I stood up, facing everyone. They were all like ghosts, lost in their own universes of grief.
“We need to go,” I said. “Rhyan isn’t coming back, and Lyr—” My voice caught. “Imperator Hart knows where we are. Kormac’s soturi are crossing the borders as we speak, if they haven’t already. They’re going to find us. Trust me, I know. They did it to me before. And at this very fucking inn.” A memory flashed of the last time, but I pushed it down. “You think you know what kind of monsters our new Emperor and his brother are. But you don’t. You have no idea. I do.” I wrung my hands together, finding the scar around my ring finger again. “What you saw last night was him being civil. Easing you in.” I narrowed my gaze on Tristan and Galen. They’d been there when I was first dragged into the Yellow Room. “He’s so much worse than anything you’ve imagined. I’m the one they’ve enslaved for years. I’m the one who spent the most time with them. And believe me when I tell you that if they catch us again, it’s over. If they catch you,” my throat tightened, “you’ll wish you’d never been born.”
“You think I don’t fucking know that,” Dario yelled, his Glemarian accent so thick, his words had blurred together. “I do! I grew up in an Imperator’s shadow. I know what the Emperor’s like. But we’re pretty damn fucked. If we stay, we’ll be found. And if we go, we can only run for so long— especially when there’s six of us. They’ll be looking in the wilds, expecting us out there like last time. And before morning, I promise, morenahashim will arrive—and they won’t be the kind so easily enchanted by whatever snake lady magic Meera performs.”
“We at least need a head start,” Tristan said. “Buy us some time.”
“And go where?” Dario roared. He rose to his feet. “No, I mean it, Tristan! Where the fuck do we go? We can’t go north, or anywhere loyal to Imperator Hart. And we can’t go south—because who the fuck can we trust down there? Your grandmother? Your betrothed? Who else did Kormac buy out? They own Bamaria, they own Elyria, and now with the fucking throne beneath his ass, they own the whole Godsdamned south.”
I flinched.
Tristan cocked his head to the side, his neck turning red. “So we just stay here like sitting ducks? Waiting for them to pick us off one by one?” he yelled. “You’re so damned stubborn. I know we lost Hart—” He frowned. “Rhyan. And I’m sorry. I really am. He didn’t deserve that—any of it. Butwehave a chance, and Lyr’s still out there. So let’s go. We’ll find the next inn.”
“Right!” Dario said. “Sure. Another inn.” He folded his arms across his chest. “All six of us at midnight just show up at their door. That’s not suspicious at all.”
“We could pay them,” Tristan said. “Everything I have.”
Dario laughed bitterly. “Of course. Ka Grey and their silver coin. I doubt that even your purse is enough to buy silence against the Emperor. Especially if his soturi are already there. Keep your money.”
“Don’t act like you didn’t think the same,” Tristan snarled. “I know of the wealth of Ka DeTerria.”
“Shut your face,” Dario said.
“We’ll split up,” I said.
I crossed the room to Kenna’s discarded letter, and its leather carrier. We’d been so focused on what she’d written, no one had acknowledged the gift Kenna had given us. Three vadati stones.I held them up. “We have these. We’ll split into three groups of two. Stay in contact with each other. Lyr was right—travelling in smaller groups lets you move faster, hide easier.”
“But it still doesn’t give us anywhere to go,” Dario said. His voice had weakened, like his heart was breaking. “What good will these do if someone’s in trouble and we don’t know how to get there, and without Rhyan, we won’t be fast enough to make a difference. We can run, but we need to be honest about the fact that there’s nowhere to go.”
My stomach turned.
Because that wasn’t true. Therewassomewhere for us to go. To people who would protect us—who would hide us. But it meant I’d have to admit who I really was. Admit my true name.
I’d sworn I never would. Sworn I’d never go to these people for help. Not after we’d been betrayed. Not after their plots had failed. And not after … not after I lost him. The cost of working alongside them was too high. And yet … we’d already paid the price.
The scar around my finger burned and I reached for it, circling the mark, knowing it was a warning. But was it for or against my plan? My breath hitched. Admitting this would open the wound I’d so carefully stitched back together. But it was either this or go back to the Palace, back to serving Kormac. To resume my life as his pet. I couldn’t. I couldn’t do it. The choice was do this, or die.
“I know somewhere we can go,” I said finally, my voice catching. “Someone who can help. They’ll take us in. Hide us. Protect us. I swear. Just … give me a minute to talk to Cal and Marisol.”
“You know someone in Thene?” Aiden asked, suspicious. “Who?”
“It’s complicated,” I said. “I don’t—I can’t—Fuck. Just let me talk to Cal and Marisol. They know how to contact them. Just trust me. I’ll explain later.”
“I’ll go with you,” Meera said.
“No,” I shouted, my chest tightening. “Just me.” I reached for the doorknob, but Dario was right beside me.
“Dario, no,” I said.
“I’m going. And I’m not fighting with you, Julianna,” Dario snarled. “I already lost a friend tonight. We don’t know where Lyriana is. I’m not risking it. I’m not losing another.”
“We’re not friends,” I said coolly.
His eyebrows narrowed. “I didn’t call you my friend, did I? But Lyriana left me in charge, left me here to protect you. To protect everyone. And I did.” His hands fisted, a tear slipping down his cheek. “Instead of going to save my best friend, I was protecting you. Instead of having Lyr’s back, I was watching yours. So no. We’re not friends. But I’m protecting you just the same. Because that’s what Lyriana wanted. And because I know Rhyan would as well.” He tied his hair back with a leather strap, his hand replacing mine on the doorknob. “Now you go and say what you must to Cal and Marisol. But no more discussion. Soturi from the Palace could be here any minute. So I’m coming.” He met Galen’s eyes. The only other soturion amongst us. He took two of the vadati stones from my hand, giving one to Galen, and the other to Meera. “I’ll call if there’s trouble. But you should gather your things so we can be ready to go when we return. And if we don’t—don’t wait again.”
I glared at Dario.
But the scar around my finger heated, burning like it was calling to me.
