Page 153 of Alchemised

H ELENA LEFT S EBASTIAN WITH L UC, PULLING FREE the reanimation and leaving the two of them hidden in the alley.

Her only thoughts were of Lila.

The air was thick with smoke and blood. She could hear fighting as she moved through the city, trying to stay out of sight. She couldn’t save everyone. Anyone.

She had to reach Lila.

She neared the last wall that was intended to mark Resistance territory. There were necrothralls guarding it. Familiar faces. The field commander from Luc’s unit with a gash in his skull that showed brain tissue underneath.

Kaine had said no one paid close attention to whose necrothralls were whose. A necrothrall was presumed to belong to one of the Undying. If she pulled the reanimation from a few, she could use them to escort her into Headquarters as a prisoner, but these were too well armed.

She needed easier targets. She turned and fled, hiding in buildings, climbing and descending old stairs and evacuation ladders, trying to find a way back to Headquarters.

The combatants all had harnesses that they used to swing and rappel through the streets, navigating the levels of the city easily, but she had to find a route on foot.

The necrothralls kept tailing her. She could tell she was being herded, hunted with persistent predation. She could not out-endure the dead.

She hid, crouching behind a pillar half covered in rubble, trying to catch her breath.

Footsteps came nearer. Her heartbeat was a drum. She drew a gasping breath and jumped up, fleeing her hiding spot. She ran straight into one of the Undying, all in black.

Before she could react, a large hand gripped her head, and everything went dark.

H ELENA WOKE WITH A PANICKED gasp. Kaine was leaning over her, his fingers at the base of her head. She jerked away, eyes roaming, not recognising where she was. Her head was swimming.

“It’s all right. You’re safe,” he said.

She stared up at him in confusion, trying to remember how she’d gotten there.

Everything came rushing back. Luc. Luc was dead.

She’d killed him.

The memory was like being punched in the throat.

“What—what happened?” Her mouth was dry. She looked dazedly around, trying to pinpoint their location.

Kaine’s fingers slipped away from the back of her head. His expression was calm, but his eyes were furious.

“The war is over,” he said. “The Undying have taken the city, including your Headquarters. The remaining Resistance factions are cornered; if they don’t surrender, they’ll be buried in rubble by the day’s end.”

She pushed herself up, too dazed to think clearly. She’d been trying to reach Lila … and then? She couldn’t remember anymore.

Kaine began pacing around the room.

“How did this even happen? What kind of plan was stretching your selves across the entire city and leaving your Headquarters unguarded? And where the fuck is Holdfast?”

Helena flinched. “He’s dead.”

Kaine froze and turned sharply. “What do you mean?”

Helena stared down at her hands. She was in the same clothes. Luc’s blood was among the stains, but she couldn’t pick out which ones belonged to him. She couldn’t bring herself to speak.

“How?” Kaine asked.

She swallowed. “It was—an accident.”

She told him everything. What she’d realised, and who it had been, and everything over the months. That Luc had tricked her, and she’d reacted, and then it was too late.

“I tried to heal him …” she said, her voice shaking. “But it was like there wasn’t enough of him left to hold on. He was unravelling and I couldn’t—” Her chest seized, threatening to crack. “ I was supposed to save him— ” The words came out a whisper.

Her throat contracted and her whole body shook and she couldn’t make herself speak. Kaine was silent until she managed to compose herself again.

“Morrough must be so old,” she said. “Paladia’s more than five hundred years old.”

“This whole war was just two brothers fighting over who gets to play god?” Kaine gave a disbelieving, bitter laugh. “You think you’re picking a side, and you’re just on the opposite end of the same fucking coin.”

Helena didn’t speak, gripping the blankets draped over her until her knuckles turned white. She had to get up, but she felt like glass a breath away from shattering. “I have to get Lila.”

“The war is over, Helena.”

She flinched at the way he said her name. That he’d used it to say that.

“I know,” she said, going hot and cold all over. “You don’t need to tell me. I know we’ve lost!”

She pressed her lips together, grinding the heels of her hands against her eyes as she tried to control herself.

“I’m not saying it’s not over.” Her voice still shook. “But we have the obsidian now, we can both make it, and if we’re more covert—we could still bleed him dry by killing off the Undying.”

“There is no ‘we’ anymore,” Kaine said. “You’re leaving Paladia.”

She looked up sharply. He stood over her, arms crossed.

“I’ll kill them, but you’re done. Holdfast is dead. The Eternal Flame is gone. It’s time for you to go.”

She shook her head. “I can’t leave you here.”

