Fated marks.
“Fuck,” I say, thrusting my wrists towards my bond brothers, grinning despite the fact I’m cold, wet, naked, and everything hurts.
“I’m pleased for you, buddy,” Beaufort says, not sounding pleased at all. “But let’s not stick around admiring, huh? We don’t want to get caught. Come on. I think the academy is this way.”
“Can’t we just displace there?” I ask him, stumbling up onto my feet.
“No. I think they’ll be watching. Monitoring. It’s safer going by foot.”
I groan. The last thing I need is a trek through the icy mist. But it looks like a trek is exactly what I’m going to get.Hugging my arms around my body, cradling my injured arm and attempting to use my magic to warm me, I stumble behind the other two.
Soon the Black Tower is lost to us in the mist. It’s almost as thick as the slime in the moat. I can barely see my hands in front of my face. I understand why they built the Black Tower where they did. If you escape the Tower, you’re likely to lose yourself in this fog.
But most people aren’t Thorne Cadieux, my bond brother. His shadow magic is already racing away in front of us, cutting through the white mist and leading the way.
“What if Little Kitten comes for us?” I say. “And we’re not there?”
“She’s not come for us yet,” Beaufort points out.
“How do you know?” I say.
He points to his chest and taps the point above his heart. “I can feel it,” he says. “She’s nowhere near. But this is the right direction. Can’t you feel it, Dray?”
I look down at my wrists and nod. Yeah, I feel it.
Chapter Ten
Thorne
“I’m assuming it isn’t safe for us to go strolling straight into the academy?” I ask the others.
“Nope,” Beaufort answers. “Sterling is an avid supporter of my mother’s, always has been. He’ll arrest us as soon as we set foot in the academy. And the place was teeming with soldiers when we left. There may be even more there now.”
Dray snorts. “You’re worried about Sterling and a couple of soldiers?”
“No,” Beaufort says. “But I don’t want the Empress and her allies to know where we are. And a great big fucking battle in the middle of the academy is going to be just a teensy bit of a giveaway.”
“She’ll probably guess that’s where we’ll go,” I say.
Beaufort shakes his head. “I don’t know if she will. She doesn’t know me as well as she thinks she does.” He straightens his shoulders. “But that doesn’t solve our problem.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Dray snaps, “because we need to get to Little Kitten before she sets off on a crusade to free us.”
“Your wolf,” I say after a few moments. “Do you think you could creep into the academy undetected in your wolf form?”
An array of emotions passes over my bond brother’s face. I get the impression he wants to say yes – that he’d give anything to go charging into the academy to find Nini. But instead he says, “My wolf’s well known. It doesn’t exactly blend in.”
I look around at the three of us. None of us exactly blend in. It’s going to be a problem.
“A crow,” I suggest next.
Beaufort shakes his head a second time. “They’ll be watching the skies. They’ll be looking for something like that.”
We’re silent, all thinking of a solution as we trudge on through the mist, hoping that the magic hooked inside Briony’s heart is the thing pulling us in the direction we’re walking. I’d bet my life we’re out in the landscape near the academy – that this must be where we’re being pulled. I don’t know for certain, but it makes sense. Briony has always been loyal to her friends; their welfare has always been in the front of her mind, and she will have wanted to check that they’re okay.
Finally the thick fog begins to clear, and although it’s a relief to be able to see and breathe finally, it leaves us a lot more exposed – especially crossing this flat, featureless, boggy landscape.
It reminds me once again of arriving at the academy for the first time. Of waiting all lined up on the train station platform for the kids from the other Quarters to arrive. I’d barely paid them any attention. But Beaufort had. He spotted Nini and he chased her through that mist. It almost leaves me expecting to see her now, walking toward us.
