When I open my eyes, I’m lying between stone benches, Maeva slumped next to me.
I don’t … I don’t understand.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
“We’re under attack!” someone roars, their voice bellowing across the arena. “Protect the emperor!”
I peer up toward the top of the arena. Where the Praesidium guardsshould be posted in the guard towers along the upper level, rebel vampires are crouched in their places, crossbows in their hands. Somehow, they made it through the arena’s ward and waited, invisible.
One of them strides high above our section, and there’s something familiar about the way he moves …
Understanding crashes through me. It’s the vampire from the Circus. The one who escaped.
BOOM!
An entire section of the arena explodes directly across from us, and I cover my head as chunks of marble and dust hurtle through the air. When the dust clears, thousands of people are gone, nothing left but smoke and rubble.
“Aether bombs,” Briona screams behind us. “Get down!”
My face is numb, my body slow, sluggish.
I don’t have time to be in shock. And yet I can’t seem to think.
The entire arena shudders, and I’m suddenly excruciatingly aware of the maginari two levels beneath us.
If it collapses, all of them are dead. Some of them might wish for that end over the emperor’s arena, but …
My mind sharpens, and I roll to the side, checking Maeva for injuries. Blood drips from her neck, the scrape deep but not life-threatening. “I’m fine,” she says. “You?”
“Fine.” I stagger to my feet, dragging her with me. “We need to get out of here.”
On the sand, the Torvellens and Zevarians are working together against the enforcers. The Zevarians have gone for the enforcer with the key to their chains, while the Torvellens handle the one with the aetherwhip.
Spectators bolt frantically for the nearest exits. Those who are stupid enough to enter the arena are immediately cut down by furious, rampaging Torvellens. I can’t blame them for taking advantage.
We head toward the closest exit, and Kaeso lurches to his feet from beneath a bench. His eyes are wide and stunned. “What’s happening?”
“They’re targeting the emperor,” Maeva says.
Triumph flashes through me, instantly swamped by terror. Blood rushes in my ears, until I can’t grasp a single thought but one: Tiernon is with his father.
I can’t see him from here, but the pulvinar is surrounded by guards, all of them shielding the emperor. Aether bombs hit the pulvinar, one after the other, eating away at the shields. The emperor is likely being smuggled out by now, along with his sons. My heart rate slows, and I force myself to focus.
Tiernon will get out of here. The guards will drag the emperor’s sons out if they have to. Meanwhile …
Commotion.
Distraction.
Chaos.
I catch hold of Maeva’s wrist, yanking her to a stop. This is our best chance.
Kaeso’s eyes are wild as he reaches for us, but the crowd surges forward and he’s swept up, forced to keep moving.
