Page 11

“We can’t leave a Kovak down here to die,” I said.

“But we can’t save them either, can we?”

I didn’t respond as I passed the sleeping area of the workers. The prisoners were little more than piles of bones. Several pairs of bloodshot eyes followed me as I stalked past, but no one stirred. If some of them hadn’t been whimpering or snoring, I would have thought this was a graveyard.

Swallowing the acid rising in my throat, I hurried farther into the mine. I hated that Kah was right. We couldn’t save anyone in this hellhole. Skies, I didn’t even know if I could save Lila at this point. I needed to focus on finding the Zavien stone. That was the only reason I was here.

I exhaled, scanning the rows of minecarts and collections of tools locked away behind bars. Without being able to use mymagic to feel for the stone’s presence, I had no idea where it might be hidden.Ifit was even down here.

Minutes into my search, a bear roar cut into the silence, followed by the sound of shouting and pounding footsteps. My pulse quickened as I tried to trace the origin of the sound, but the resounding echoes of the cavern prevented me from pinpointing the source.

“Kah, where’s it coming from?”

“I can’t tell.”

The mine suddenly went silent. I dreaded to think what that meant.

Ahead, I saw torchlight shining from behind a large gap in the rocks and heard sounds. Forgetting about the stone, I sprinted ahead, trying not to stumble on loose rocks in the darkness. When I turned the corner, I saw a burly mineguard pressing a knife to a young girl’s throat in a narrow corridor. Her eyes shimmered with panic.

My skin bristled.

“Get off of her!” I shouted at the guard, coils of rage twisting inside of me.

“Jeddak, wait—” Kah warned.

“Find your own malack. She’s mine,” the guard sneered, digging the knife into her skin.

“I said.Get. Off. Of. Her.”

When he ignored me and his hand groped at her tunic, I moved. In three strides, I was in his face, ripping him away from the girl. When he swung his knife at me, I ducked, jabbing him in the stomach. He doubled over with a painedumphand dropped the knife. It clattered on the rocky ground. Recovering, he wiped away the blood that was seeping from a cut on his face and sneered at me, showing his yellow teeth.

On impulse, I reached for a knife in my bracer, forgetting that I had on this stupid Rathalan uniform and not my Kovakianarmor with its plethora of hidden weapons. So instead, I lunged at him, shoving him into the jagged rock wall. I swung my fist at his nose, but he whipped his head to the side. My knuckles impacted the wall, slicing my skin. The pain barely registered.

The girl tried to run then, but the guard grabbed her arm, yanking her back so hard she tripped and stumbled to her knees.

The guard advanced on her, smacking her across the face, her long black hair flying. “Is this your jealous lover? I should have known you were spoiled goods.”

My vision went red as I jumped on him, wrapping my elbow around his thick neck in a chokehold, pulling him to the ground. He twisted out of my grip, but I pinned him down, continuing to land punch after punch even after his body went limp.

5

Raven

Meat was unconscious, his repugnant face covered in blood, but the other Rathalan guard was still beating him. The voice in my head was telling me to run, but I couldn’t. Those guards playing rune dice had seen Meat with Hen. If I left now and they found Meat’s dead body in the morning, they would think she did it. The minemaster would kill her. Even if she stayed hidden, he’d go on a manhunt and kill everyone else until someone stepped forward. No one would suspect another guard, not when Meat’s face looked like it had been pounded by a worker’s shovel.

“Stop!” I shouted. “Stop it! You’re going to kill him!”

The guard wasn’t listening.

“Stop!” This time, I shoved the guard as hard as I could. I didn’t knock him off balance, but I got his attention. He paused his assault, continuing to stare at the unconscious guard with violent hatred.

“What have you done?” I cried, praying Meat still had a pulse, though he didn’t deserve to. I wanted him dead—I would have gladly finished the job myself—if Hen’s life wasn’t at stake.

“He was hurting you,” the guard said, getting to his feet and leaving Meat’s body sprawled on the cold ground.

Confused, I opened my mouth to say,You all hurt us, but then closed it again. Now that the fighting had stopped, I realized I was standing almost shoulder-to-shoulder with a Rathalan guard. I retreated backward until my back hit the wall, my heart pounding. I knew I should run, but my feet felt rooted in place. I needed to know if Meat was still alive. At least then I would know what fate awaited us come morning.

“Are you all right?” the guard asked, looking at me for the first time.