His expression was hard as stone. “I don’t want you here. It’ll be easier for me to work if Morrough assumes a complete victory.”

Helena’s jaw tensed. “Fine,” she finally said in a tight voice. “I’ll collaborate long-distance initially, if you think that’ll make things easier.”

“Good.” He stepped back, turning away. “I’ll have everything arranged.”

She watched him warily, not sure she believed him. Reasonable as it was, she knew he’d already wanted her out of Paladia. There were no other choices, though. She had to get Lila to safety. Until Lila was secure, Helena had no room to negotiate.

“I’m only going if Lila’s with me,” she said.

Kaine rocked back. “No chance. If she goes missing, they’ll hunt her across the continent. She’s not worth it.”

Helena stood. “I’m not asking. I have to take her.

If she’s not with me, I won’t leave. I promised Luc I’d take care of her.

She’s been under quarantine at the top of the Alchemy Tower.

They might not have found her yet. The sooner we go, the better our chances are of getting her without being noticed.

We could—we can find a body and I’ll use vivimancy, disguise it, so it looks like her. No one will know she’s gone.”

Something about Kaine suddenly shifted, a tension around his mouth.

“You can take me as a prisoner, use that as an excuse to go inside. It’s only been a few hours—”

“Helena …”

He said her name slowly, a note of warning but also a plea in the way he said it. His eyes flicked around the room, pausing briefly on the curtains. Her voice died. Half in a daze, she stood up and walked forward, pushing the curtain back. It was dark outside.

It was night.

But how could it be night? It had been dawn; the sun was just rising when Luc died.

“How … how long did you keep me unconscious?” Her voice shook. “How—how long has it been?”

He gave no reply.

She turned and lunged for the door, but he caught her, dragging her back. “I can explain—”

She struggled, trying to rip herself free. “What did you do?” Her voice rose. “How long have I been unconscious?”

“Listen.” He shook her, and there was a wildness to his eyes.

“After the bomb went off, when the Resistance began to attack, Morrough had everyone remaining fall back. They knew your numbers, how many combatants you had left. It was obvious that Headquarters would be vulnerable. They expected an attack before Hevgoss arrived—they were waiting for it. They had someone on the inside. Once your forces had been lured onto the West Island, they sent us to infiltrate. When I got there, you were missing. No one knew where you’d gone.

I abandoned my post to find you. Once I had you safe, I had to go back. ”

“So you—left me here for how long? A day?” Her voice was raw with betrayal.

“I came back as soon as I could.”

She started to tremble, her body going into shock. “I was going to get Lila. That’s where I was headed, but I kept getting cut off—and—” She flinched. “That was you, wasn’t it? You knocked me out. You didn’t even—”

All those necrothralls tailing her. He’d killed those soldiers, set them up, all watching and waiting for her. There was so much blood on his hands.

He cradled her face with them. “What did you expect me to do? Let you walk back into that massacre? The orders were to kill anyone who tried to resist.”

“Are they all—?” She couldn’t even finish the question. It didn’t matter. “I won’t leave without Lila. You can help me or I’ll go alone, but I’m going back for her.”

Kaine was unmoved. “If you want Morrough defeated, there’s no rescuing anyone.”

“We won’t defeat him if we don’t rescue Lila. She’s pregnant. Morrough needs another Holdfast, and Lila’s the one carrying it. I promised Luc I’d get her out—it was the last thing I told him before he died. It was all that mattered to him.”

“Why should I care about what Holdfast wanted?” he said, his voice implacable.

He was not going to do this. Not even for her.

Her chest tightened. She could feel her ribs curved around her heart like a cage.

You always lose.

Everyone you love dies.

“Because if you do, I’ll stop—everything,” she said. “I’ll leave, and I won’t come back. Just like you want, if you’ll help me get Lila Bayard. Whatever you want. Anything you ask. I’ll do it, I swear.”

Her fingers shook as she reached out for him.

“Please.”

He’d gone very still. “Will you?”

She nodded. “Yes …” Her voice struggled and failed. “Yes, I promise.”

He studied her, eyes narrowed and calculating. “Those are your terms? The Bayard girl, and then you’ll do anything I ask?”

Her throat closed. “Yes. Anything you ask. I swear.”

He nodded slowly. “All right. If those are your terms, I’ll get her for you.”

Helena gave a shuddering gasp of relief. “Thank you.”

He just nodded, but he seemed distracted. She waited to hear how they’d do it, but he was silent, just studying her.

“What do you need me to do?” she finally asked.