Jinneth pouts, eyes squinting as she stares out the window again. I’m getting the sense she thinks best when looking far off into the distance. “Damn it all,” she mutters at last.
“What is it?”
“You were right. We need to speak to End—” She cuts herself off, rolling her eyes at my smirk. “We need to speak toOldEndolf.”
I clap my hands, giddy, and launch up from the bed. “We don’t have to do it alone, Mother.” I wink at her. “I’ll go get us an escort.”
I leave the Chained Sisters’ abode near sundown, lost in my thoughts, head racing.
I know I should feel something about my mother’s horrible background, my upbringing, the things she went through to make sure I survived. Yet the end of our conversation takes up all the room in my mind. All I can think about is how we might be able to utilize my abilities—sequester them—without it hurting me.
As I leave the abode and start heading north to reach the fringes of Olhav, everything seemsdoableagain. I’m not in this alone. There are smarter minds than mine that might be able to help us.We can actually do this. We can start a revolution tofixthe vampire hierarchy, once and for all.
At this moment, the prospect of the future seems so much brighter than the shadows of the past.
Despite the bloody evening of Trithea Plaza last night, so recent and dour in our collective minds, I can only hope my mates are as hopeful for this newfound discovery, this excitement, as I am.
I’m hoping my enthusiasm will be contagious.
I walk with a dumb smile plastered on my face. I have to be careful because night is quickly approaching, and I’m not about to let myself get caught unawares. I keep my hood up, my hands on the hilts of the swords at my hips.
Then I take a deep breath of fresh air—
And slow my pace.
Because the air isn’t so fresh.
The acrid scent of smoke, stinging my nostrils, makes my legs stop moving. I sniff again.
Furrowing my brow, I look around. I’m on a rocky outcropping north of the Military Ward, outside the purview and sight of anyone. Trading carts occasionally roll up the mountain pass to the north, along this route, but it’s always relatively dead. Right now, there’s not a soul around. The houses and buildings of Olhav on the horizon look intact. The skyline is fine—nothing is on fire.
Then my eyes lower from the horizon and my heart jumps to my throat.
Everything isnotfine. Tendrils of black smoke rise up from the north, beyond the crest of the Olhavian Peaks. Below the mountains. The first shout hits my ears, careening faintly on the windy night. It’s distant, quickly joined by more cries of distress.
“The North Mines,” I breathe.
Against all logic and reason, I head for the road that will bring me down the mountain to the silver mines.
Because, unlike in the past, I have someone I care about there now. And if I’ve learned anything about myself, it’s that I’ll always protect the ones I care about.
Chapter 28
Sephania
A million thoughts run through my head as I barrel down the mountain pass, heading for the North Mines.
First and foremost, I know I’m being reckless and foolish. I’ll never hear the end of it from my vampires. They’ll probably say something like,“You don’t value yourself enough. You can’t be foolish and tender-hearted like this.”
They wouldn’t be wrong, either. In speaking with my mother at length, I’ve just gleaned the fact I’m more important and valuable to the cause than I realized.
I can’t get myself captured.
The stark image of Sutlis Spire sprints through my mind faster than my legs take me down the winding road. The daily beatings from Bregsitch’s heavy fists. My time in the cells under Manor Marquin, preparing for the shadowgala bouts. The Firehold with the Grimsons, where I learned to fight like an animal yet was kept underground ninety percent of the time.
My whole life has been imprisonment.
Not here, though. Not with my mates in Olhav—what I would have suspected would be themostlikely place to be imprisoned.Skar, Vall, and Garro have given me my wings and shown me how to fly . . . and now I’m gliding alone directly into a hail of arrows that wants to put holes in those wings.
