“We go by land, then, and bypass the city altogether,” Yemi said. “Holicrane, my family’s country summer home, is about the samedistance from here as it is to the Rock. We take the Coral Road here, base our operations there, sticking to the coast and using the same tunnel that we used while escaping to get back in.”
“There’s not enough air in that tunnel for a dozen people,” Cutter said.
Yemi waved it off. “Half use the tunnels, half smuggle themselves in by some other means.”
Shiro nodded. “What are the odds Holicrane is in use?”
“We haven’t used it since my father’s murder, and it’s too soon after a coup for the Drakes to be vacationing yet. Any security contingent will likely be small enough for half your men plus mine to handle.”
“So you approve, then? This is our course?” Nova asked with that tinge in her voice that suggested this seemed too good to be true. And it might be. But Yemi had meant what she’d said, that she owed Nova more than she could ever repay. The plan would not quash the entire rebellion. But it was sufficient to put her back where she belonged, with the resources to root out the rest of the poison at her leisure. And it was less risky than whatever havoc the tea burning through her pocket might wreak.
She needed Nova to know she was still sensible. She wasn’t the monster she had become on her trip. She wasn’t a pawn of Ursla. This would be the course. At least until it wasn’t. Ursla would still have a stake in Dahlia Drake’s success if Yemi chose not to do her bidding.
“It depends. I confirmed the sea witch’s meddling on the Drakes’ behalf. It will be a problem if they still have use of her power.” Here she turned to Selah, who was all but fidgeting in the corner. “Is there anything you can do to counteract that?”
The room was silent. Yemi knew what she was asking. Selah would have to either agree to confront her past or break the deal she made with Yemi’s mother and contend with whatever consequences that wrought.
Selah set her jaw but bowed her head. “I am as ever at your service,” she said.
“Good,” Yemi replied, though of course she didn’t trust her. It just meant they would need to get underway immediately. If Selah went back on her word, they would need to be in position for Ursla’s tea to come in clutch. “We leave at once. Send word to Derring to meet us. They are our intelligence,” she declared.
Cutter bowed and took off quickly. Shiro followed. Selah took her time as she moved to the hallway but stopped within whispering range of Yemi.
“You are playing a dangerous game,” she hissed.
“Don’t worry,” Yemi replied coolly. “You do what you’ve agreed to do, and I will release you from our arrangement. You’ll be free to flee your destiny anywhere in the world.”
Selah’s eyes narrowed. “If your mother could see you now,” she scoffed. “Just remember that only one of us has paid a price for our dealings with the witch. And a price mustalwaysbe paid.”
She let her menacing gaze linger in her wake as she disappeared up the stone hallway.
Nova grabbed Yemi’s face and kissed her hard on the lips, as if she’d been waiting for weeks for a good reason to do that.
“This is going to work,” she said gleefully.
“I know,” Yemi assured her. It felt good to be able to give her this, to relieve her for once instead of compounding her duties and fears.
Nova kissed her again before turning to Luzon as if forgetting he was there. “Oh. Apologies, Your Highness,” she said.
“Oh no, don’t mind me.” He smiled impishly as he watched them, chin propped on a hand piled high with gold rings.
19
• YEMI •
The Coral Road was an ancient trade route that allowed merchants from all three nations to bypass the treacherous mountains of Muris. It became a contentious, violent place when relations with Kespia soured, and eventually an abandoned one when roads became more commonplace and seafaring commerce became faster.
The group made their trek by ambler. Yemi and Nova rode side by side behind Cutter and Shiro and flanked by Selah and half the Gold Guard. They moved quickly, the jostling of the vehicles unkind at best and nauseating at worst. They moved in tense silence much of the way, listening and watching for enemies behind rocks, atop bluffs, and in distant fields. Kespian lands were a short climb to their right, Ixia a quick tumble down a winding, brittle slope to the left. For all anyone knew, Dahlia had reopened the road, and enemies waited to pounce should Yemi make an appearance. Every time Yemi looked back, Selah was watching her with alert, keen eyes set in the scowl of her withering false body.
Perhaps an enemy was already among them.
She couldn’t help but count every precious second as the sun moved through the sky. The satchel in her pocket ticked rhythmically,vibrating so loudly, it seemed, that she glanced every now and again at Nova to see if she could hear it. Nova occasionally offered fruit, cheese, bread from the packed provisions. But the one time Yemi took an apple, it was flavorless, turning to sand in her mouth. No amount of water helped. She couldn’t tear her mind from the thought of meat.
What if this feeling, this hunger, never faded? Could she ever tell Nova everything she learned about Abyssa, about the world, aboutherself? What would that do to their love?
“You alright over there?”
Yemi was startled out of her thoughts. The sun was blazing its last before setting, and she squinted over at Nova.
