspaper about the prison as it was built, with a few details about the layout and security. There were also several rough sketches of what he assumed was the inside of the building.
“I’ll explain those,” Bethania said, removing bread and meat from her basket. “I went and talked to a friend who used to work in the prison.”
“Are they going to help us?” Galo asked.
“No. I wasn’t direct with my questions. I tried to just keep it a general conversation about how Iria would be housed in the prison. Like I was concerned, as her friend.”
Aren looked up from the papers. “There’s a chance they’ll figure out you were helping us. Won’t you also be tried for treason?”
“Possibly, though the case against me would be far less solid than Iria’s.” She waved her hand like she wasn’t concerned.
“You know . . .” Aren glanced at Galo. “I think if you wanted to come with us, back to Lera, that would be fine.”
Galo nodded. “King Casimir would welcome you.”
“Ugh.” Bethania screwed up her face. “No offense, but ugh.”
Galo pressed his lips together to keep in a laugh. “I just thought it might be a good alternative to prison.”
“No, thank you. Iria’s made her choice, and I’m making mine. I’ll take my chances here.”
“All right,” Aren said. “But if you change your mind . . .”
Bethania shook her head and took a seat next to him on the couch. “Let’s talk about these plans. I think your best bet is to go in on the east side, because there’s no prisoner exit near there. No one has ever tried to break into the prison before.”
“So we’d hop the fence on the east side, and go in . . . ?” Aren asked.
She pulled a sketch forward and pointed. “North. Here. There’s a door that’s usually used for bringing in kitchen deliveries. I can’t tell you exactly where you’ll end up, but let’s assume near the dining hall and kitchen. If you go at night, it will be empty.”
She grabbed another sketch. “This is a general outline of the prisoner cells, as much as I can guess. One of the articles says there’s a long hallway that leads from the dining room to the cells, so I’ve drawn that here.” She ran her finger along the hallway. “She’s probably in solitary, which is separate cells to the west. If you head this way, you should find them. The door leading to them will be guarded, and there will probably be guards inside as well. If she’s not there, then you’ll need to go search for her in the general population. You’re going to want to hope that doesn’t happen.”
“But chances are she’s in solitary?” Galo asked.
“Yes. She’s unsafe with the general population, given her reputation. But there’s a chance they’ll put her in with everyone else at some point, if only to torment her. Luckily you’re probably here early enough to have avoided that.”
“So we should go tonight,” Aren said.
“Yes. I’m not going to be able to get any more information than this for you. Not anything that would be particularly helpful, anyway. And they may know a Ruined crossed into Olso, if any of the warriors you attacked at the border survived. It’s best you go now, before they have a chance to beef up security or move her.”
“Is there a spot Galo can wait where he won’t be seen?” Aren asked.
Galo looked up with a start. “What? You don’t think you’re going in there alone.”
“It’s incredibly dangerous, and just being with you both has made me plenty strong. If you—”
“You can’t do it alone, Aren. Besides, if you don’t make it out, what do you think happens to me? They’re not going to send me back to Lera.”
“It’s true. They’ll put him in prison,” Bethania said. “Maybe have him killed if they decide he’s not useful.”
“Don’t sugarcoat it,” Galo said dryly, to hide the burst of panic he’d just felt. King August knew who Galo was, and it hadn’t occurred to him that they might use him against Cas, or torture him for information about Lera. Galo knew more about Lera’s military, royal family, and castle than maybe anyone else in Lera.
Aren was staring at him like he’d noticed Galo’s sudden panic. “Why did you come here?” he asked, his bafflement coming through in his voice.
“Because you asked for help. Why did you come here?”
“For Iria, of course. But you don’t even like me. Or Iria.”
Bethania looked from Galo to Aren, confusion etched across her face.
“I like you,” Galo said. “I don’t really know Iria.”
“You don’t know Iria?” Bethania asked.
“Not really.”
Be
thania exchanged a baffled expression with Aren.
“You needed help,” Galo said. “And there’s no one left to help you, because my king killed them all. And I sat there and said nothing while it happened. So I figured this is the least I could do now.” Saying it aloud helped to lessen his fear. He wouldn’t make a different choice, even if he could go back and change it.
Aren blinked. “Oh.”
“So I’m going in the prison with you. You’ll protect me.”
“You say that with such confidence,” Aren said.
“You’re not confident.”
Aren blew out a breath, closing his eyes for a moment. “Have faith, Aren,” he said quietly.
“Does he usually talk to himself like that?” Bethania whispered. Galo just chuckled.
“We’re going together, then,” Aren said with a smile. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
TWENTY-NINE
EM ROUNDED THE corner and slowed as she spotted two guards stationed outside of Cas’s office. She wondered if they were always there, or if this was a new development because the Ruined were there.
One of the guards immediately bowed and opened the door when he spotted her. Cas had asked for her to attend a quick, informal meeting, so he must have given them instructions to let her in. She smiled at them and stepped inside.
Cas looked up from his desk, his eyes lighting up when he spotted her. He stood and edged around the corner of his desk, extending a hand to her. She took it, tilting her head up to kiss him quickly.
“I heard you had some trouble at the stables this morning,” he said, his brow furrowed.
“We did, but it worked out. Mateo took me to meet some of the guards.”
He looked at her in surprise. “He did?”
“We’re all on edge. He thought it would help if we talked to each other. He introduced me to all the guards on duty at the Weakling shed.” She smiled at him.
His lips turned up, and he kissed her again, wrapping an arm around her waist. He pulled away sooner than she was expecting, glancing at the clock on the wall.
