“We have plenty of horses and supplies,” Aren said quickly. “It would be a much easier journey than last time.”
Olivia looked between the two of them. Her lip curled. Em could tell they’d made a mistake. She and Aren had been far too eager to take her up on the suggestion of going back home.
“We’re not running,” Olivia snapped. “The Ruined don’t hide anymore. We fight.”
Em and Aren were silent.
“Do you know where they are? The troops who are coming for us?” Olivia asked Aren.
“Yes. I know the general route they’re taking. An army that large shouldn’t be hard to find.”
“We’ll go to them, then,” Olivia said. “I’m not going to sit around here and wait for them to make their move.”
“Are you sure?” Em asked. “Olso has pretty powerful weapons, you might remember.”
Worry flashed across Olivia’s face for the first time. She quickly shook it off. “Some of us have been working on plans to get around their weapons. A surprise attack will help.”
Em swallowed hard. She’d done just as Galo suggested—she gave Olivia the option of going home. She’d chosen to fight. She would always choose that option, no matter how much Em wanted her to change.
“When should we leave?” Em asked. Her voice shook.
Olivia brushed past her and Aren and walked to the door. “First thing tomorrow morning. I’ll start preparing the Ruined. You two get the horses and supplies ready to go. I want as little as possible. Nothing to slow us down.”
“Fine,” Em said.
“What about the human prisoners?” Aren asked. “Maybe we should let them go before we leave.”
“No need,” Olivia said. “I killed them all yesterday. They weren’t useful anymore.” Olivia stepped outside, letting the door slam behind her.
Em closed her eyes briefly. “I’m sorry,” she said, though not really to Aren. “I didn’t know.”
“It was unavoidable,” Aren said quietly.
Em waited until she could see Olivia walking down the road through the window before she spoke again.
“That’s it, then.”
“I’m sorry, Em,” Aren said. “I thought she was going to go back to Ruina for a minute there.”
“I did too.” The moment of hope still lingered in her chest, making the reality even more painful. She cleared her throat. “What did Cas say?”
“He can send some soldiers, but only a few. They’ll follow us, but really far behind. Galo will coordinate with them and travel between us as we head there. We should only have to travel a few days to get to them. We’ll probably make it about halfway to the Olso border.” He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. “And I plan to keep going.”
“To get Iria?” she guessed.
He nodded, worry in his eyes. “I’ll already be on my way, and if everything goes according to plan Olivia will be weakened and everyone will be going back to the Lera castle anyway so—”
“Aren, it’s fine,” she interrupted gently. “Go. You’re right, you’ll already be halfway there, and she’s imprisoned for helping us. It’s the right thing to do.”
He let out a breath. “Thank you.”
“Of course. Bring her back safe.”
“I will.”
Olivia snuck out of the house before dawn. She shut the door quietly behind her and stepped onto the dark porch, shifting the bag she’d slung over her shoulder.
A tall figure leaned against a tree by the house. Jacobo.
“Is Em still asleep?” he asked quietly.
“Yes. Did you see anything last night?”
“Not much. A couple of Ruined went in and out of Mariana’s house, but there’s no way to tell what they’re talking about. I spoke to Gisela and got nothing. She just said she’s following your and Em’s orders.”
“Of course she did,” Olivia muttered. All the Ruined had readily agreed to chase down the human army.
Even the ones Olivia knew were on Em’s side.
If that’s what you think is best, Ivanna had said to Olivia. Ivanna had never trusted Olivia.
Olivia expected a fight. She thought Ivanna and a few of the others might flat-out refuse to go.
But they’d all just nodded and agreed with her plan. Mariana had said she’d help get the horses ready. Gisela hadn’t met Olivia’s eyes once during their conversation.
They were planning something. They all knew about the Olso and Vallos armies before Olivia did, and they wanted to go. She just didn’t know why.
“Stay here,” Olivia said to Jacobo. “I want you to keep an eye on Em as we travel. Never let her out of your sight.”
“Are you sure we should do this?” he asked. “If she’s planning something, maybe we should stay here.”
White-hot fury raced down Olivia’s spine. “I don’t care what she’s planning. Are you really scared of a useless Ruined?”
Jacobo looked properly shamed. “Of course not.”
“Good. We’ll play along for now, figure out what she’s doing, and stop it.” She turned on her heel and stalked down the road. She’d briefly considered the same thing—telling Em she’d changed her mind, and she was just going to stay put in Westhaven for now.
But Jacobo’s hesitation made her even more determined to go. She didn’t care what Em was planning. If Olivia backed down now she’d never win support of the Ruined.
She visited the barn first and saddled the fastest horse, attaching her small bag to his saddle so everyone would know he was hers. Aren was supposed to help get the horses ready in the morning, and he’d certainly give her the slowest one if she left it up to chance.
Aren. He’d lied about going after Iria. He wouldn’t have stayed with Em this long just to randomly take off for Olso. They’d concocted the whole plan for Olivia, like she was an idiot who would believe a word they said.
She left the horse and started down the road to Aren’s house on foot. Jacobo would keep an eye on Em, and Olivia would take Aren.
There was a flicker of light in the window as she approached his home. She hung back, stepping off the road and sitting on the steps of a deserted house where she’d be hidden from his view.
He emerged from the house as the sun began to rise. He wasn’t carrying a bag, which was odd, and he turned and began walking east, which was even more odd. There was nothing east.
She waited until he was a good distance away before she followed. He walked cautiously, occasionally looking over his shoulder, and she almost lost him twice because she was hanging so far back.
She felt the presence of a human suddenly. Maybe more than one. She had no way to tell.
Olivia stopped, fear seizing her chest as she watched Aren walk into a heavily wooded area. Had he and Em plotted something with the humans? Perhaps they were about to attack, and Olivia was stupidly following Aren around instead of preparing.
She darted forward, keeping low to the ground, and crept into the trees.
“ . . . should be close,” she heard an unfamiliar voice say.
She lowered into a crouch and peered around a tree. Aren stood with a human. Just one. They were a good distance away, but he looked a bit familiar.
Aren said something she couldn’t hear. She wanted to get closer, but wouldn’t risk him discovering her. Not when she didn’t know what he was up to with this human. She leaned forward as far as she dared.
The human shifted slightly, his face coming into view. She dug her fingers into the dirt to keep from screaming.
Galo. The guard who was always with Casimir. He’d been with Casimir in Sacred Rock, when the idiot had let his cousin poison him. Em and Aren were working with the king of Lera.
“I’m always going to be southwest,” Galo said to Aren. “Somewhere between you and Lera soldiers.”
The Lera soldiers? Olivia took a deep breath to calm the Ruined magic boiling in her veins.
“I’ll come find you every night, if I can,” Aren said. “But I’ll definitely come see you at least once, when we’re getting close to the Olso and Vallos armies.”