Page 57

FORTY-SIX

H ours seeped by as they pounded on the door, searching and shouting and holding back tears. Kel had no idea if it was day, night, or if perhaps she’d already died. Being locked in a cell with her team was a strange mix of purgatory and paradise.

Is Savita still alive? Has Cristo already succeeded?

Questions tumbled through her mind in dizzying circles.

“You should rest, Kel,” Bekn said gently.

Kel ignored him, pacing the square room, her knees cracking as she walked. She felt a strange, warm trickle above her lips. When she wiped her nose, her fingers came away with dark blood.

Shit.

Kel quickly ducked her head and wiped away the rest of the nosebleed, thanking the Alchemists that the others hadn’t seen. She took another step, and the pain in her injured hip flared, forcing her to stumble against the wall. Coup was at her side in an instant.

“You okay?” he breathed.

Kel paused.

Without the sudden pain, the idea might not have come to her. It wasn’t the most foolproof plan, but it was the only one she had.

Kel shifted so her back was to the door. Then, she whispered her plan into her teammates’ ears.

A minute later, Dira, Coup and Bekn nodded.

Kel didn’t know if anyone was watching through the cell’s camera. But if they were, Kel was about to see just how sincere Cristo’s pity was.

She shuffled around the room for several minutes, letting her steps grow heavy. Her shoulders sagged and she ran a hand across her forehead, as if wiping sweat. One more step—and she let herself tumble to the ground.

Kel landed on her knees. She bit her lip to hide a groan of pain and squeezed her eyes shut. Flopping gracelessly to the floor, her legs were crooked and her arms propped at awkward angles.

Bekn screamed, the raw sound echoing around the room. Coup hurried to her side, and Dira shouted, “Help! Someone, help!”

Seconds later—sooner than she’d expected—the door creaked open. Kel held her breath as footsteps—more than one person—hurried closer.

“What’s happened?” a voice demanded.

Coup’s breath came out in ragged pants. She felt his weight hovering over her. “I don’t know—she just collapsed! She needs to see a doctor!”

A pause, and then another voice said, “We’re not to move Ms. Varra until Mr. Cristo gives us further instructions.”

Dira swore, though she somehow made the filthy word sound like a plea. “You’re meant to take her to the hospital, right? Move her now! She has AB. Do you really think Cristo would want you to let her die in here ?”

“If Cristo thinks any part of what he’s doing is legal, that’s going to end if he denies a child medical care,” Bekn spat.

Another long, heavy pause. Kel tried to slow her breath, to soften the rise and fall of her chest. Splayed hair covered her face; she dared to peek through one eye. Two pairs of black boots were planted in Coup’s long shadow.

“ Please ,” Coup begged. “Just take her to a hospital. Any doctor. Just—help her.”

Eventually, one of the guards mumbled, “Canen did tell us she has AB. He wouldn’t want a kid’s death on his conscience.”

“Lucian, grab her feet,” the first guard said, sighing.

Footsteps echoed around the room. She heard Coup shift further away. Kel opened both eyes.

Just as hands wrapped around her ankles, the Howlers lurched into motion.

Hair still blurring her vision, Kel launched at the guard bent at her feet. He looked up at her with bright, wide eyes that Kel gouged her fingernails into.

Lucian screeched, the kind of sound she’d only heard from phoenixes. Blood streamed down her fingers as she dug deeper. When Lucian tried to shove her away, Kel danced back.

The man covered his face with his hands, stumbling back—right where Coup stood.

He wrapped his arms around Lucian’s sides, pinning his arms. The guard flailed, kicking wildly, and Kel hurried forward, landing a kick to his midsection, as high as she could manage in her snug trousers.

The lead in her bones kept the blow from landing evenly, but it still winded him.

Kel risked a glance across the cell. Bekn had straddled the other guard, while Dira crouched around his head, shoving his face into the hard ground.

Lucian screamed. Though he had a strong, stocky build, he wasn’t able to break free of Coup’s steady grip.

Kel took a heavy step toward the cell’s open door. “Come on! Let them go—we just need to lock the cell behind—”

A tall shadow glided through the door before she could reach it. A muscled woman with dark eyes locked Kel in place, arms raised. A sleek, silver rifle aimed high.

A sancter rifle.

The weapon that practically shot lightning, far too lethal to point at anything but a phoenix or the sky.

Kel’s stomach filled with dread. They were so close. No no no—

“Kelyn,” Coup panted. “What’s wrong—”

“Hands up,” the guard grunted, aiming her weapon straight at Kel’s head. “All of you. Now.”

The room quietened. Slowly, Bekn and Dira rose, their arms raised.

The guard shifted her sancter to face Coup, who was still grappling with Lucian. “You too. Let him go.”

Slowly, reluctantly, Coup released Lucian. The seven of them stood motionless, watching each other.

Kel’s entire body tensed. Cold shivers wracking her spine.

The guard with the sancter tilted her head, indicating back out the door. “Lucian, Pike, get out of here. Canen wants—”

She never finished her sentence. Instead, a loud clang rang through the room, and the guard stumbled forward to her knees.

The sancter rifle clattered along the ground and Kel winced, half-expecting lightning to fill the room.

Coup dashed forward a moment before Lucian did, grabbing the dropped weapon.

The woman fell motionless to the floor, and someone stepped around her. Coup raised the sancter as a lean figure entered the cell.

Chest heaving, Rahn lowered the wooden bat clutched in her hands.

“Come on,” she said. “We don’t have much time.”