ANDERS STAYED WHERE HE WAS, SITTING AT THEedge of the roof, and suddenly he spotted a pair of figures that were much smaller than Hayn, but even more familiar.
“Lisabet,” he said quietly. “Lis, come over here. Does that look like Sakarias and Viktoria to you?”
“After dark?” she said, but she crawled over obediently.
Below in the street were two children in what looked, even in the shadows, like gray Ulfar Academy cloaks, trimmed with white. One had long, black, shiny hair, and the other a face that looked pale in the moonlight. They were standing to one side of the crowd flowing in and out of the western gate, and if itwasthem, then Sakarias was talking quickly—which only confirmed Anders’s suspicions that these were his friends—while Viktoria turned in a slow circle, studying their surroundings. Her head was angled back, looking up at the rooftops, though Anders knew she wouldn’t be able to see him in the dark.
“Friends of yours?” Rayna asked, settling in beside him.
“Our roomies at Ulfar,” he said. “Our friends. And they’re not allowed out after dark. It can’t be a coincidence they’re here. They’ve snuck out to find us, it’s the only explanation. I’m going to go down and find out why. We shouldn’t risk all of us being seen.”
The others lowered him down into a dark alleyway, their hands warm in his. “Be careful,” Lisabet whispered.
“If they get you somehow, we’ll get you back,” Rayna promised.
“Don’t trust them too much,” Ellukka advised.
Anders was tingling with anticipation, his heart thumping. Sakarias had been injured in the battle between the wolves and the dragons, and Viktoria had dragged him free, helping him escape. Anders had been losing sleep over what his friends must be thinking about him, but the fact that they were here now—perhaps even working with Hayn—gave him his first taste of hope that they might not hate him.
He hadn’t realized the Academy was starting to feel like home until he’d realized that he could never go back. But he’d known before that moment that these were his friends.
His heart was beating fast as he made his way out of the alley and darted through the adults who were funneling down the street toward the gate, keeping the hood on his cloak up. Both his friends saw him straight away—and the always-smiling Sakarias wasn’t smiling at all. Viktoria wore suspicion like a mask, hiding her thoughts.
The three of them wordlessly stepped to the edge of the street, and as Sakarias moved, Anders saw for the first time that under his Ulfar cloak, his arm was in a sling. His wiry form looked a little smaller than usual.
For a long moment, nobody spoke. Anders knew he was the one who had to break the silence.
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly.
“Don’t,” said Viktoria quickly, her voice hard. “We’re not here to talk about it.”
Sakarias simply looked away, studying the crowd.
Anders’s heart hurt. “You don’t understand,” he said softly. “If you’d killed their leader, the battle—”
Viktoria held her hand up to stop him. “We were there foryou, Anders. You and Lisabet. Because you were our friends. We were terrified, we thought they’d be torturing you. We were so scared of going up into Drekhelm, but for you, we—everyone in the class found the bravery to do it. And when we arrived, you fought withthem.”
Anders felt the words like a punch in the gut.
And then Sakarias spoke, still not looking at him. “Why did you go there, Anders?”
Anders fought the urge to look up at the rooftops. He didn’t want to give away where his sister was—didn’t know how much he should tell his friends. Hated that he had to wonder. “It’s complicated,” he said weakly. “I promise it wasn’t to betray you. Did Hayn send you?”
“He’s been arrested,” Sakarias said softly.
Anders reeled.Had Sigrid found out what Hayn was doing? Did she know about their connection?
“He’s been confined to his workshop,” Viktoria said. “We don’t know what’s going on, but Hayn asked one of his guards to pass on a library book to Sakarias, said he’d promised it to him for class.”
“And I didn’t need it for class,” Sakarias said. “And we all know I’ve never borrowed a library book in my life, unless someone made me. So we figured something strange was happening.”
“So we went through it,” Viktoria continued. “And we found a map inside, and a note, asking us to find a way to get out and bring it to you.”
“He was counting on us still being your friends,” said Sakarias, pulling a folded piece of cloth from inside his sling and holding it out to Anders.
Anders took it, mouth dry, tucking it inside his jacket. “And are you?” he asked quietly. “Still my friends?”
Nobody spoke, but the others exchanged a glance.
