‘There’s been a change of plan. I’m to bring you to them.’ One arm brandishing the stolen mace, he takes me by the hand and drags me closer to the wall. ‘Stay in the shadows.’
‘Are the others hurt?’ I whisper at his heels, as Blayze leads me through the sleeping city.
He stiffens, warm fingers tightening around my palm. ‘Briar suffered the brunt of it. Delphine’s close to the edge too. And Fifi…’ His voice cracks.
Where is Serafine? She hardly ever leaves his side.
‘They did their damnedest to break me too, but I’m used to punishment. Used to dank, dark places.’ He turns to look at me, voice flat as his eyes.
It’s not a long walk to the city gates, but even the streets are spies here, echoes publicising our every step. I pause. Hold my breath. Footsteps. Not just ours. Blayze drops my hand, throws an arm out, flattening me to the wall. He raises a finger to his lips. I shiver, all too aware of the warmth and weight of his arm across my chest, the heady amber scent of his skin.
The steps draw closer.
Four boots. Two guards.
Blayze waits till they’re almost upon us, then launches himself at them. A feral snarl twists his lips as he swings the mace at the closest guard. I hunch over and cover my face as a sickening wet thud rings through the deserted street.
There’s a scuffle. A single cry. Then silence. I don’t look to see what Blayze does to the second guard.
Blayze catches me by the elbow.
‘Open your eyes.’
His face is streaked with the guards’ blood. Its rust sullies the air. His eyes are star-bright, his cheeks flushed. It’s as if I’m seeing Blayze for the first time – his true self. Astrophel was right about him. He’s a predator: a highly trained, highly efficient, cold-blooded killer.
‘I’m sorry you had to see that,’ he mutters, turning his back. ‘That was for Serafine.’
‘She’s not…’ I can’t bring myself to finish the sentence.
‘She’s alive. But that bastard tortured her. Ripped out her fire-feathers for sport – for his experiments.’ Blayze shudders. ‘They got off lightly. I should have made them suffer. Slowly. Her cries will haunt me forever.’
We turn another corner and there’s the city wall. The gate’s ajar and three more guards lie motionless on the ground. It smells like a forge. Pools of dark, sticky liquid puddle around them, ink-spills staining the fresh page of the snow. All three bodies have been stripped of furs and weapons.
So, this is how Blayze acquired that mace.
Blayze surveys the gruesome scene. An expression of grim satisfaction settles on his hollowed face. ‘I’ll need to add another five white flames to my sleeve.’
I look away from the bodies, gut churning, and try not to think about what I’m stepping in as Blayze leads me through the gateway.
As we leave the Last City, I’m not sure what troubles me more: that Blayze just confirmed he’s a killer many times over, or how little that knowledge repulses me.
*
MYHEARTLEAPSat the sight of the rest of the Quaternity huddled a short distance beyond the city walls, sheltering in a small thicket of trees. The snow-dappled branches are slanted as Noelani’s calligraphy, swept sidelong by centuries of fierce-wind. I break into a run.
Safe. They’re all safe.
But as I draw closer, I notice how pale and emaciated they are. They all wear the same haunted, dead-eyed expression as Blayze – even Astrophel. Delphine, Briar and Serafine bear physical wounds too. Serafine is missing two of her three tail-feathers, and looks smaller, more vulnerable without them. Fresh bruises bloom like moonflowers over Delphine’s skin. Puncture marks riddle Briar’s body like wormwood holes, and she’s painfully thin. The distance from my cell window disguised the worst of it. It hurts to look at them.
Blayze was right. Those guards did deserve to suffer.
I remember the crack of Astrophel’s whip against Briar’s side. If he had any hand in this, then he deserves to suffer too.
‘What happened?’ I whisper.
But before anyone can answer, I see them. Four enormous cragstalkers, prowling the thicket. The eerie wail of a horn sounds in the distance.
‘We have to go.’ Astrophel threads his way through the trees, towards the pack. Before I can process what’s happening, he clambers onto the largest cat.
