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CHAPTER NINETY-EIGHT

Ellery

Pressing myself flat against the grass, I lay beside Ryker at the top of the hill. Over a thousand feet away, the caravan of carriages loaded with carisle continued through the village of Seacrest.

When I was younger, I’d gone to the coastal community of Lighthouse Point, where my aunt Connie lived with her husband, but I’d never been to Seacrest.

From where we were safely hidden behind a crest in the hill, the land and village sprawled out before me. The bright November sun beat down on the hills, rolling like green waves across the land until they leveled out and became the one-story, sprawling oceanside homes of Seacrest.

With their gray siding faded from years of sea spray, most homes were the same color, but a few differed from the others. They weren’t the vibrant colors of the city of the dead, but there were shades of blue and a couple of faded yellows mingled with the grays.

Most homes had twisting iron staircases from the ground to a widow’s walk on the roof. Dozens of lightning rods also decorated every roof in the village.

The only building with any vibrant color was the red warehouse in the center of the sprawling town. Its large double doors were thrown open to the day on both sides, allowing a clear view of the sparkling blue ocean beyond.

Amsirah moved in and out of the warehouse as ships pulled up to the docks on the other side of the building. Bins full of fish filled the open space.

On a rocky outlet jutting far into the sea, white spray plumed into the air as waves crashed onto it. At the far end of the jetty, the waves splashed the side of a white lighthouse with a black top.

Out to sea, boats bobbed on the waves. They flowed up and down with the tide as their sails billowed in the wind.

At the end of the rolling green hills, seagrass and sand spread across the land to the backs of the homes lining the street. Though the sun was dazzling, the air held a crisp chill that carried the scent of the ocean and taste of salt.

Despite the presence of at least a thousand guards, it was all so peaceful and serene. Birds squawked overhead and spun in lazy circles that cast shadows over the land.

It was tranquil, yet my heart raced and sweat dampened my palms as the guards carried their flags through the town and sat stiffly in their saddles. There were so many of them and so few of us.

We shouldn’t be doing this; we should be safe in the woods, working to ensure we made it through the winter or strengthening the second encampment. The peace we’d found in the forest would come to an end; it was inevitable, but I planned to cling to it for as long as possible.

I’d never considered myself a coward, and I didn’t now, but I yearned for the simplicity of the trees. However, we couldn’t turn back.

As the caravan rattled across the land, it stopped in front of the warehouse. Many guards dismounted as amsirah carried chests full of their hard-earned money out of the building.

As soon as they set the chests down, the guards pushed the men and women back with swords and staffs. The birds’ cries swallowed a distant scream, and I couldn’t tell if they or an amsirah made the noise.

A sudden gust of wind carried a burst of sand that peppered my face. I ducked my head and closed my eyes against the onslaught as I took a deep breath.

Alongside me, Scarlet, Callan, Tucker, Luna, and Ryker lay flat against the ground. Mr. Fletcher had also joined us. They all kept watching while the guards stole the villagers’ money.

And then they’d come toward us.

Our plan was simple, just the way I liked them. We’d wait until the middle section of the caravan was before us and swoop down on it. If everything went well, it would be a mostly silent affair that resulted in no one getting harmed and more money for the communities.

If it went wrong… well, if it went wrong, I’d do everything in my power to ensure the survival of those I loved.

I kept my head down as I reminded myself to breathe through my constricting chest. Normally, I was cool and calculating before a robbery, but not today.

Today, I was a mass of raw nerves that could prove hazardous if I didn’t get them under control. Closing my eyes, my fingers dug into the ground until the sweet scent of the dirt and grass filled my nose.

I’d already lost so much but still had so much more to lose. I wasn’t sure my already battered soul could survive the death of anyone else I loved.

When I first started robbing others, I was na?ve to the consequences of it. I’d known others could get hurt or die, but I hadn’t really understood it.

I did now. I’d witnessed and endured too much death for me not to understand how bad this could all go.

We’ll be in and out. I kept telling myself this, and I knew it was possible, but so was death.

As soon as we robbed this caravan, we’d take the carisle straight back to the amsirah who needed it. This time, there would be no distribution of pouches; there would only be teams working together to open portals to the other towns and coastal communities.

We didn’t need any of this money. Before, we’d required some carisle for the weapons we’d ordered, but now that we had the duke’s stash, we’d be giving all this money away.

We’d never steal enough money to pay for an army as big as what the nobles commanded. We could only steal enough to buy the loyalty of the townsfolk and prove we were still there for them.

“They’re coming this way,” Tucker said.