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Jeddak slipped out of the stall and moved toward the front stable doors to peer through the gaps in the slats. I followed him, keeping as much distance from the bear as possible.

“Bain was trying to help me,” I said, though the explanation sounded strange even as I said it. Why would the Rathalan guard commander help someone like me?

“Oh, is that what you call imprisoning and poisoning you?

I stilled. “Wait … what do you meanpoisoning?”

“The tea. It was a love potion. Well, it was actually a truth elixir gone wrong. I’d say he’d given you quite a bit of it. You seemed to think the guard commander was quite the dream boy.”

My hand flew to my mouth, horrified. It made sense now. Why the night before seemed twisted and blurry in my mind. Why I had a sick feeling in my gut when I thought of Bain, despite my ardent memories of him. He’d played my heart against me.

Acid rose in my throat at the sudden memory of Bain stroking my palm.Oh, no. The map. I’d told him about Sora and the map. Poisoned or not, I’d betrayed her.

“I need to get back to the mines,” I said suddenly. I couldn’t leave this place without Sora. Not when Bain—ugh, no,Bloodbain—would probably poison her next when he found me missing. Not to mention, I desperately needed her help to decode this map and find my brother.

“Back to the mines? Are you nuts?”

“I can’t leave my friend there. She’s my only hope of finding my family. I can’t?—”

“It’s impossible,” he said.

“I don’t need your permission?—”

Just then, we heard muffled voices outside. Jeddak gripped the hilt of his sword. I held my breath. The horses around us grew restless for attention, stomping their hooves.

When the voices faded, Jeddak moved so close to me I had to look up, his muscular frame dwarfing mine. “Look out there,” he said sternly, pointing through a gap in the wall to the tower inthe distance. The area was crawling with dark silhouettes. “If you go back there, you’ll be dead before you even reach the tower. Is that what you want?”

We stared at each other until I finally stepped back, releasing a frustrated sigh. Of course, he was right. I had no plan, no weapons, no army. I couldn’t save Sora, just like I couldn’t save Hen. At this point, I didn’t even know if I could save myself.

All I could do was make a silent promise to Sora, and to Sable:If I get out of here, I’ll find a way to come back for you.

“Fine, how are we going to get out of here then?” I said, skipping over the question I really wanted to ask:Why are you helping me?Unlike Sora, he didn’t seem to know me from my past. Why did he care if the guards killed me? He and his bear would likely be long gone from Malengard by now if he hadn’t come for me in Bloodbain’s chamber. There had to be something he wasn’t telling me.

But that question would have to wait. For now, we shared the same resolve to escape Malengard, and I couldn’t jeopardize that. Sticking with him could be useful. I’d seen first-hand what he’d done to Meat in the mine.

“Well, we have a slight problem,” Jeddak said. “We can’t figure out how to get past the gates.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, we can’t just stroll up to the gates of Malengard and politely ask the guards to let us out,” he said, matter-of-factly like he was casually assessing his next move in a game of rune dice.

“Wait, so you’re telling me you ‘rescued’ me from the towerwithoutfiguring out a way for us to get out of the city? What kind of rescue plan is that?”

“No, Ihada plan, but you messed it up.”

“Imessed it up?” My voice was as brittle as glass.

“Yes,” he snapped, raking his fingers through his hair like it was the only thing keeping his hands from throttling me. “My plan didn’t include having to tear you away from your preciousBain.”

“I was poisoned!”

Jeddak opened his mouth to respond just as the bear bumped into his shoulder, knocking him back a step. He went silent.

“Forget whatever stupid plan you had,” I said through gritted teeth. “What are we going to do now?”

Jeddak’s jaw twitched.

He didn’t know.