Despite the spell to keep the perfect temperature, I'm hot and thirsty. Maybe the spell isn't working or I'm nervous. Either way, I grab a drink for myself and an extra for Katherine. It sparkles on my tongue, somehow feeling like the sparkles on my dress. I make a mental note to ask Zade how he did that later. If he's still alive. I glance at him. He's laughing with a group of warlocks. He'll be fine.
Where will I live? I don't know. Not here. And I can't be a burden to Katherine. How will I make money and support myself? I don't know, but I can't stay. Maybe I should pack when I finish with Katherine, or sneak into mother and Cynthia's room. I really want to talk to Cynthia about what's happened. Father probably set a spell to stop her from leaving and people from coming.
With two glasses squished in my palm and the plate of food in the other, I set off to find Katherine. I traverse the stairs I stood on earlier. A woman coming down smiles at me, and I think there's hope of conversation, until her husband rushes her off toward the dance floor, which has just begun to glow a faint blue. I sigh and continue upward.
When I get to the top, I go to the doors, but a clang stops me. As I turn toward the gathering, the room falls eerily silent save for the music.
Warlocks, cloaked and hooded in black, form a wide circle around Zade. I was wrong. It doesn't matter what others think of him, of course Father wouldn't take the price off his head. My stomach cramps.
Smoky light moves from one cloaked figure to the next. Zade is encircled by the warlocks. Trapped. A few people are caught with him.
“Our quarrel is with the Envadi,” a raspy voice says. “The rest may leave our circle unharmed.”
The trapped people hesitate a moment, their shadows enhanced by the glowing floor. Zade says something I can't hear. A man steps forward, hesitates in front of the light a moment, and crosses the spell. When nothing happens to him, the others scurry.
Zade stands alone.
“You've broken too many of our ways and have no right to free a woman,” the voice says. “For that, you will die.”
Chapter Forty
The plate and drink I forgot I was holding crash to the floor, soaking my feet.
For a moment, Zade looks at me. In that brief moment, my heart feels as if it's been ripped from me. I've failed to help save him.
“I haven't broken any laws,” he says.
“You break the spirit of the law. Too many people have complained. Now those gathered will see you pay the price.”
They step closer to him, light fanning out from their circle toward him.
“No,” I whisper. I can't watch this happen.
The crowd is knotted together, especially thick at the bottom of the stairs, preventing my running to him. Watching, but not anxious to be close to the action. They were so eager to talk to him before, was it all for show? Why doesn't anyone help him?
Waverly spurts from the crowd. Maybe she'll be able to distract them until I can get there and help. Though I don't know how I'll help. She dashes toward the circle. One of the robed men's hands darts out and knocks her to the ground. He zips a dark spell at her. She tries to curl away from it, but it slams into her back. Her body goes limp. She doesn't move. Is she dead?
“Don't hurt anyone else.” Zade throws his suit coat on the luminescent floor, his gaze avoiding Waverly's motionless form. “I'm the one showing women they have a chance at freedom.”
One of the cloaked figures growls. The spell creeping toward Zade intensifies. Suddenly it bursts, springing for him. An azure light zips from Zade's hands, surrounding him, shielding him in a dome from the attacking spells.
The steel light smashes against it, sparking. The warlocks raise their arms. The spell crashes and pounds against Zade's shield. A loud creak sounds. A fissure appears in the dome. The gray light pounces on the crack.
He's not going to make it. I can't just watch. I've caused it. I'll stop it or die trying. The knot of people is still too much to get through. They're tightly packed, standing as far from the fray as they can while not leaving the room.
Blast.
I kick my shoes off, pick up my green skirt, and dash for the railing. Without stopping to think, I thrust myself onto the railing and propel myself as far forward as I can. Toward Zade. I don't have to reach him, I just have to get close enough to cause a distraction. Maybe more if I don't die.
Air rushes past, my dress flapping. The engagement ceremony flashes through my mind, but I shove it away. A few faces of the crowd turn toward me as I hurtle down. Then a few more. And more. I'm almost to the ground. Tucking my legs and arms in, I brace for impact.
An amber light shoots from somewhere in the crowd. I plead it's not for Zade. My plea is answered. Instead, it sails toward me. Just before I collide with the floor, the spell reaches me, cushioning me. It lowers me several feet until I'm lying on solid ground.
I don't have time to stop and think. Something digs into my leg. I roll over, jump to my feet, and rub the new bruise, wondering what to do next. The bruise is covered by a bulge on my leg. My gun.
My legs shake as I pull myself to a standing position. I reach my hand in my pocket.