“Got it.”
“And tell me if you see anyone coming. I want to try to keep them all at a distance. If anyone recognizes me they’ll know I’m coming for Iria.”
Galo nodded.
Aren stepped forward, Galo close behind him. They kept low to the ground in the darkness.
“Did Olivia get in unnoticed?” Galo asked quietly.
“No. The warriors saw them coming and sent a whole mess of people to greet them, from what I’ve heard.”
“And Olivia killed them all.”
“Yes.”
“She didn’t do us any favors there,” Galo grumbled.
Aren straightened as they walked out of the trees. They were in sight now, if the warriors in the tower were paying attention and could see in the dark.
“Now?” Galo asked.
“Now.” Aren broke into a run. Galo’s shoes pounded the dirt beside him.
They ran in silence for at least a full minute, and Aren wondered if perhaps they’d gotten lucky. Maybe the warriors couldn’t see them. The moon was only a sliver tonight.
An arrow whizzed through the air and sailed past his ear. Horse hooves pounded the ground.
“Behind you to your left!” Galo shouted. “And your right! And directly behind us!”
Aren skidded to a halt and grabbed Galo’s arm. He stumbled as Aren pulled him to a stop.
Through the dark, he could see two horses to his left, one to his right, and three straight ahead.
He focused on the warriors to his right first. Galo’s frantic energy pounded through his body, and he easily lifted the men from the horses and tossed them backward.
Arrows whizzed past his face, and Galo suddenly let out a gasp. Blood trickled down his arm from where an arrow had scraped him.
“Can you do this any faster?” Galo asked. The three warriors in front of them all had arrows pointed in their direction.
Aren took them all out at once, throwing them a little farther than the other warriors. Their landing wouldn’t be soft. They wouldn’t be able to grab their bows and run after them again.
Aren threw the last warrior off his horse and let go of Galo’s arm. “Are you all right?” he asked.
“It’s just a scratch.”
Aren whirled around and found three of the horses stopped not far away, the other three still galloping even though their riders were gone.
“Get that horse,” Aren said, running toward them. He mounted the warrior’s horse quickly and urged him forward. “Do you see the tracks?” he yelled to Galo as they rode.
“There!” Galo pointed to the right, where the silver tracks glinted in the moonlight.
Aren glanced behind him. Nothing. The warriors hadn’t known they were coming, and it was unlikely they counted on a Ruined being one of the intruders. It would take them a while to ride to the other posts, spread the word, and assemble more warriors to chase them down.
“Let’s stick to the tracks as long as we can!” Aren yelled to Galo. Em had told him that the tracks led straight to the capital.
They rode until the sun came up. They abandoned their horses and went on foot since they would draw attention on the warriors’ horses, and at the moment, they were trying to blend in.
Aren could tell they were nearing the capital—he could hear the sound of voices on a nearby road, and he could sense the presence of a large number of humans nearby. A carriage passed them, and the coachman cast a curious glance over his shoulder.
Galo stopped, touching Aren’s arm. “Do you have something to cover your neck?”
Aren’s fingers flew to the Ruined marks there. He’d been stupid to forget about them. He’d gotten used to his scars covering them, but there were plenty that were visible these days. He dropped his bag on the ground and dug through it.
“I don’t think I have anything. I could rip up the blanket to make a scarf, I guess. Might look weird, though.”
“Here,” Galo said, gesturing for him to get up. He adjusted the collar of Aren’s coat so it was standing up, covering his neck. “Keep it like that and no one can see. You’ll just have to keep the coat on, even if you get hot.”
“Thanks,” Aren said. Despite the clear skies and sun, it was much cooler in Olso than in the Lera jungle. He stuck his hands in his pockets. He needed to keep those out of sight too.
They walked until the city came into view. The castle was to the east, its peaks rising high into the sky, visible even from a distance. The city stretched out below it, with buildings bigger than those in Lera, the sidewalks more cramped with people. The streets were dirtier than in Lera, but there were several men dressed in gray jumpsuits scooping up the trash and putting it in bags. One frowned at Aren as he tried to get to an apple core by his foot.
Aren stepped aside, touching his collar. There were more people than he’d expected.
“So what’s the plan?” Galo asked. “Are we just strolling into the prison? Do we even know which prison she’s in?”
“No. I need to find out which prison she’s in, and what it’s like. Most likely, it’s heavily guarded, and it will be tough for me to take on that many guards by myself. If they manage to corner me and get me in a cell it’s all over.”
“So we need someone to tell us which prison she’s in, and maybe the basic layout.”
“Right.”
Galo scrunched up his face as he surveyed the crowds around them. “Got anyone in mind?”
Aren released a breath. “Yeah.”
“Who?”
“Iria’s parents.”
TWENTY-FOUR
EM WOKE TO the sun in her eyes. She blinked, the room around her slowly taking shape. The Lera castle. Cas’s bedroom. He hadn’t closed a window last night, and the breeze rustled the curtains, letting in streaks of sunlight.
She turned. Cas was dressed but barefoot, standing at the half-open door and speaking softly to someone she couldn’t see. He closed the door and turned, his eyes lighting up when they met hers.
“I’m sorry. I was trying to let you sleep.”
“What’s wrong?” She propped herself up on her elbows.
He crossed the room and climbed onto the bed. “Nothing’s wrong. That was just Franco. I asked him to push our morning meeting to later.”
She lay back down with a sigh and rubbed her forehead. The sun peeking through the windows was bright. She’d slept late.
Probably because she’d barely slept at all since leaving Olivia. She’d been so foggy-headed yesterday that she barely remembered how she got to Cas’s room.
The Ruined were mad at her. And scared. Ivanna was dead, and Em had underestimated what a good job she was doing keeping the Ruined calm. Gisela might have taken Em’s head off yesterday, if Em were human.
“I need to go check on the Ruined. Did they eat? We need to find them some clothes, too. And I should probably scout the area around Royal City with a few Ruined tonight, to see if we spot Olivia. Maybe some guards should come with us? Do you think—” She stopped talking suddenly as Cas stretched out beside her and pulled her into his arms. She closed her eyes and buried her face in his chest, losing her train of thought. He smelled like the Cas she’d known when she was here as Mary. The air of the castle clung to him, with scents of fresh flowers and pastries and the ocean.
“A maid brought you some clothes, they’re in the wardrobe,” he said, his lips brushing the top of her head. “So feel free to dress and see the Ruined whenever you like. I’ll see what we can do about getting the Ruined clothes and other essentials. And you can go out looking for Olivia if you want, but I like you better right here.”
A smile crossed her lips. She didn’t think she’d smiled in days, but the smile came easier than she would have thought. His words last night—We’re together now. Everything will be fine—had seemed so naive at the time, but now, as she wrapped an arm around his waist and held him tight, they didn’t seem so far-fetched.