Ezra made an unpleasant sound. “You can’t rush science,” he said, clearly parroting something he’d been told and did not agree with. He followed up with a disdainful snort. “Julian won’t do a damn thing until he’s certain of it. That’s why they’re waiting for next year’s Continental Exposition, instead of debuting this year.”
“You’ve got no ground to stand on,” I snapped at Ezra. “All resistors want to do is murder everyone associated with the House of Industry and tear down all the Progress we’ve brought to the world.”
“That’s not a particularly nuanced take,” Julian murmured.
Ezra’s voice became as cold as the angry river had been. “I never claimed allegiance to resistors and their violence.”
“That’s right,” Julian said with a bitter laugh. “You’ve got no allegiance to anyone but yourself.”
“Glad that’s finally sunk in,” Ezra muttered.
Anger spiked in me, and for the first time since we’d started walking and walking and walking, radiance heated my hands with the threat of violence. I tucked my fingers into my pockets as if the fabric could stop the ugly manifestation of my impulsive emotions. “If it wasn’tallegiancethat led you to seduce me on behalf of resistors so you could break into my Mission and kill Julian, what was it? Feel free to explain. We’ve got plenty of time to talk.”
The sun had set, but even in the dim light, I could see the way Ezra’s cheeks took on a splotchy red color. It was quite satisfying to behold. Then I looked closer and saw the tightness around his eyes, the unhappy line his mouth made, and I didn’t like that at all. “As you can see, I did not kill Julian. And I was ordered tobefriendyou. The rest … the rest was …”
The rest had felt so real. His laughter. The smiles I wanted back. His hands on my waist, in my hair.
He’d saved my life when I’d fallen. Showed me his magic.
I hated that I still wanted it to be real.
My breath sucked in with a shudder.
“It was under duress. I told him to do it,” Julian said. “I told him to get close to you so I’d have a reason to send you away safely, and a way for him to get into the Mission. Ainsley wanted him to kill us both. I told him to fake my death. I saw a way out of Frostbrook, and I took it.”
Ezra ducked his head, looking miserably ashamed. “I didn’t argue with him. I wanted him to leave. I wanted to live in peace.”
My thoughts spun like dead leaves caught in a whirling wind. “You both should have given me a chance. I deserved a chance,” I said, my voice hoarse. I didn’t want to cry. Not over their asinine plan.
Not over being left out of it.
Not over being made a fool by both of them.
Trying to stomp away, I stumbled over a root in the growing darkness and swore.
Julian let out a theatrical sigh and held his hand up, creating a blue-white torch of radiance that I couldn’t help but feel was awarning—though to who, I wasn’t sure. “Perhaps we should stop for the night.”
We could have pressed on for another hour. But my toe smarted, and my pride smarted more.
“Fine,” I snapped, weaving through the shrubs to a patch of soft grass. I sat down in a huff, not caring how I looked. They lingered on the trail, as if considering whether I’d kill them both if they approached.
Eventually, Julian made his way to me and set his pack down, offering it as a pillow for me as he had the past nights.
“Thank you,” I mumbled.
He hummed wordless acknowledgment and made his way into the thicker grass. Being together like this was starting to erode all the sense of decency I’d had before. It was impossible not to notice when your traveling companion needed to relieve himself.
Now that I wasn’t moving, a chill seeped into my sweaty clothes. The nights were cold and windy, and the shrubs did little to shelter us.
Nearby, Ezra stood like a statue, gaze distant and troubled. “Who told you that I seduced you?”
He didn’t deserve to sound so hurt.
I didn’t want to feel the echo of it. “I heard people in the woods talking,” I admitted, busying myself with untying my boots. “Bragging.”
His jaw tightened. “I did not intend for you to hear things like that. I never—That was not my intention.”
“It doesn’t change what you did,” I said, standing without meaning to. “You gained my trust through deception. You made a fool of me!”
