The guard opened his mouth to reply, but Patricio narrowed his eyes at him. The guard tumbled backward, head over feet, and landed in a clump on the ground.
“Patricio, no!” Em skidded to a stop in front of him, blocking his view of the guards. “You can’t use your power on anyone in the castle.”
“He had a sword out,” Patricio said through gritted teeth. “Why shouldn’t I use my power on them?”
Em turned to see the sword on the ground, the guard scrambling to grab it. The stable hand looked utterly terrified. He turned and sprinted toward the castle.
The guard jumped to his feet, sword stretched toward Em. She didn’t reach for her dagger.
“Put your weapon away,” she said.
“They were snooping through every corner of the castle,” the guard said, ignoring her request. “I caught these two in the stable. They scavenged the whole castle. We haven’t determined yet if anything is missing.”
“If anything is missing?” Selena yelled. “Why do you assume we’re thieves?” She jumped forward and Em put an arm out, keeping her from the guard.
“You need to put that sword away,” Em said. “Now.”
The guard didn’t move. Dread began winding its way up her stomach. She’d be insane to think the Ruined could stay here. Maybe Olivia was right to think they could never coexist with humans. It hadn’t even been a full day and they were about to kill each other. She was right when she said she had no reason to trust—
“Dominic!” a voice yelled. Em turned to see Mateo striding across the castle lawn. “Queen Emelina just told you to sheathe your sword.”
Dominic’s sword twitched as he turned to look at Mateo. “Jorge said we could use our weapon if a Ruined used their powers on us.”
“You drew your sword first!” Patricio sneered at him. “You want to see how well you can hold a sword if I break all your fingers?”
“Patricio,” Em said sharply. He rolled his eyes, but he looked away from Dominic.
Mateo said something to Dominic that Em couldn’t hear, a hard edge to his voice. “Go. Now.” He pointed to the castle. Dominic glared at him, but he sheathed his sword and walked away.
Mateo turned to face him, his eyes flicking to the angry Ruined around her. If he was nervous, he was good at hiding it. His expression was calm, like he encountered this kind of situation often.
“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.