Page 58 of They Call Me Blue
“Most of the high priests’ and priestesses’ work is done in secret, behind hidden doors inaccessible to the layman or foot soldier. Only leadership is privy to what happens there, and only leadership knows why Clara, our High Priestess Supreme’s prized pupil, left.”
—Elias of the Drift, Starra’lee Combat Medic
Personal Communication
“ W here are you going?” I duck beneath a spiny death tree, keeping pace with Torvin.
Icy water and sharp gravel dig into the soles of my calloused feet.
Up ahead, the Aegis River sprays mist into the air, water tumbling over rapids, crashing over boulders.
We’ve just passed our meeting spot with Arden, but he seems damned determined to reach the mossy banks. “Slow down.”
Torvin doesn’t listen. Feet planted in the dark water, he sizes up the river, quirking his head as if trying to find the best place to cross. But we can’t cross yet. She wouldn’t have had time to plant the bombs, let alone escape their blast radius.
“Torvin, we need to set up camp.”
“There’s no point. She’s not coming back.”
I snort. “You don’t know her very well if you think that. She’s tiny, but vicious. Being sick isn’t going to stop her—”
“She isn’t sick.” He wades deeper into the river, the current slamming into his calves. The hairs rise on the back of my neck as I stomp after him, grabbing him by the collar of his tunic. I barely feel the icy chill, though my calves strain with the effort of standing in one place.
“What do you mean, she isn’t sick?” I ask through gritted teeth. My voice is as cold and unforgiving as the water below. “Answer me right fucking now.”
He struggles to free himself from my grasp, but I pull tighter, twisting the fabric in my fist. “She’s going through her Age of Majority, okay? Elder Risha saw it in a vision.”
I can feel the color leech from my face. No, that isn’t possible .
But then I think of the symptoms—fever, breathlessness, nausea, joint pain, skin rashes, and growth—and my stomach sinks into my ass. The fact that she’s able to move at all is nothing short of a Marr-damn miracle.
What have we done?
“You knew and you let her go down there?” I hiss.
Dropping my hold on him, I shove him into the river, and he lands with a heavy splash.
Torvin scrabbles through the current on hands and knees, sputtering water as it drips from his hair, down his flushed face.
A day ago, I might’ve helped him up. A day ago, I might’ve called him my friend.
“How is she supposed to escape if she’s twice her regular size? ”
“She isn’t.” Torvin stands on unsteady legs, flinging the water from his hands. “She was never coming back. I didn’t give her functional schematics. She’ll get stuck in one of the vents and the workers will find her on routine cleaning tomorrow. They’ll dig her out come morning.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you? She’s our squadmate.
Do you know how many times I’d be dead if it wasn’t for her?
” Fury settles in every bone, every tendon.
Arden and I have never been close, but fuck, she doesn’t deserve that .
“Do you have any idea what Lyrick and Azerin will do if they capture her? Why would you put her through that?”
The traitor looks nonplussed. Shrugging, he wades a little deeper. “The Kor—the you know what demanded it. She’s more useful to Starra’lee as a spy in their beds than as a foot soldier. Besides, Elder Risha said—”
And there it is. That fucking bitch of a priestess. She’s always despised Arden—ever since her parents abandoned the cause. Cursing, I throw my hands in the air and storm the other direction. Torvin can get himself home. I’m through caring about what the fuck happens to him.
“Where are you going?” he calls out, cupping his hand over his mouth.
“To wait for her,” I growl. “She’s coming back.”
Water splashes as he rushes to catch up to me. “She isn’t, Cheevy. Have you ever been around that much cold iron?” Torvin peers into my eyes, expression deadly serious. “If Arden makes it into the mine, she won’t even remember who she is.”