Page 19

AERI

CITY OF RAHWAY, YUSAN

T here’s someone else in this room. I hold my breath. Sora has a delicate breathing pattern when she sleeps. I listen closely, and there it is. Another exhale, just a hair out of sync. It’s not a servant or a guard. The only person who would sneak in here is an assassin.

Someone gave us up.

Again.

I hold my breath in the dark and soundlessly grab the throwing knife from under my pillow.

Someone is always trying to kill me. It’s exhausting.

It’s exactly what I feared would happen if people knew I had the amulet.

But if I had the choice to hide the Sands of Time and have Royo die in front of me, or save his life and risk my own, I’d make the same decision a thousand times over.

The breathing is coming from the left side of the room by the windows.

I catch a movement. Either a breeze is blowing the drape or someone is creeping closer.

I grip the handle of the knife, but I can’t see anyone.

It’s dark, and I don’t have Euyn’s unique aim.

If I light the lamp and miss, I’m dead. And worse, Sora could be killed.

What do I do? My heart pounds. My palms sweat. I need to protect us.

My ring and amulet vibrate against my skin. I could use them, but there’s the toll. The weirdness in the orchard makes me hesitate until there’s a footfall on the parquet floor.

I’m out of time.

I sit up, leaning past Sora, and put out my hands.

Turn enemy hearts to gold.

As soon as I wish it, a golden halo surrounds me again. It lights the room like a chandelier, illuminating not just one assassin in all blacks but two. A light breeze blows the drapes to the side. They must’ve scaled the villa walls and snuck in through the window.

It doesn’t matter now, though—they’re dead.

As the glow fades, the two people both clutch at their chests, dropping a rope and a dagger onto the ground as they crumble.

Sora sits up, grabbing the comforter. She lets out a startled scream before covering her mouth with her hand. As the room darkens, she lights the oil lamp. Then she stares at me with her eyes wide.

“Aeri, what just happened?” she asks.

I’m about to answer when the door bursts open. I have my hands ready, although I don’t really need to use them. They just guide my intention.

But I lower my arms.

Royo runs into our room in his underwear with his dagger drawn. Mikail follows him, also in his underwear, his blade aflame and the scepter in his hand.

I smile at the sight, and then I’m falling out of the bed.

The next thing I know, I’m standing up, looking down at my feet. So, that’s strange. Beneath my bare soles is a street, but it’s not paved—it’s made of ash. Tipping my head back, I look up above me. The sky is red. Funny. I’ve been here before, but where am I?

“Aeri!”

I blink, and there’s Royo. His face is inches from mine.

“Your voice sounds like thunder,” I murmur. “I follow like lightning.”

He shakes me. “Aeri, Aeri, what are you saying?”

I squeeze my eyes shut, blink a few times, then look around. We’re on the parquet floor of the bedroom suite in Rahway, and that’s weird. I was just somewhere else. But there’s no more ash on the ground or red sky overhead—just gray satin and lamplight.

Confused, I close my eyes.

“Aeri!” he yells. I blink hard and focus on Royo’s pained voice. “Aeri, stay with me.”

“For tonight, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,” I say.

Royo wraps his arms around me and grips me tight.

It’s too much at first, and I struggle to breathe.

But then I finally realize who is holding me and relax into him.

Why would I need air when I’m reaching the heavens?

I lean into his neck. He’s on his knees next to me, holding up my torso.

His face is pained, and tears swim in his eyes.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

“You were just…frozen,” Sora says. I look past Royo to Sora standing in her white robe. She also looks very concerned, gripping the tie at her waist. “Your eyes were open, but none of us could get you to respond until Royo called your name.”

Oh, okay, that makes sense. Same thing as earlier.

“It went on for longer,” Mikail says with a troubled sigh.

I sit up with Royo’s help. Mikail is examining the two bodies on the ground. His eyebrows knit as he stares at them. I’m sure he’s wondering how they died.

“Oh, I killed them,” I say. “I turned their hearts to gold.”

Royo’s eyebrow arches as his face skews, but then he shakes it off.

He puts his arms under me and lifts me. I’m weightless against him as he sets me on the bed.

He treats me so gently, like I’m a porcelain doll he might accidentally break.

He knows very well that’s not the case. He’s picked me up before under different, naked, circumstances.

“So much for being safe,” Mikail says, frowning.

Sora avoids looking at anyone. There’s something she’s not saying, but I’m not sure what. I bet it’s related to whatever she couldn’t tell me earlier.

“Where’s Gambria?” Royo asks.

“In the room with Fallador, I assume,” Mikail says.

“But you don’t know.”

His skepticism is clear as day. He’s accusing her of being a traitor.

Again, she knew where we were staying, and she was conveniently absent while we were attacked.

But Rune also knew where we were, and the servant girl who washed my hair saw my relics and knew which room I was staying in. Any one of them could’ve betrayed us.

Mikail shakes his head. “We can’t prove it was her.”

Royo slaps his hand on his thigh. “How many coincidences do we need? Or does one of us have to die for you to doubt your friend?”

Mikail is silent.

“Royo has a point,” Sora says. “They’re palace assassins, so it’s unlikely Rune sent them.”

Mikail shrugs. “Unless he is on Seok’s side.”

Oh.