Themis will give you no rest when she learns what you seek to achieve.
— ALARIC SARE’S PAPERS FOR EMBERLINE ARKOVA
Hart yanked me to my feet. The mood in the room shifted, and the smoky taste of his lust left only a bitter tinge of anxiety in its wake.
“We have to get you out of here,” Hart mumbled, and I couldn’t tell if he spoke to himself or me. Long strides took him toward the door. As he reached for the knob, a loud crash sounded on the other side. It repeated, and the handle jangled as someone attempted to let themselves in.
The king’s guards moved quickly.
“Shit.” Hart shoved a chair from the kitchen table beneath the rattling doorknob to hold it in place. Screamsechoed from downstairs, and I could imagine patrons fleeing in all directions. The back exit that led to the alleyway beneath us would be flooded.
There were no other exits up here.
Panic overtook me. I wished we had nightmare magic at our disposal. As someone pounded against the door again and Hart’s gaze raked the room like that of a caged animal, I took inventory of the magic we had left. We hadn’t checked the pendant since the tavern, but envy—and therefore persuasion—seemed likely lost to us. That was the last of the offensive magics. Lust could heal, and joy could extend your life, neither of which would help us overpower a group of soldiers.
Hart pulled something small from his pocket and handed it to me. The adamas ring warmed my palm.
“This has fear in it.” He gripped my shoulders. “Use it as a last resort.”
I tried to hand it back to him. “Use it now. Use it on them to get us out of here.”
He shook his head. “It doesn’t have that much left, Chaos.”
I swallowed around an overwhelming feeling of nausea. Conceptually, I had accepted the adamas usage as a way to overthrow Rodric once the trials took all of our magic. If I were being honest, I’d hoped that we would complete the trial before we took the throne, and that somehow, with the curse between us broken, we’d have our own magic of emotion again. I really wasn’t sure if I’d be able to use an adamas ring.
Hart didn’t give me time to consider. He pointed toward the kitchen. “I need you to climb through the window.”
It was small. Maybe even smaller than the window in Alaric’s workshop. I could probably fit, but Hart never would.
Another thump sounded against the door, and the chair holding them back scraped across the floor.
“Chaos. We don’t havetime?—”
My gaze returned to the window. “We’re on the second story of the building.”
“Glad you remembered.” He forced a chuckle, but the lines of his broad shoulders were still so tense. He gestured me toward the open window. “There’s a small ledge. You should be able to shimmy to the corner.”
This window faced south. The corner it met would be the alleyway with the staircase we entered through. “The alley?—”
His jaw flexed in frustration and thought. “Yes, it will be overrun with patrons and soldiers.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “You’re not going to like this.”
I turned to face him.
“Your best bet is to jump for the wall. We’re high enough that you can make the top. From there, you’ll find a tree in the Oldwood you can use to help you down on the other side.”
I froze. His plan sounded ridiculous. Even more so because it sounded like he’d done this before. But that wasn’t the biggest problem. “You’re talking like you’re not coming with me.”
“Chaos,” he growled. “You already noticed I can’t fit through the window. I need you to do this. I’ll distract them on the stairs and meet you at the Storm camp later tonight.”
My body shook uncontrollably as adrenaline rushed in. The banging on the door continued. The wood bowed with the most recent strike. They would break through Hart’s flimsy barrier momentarily.
“Time has never been on our side,” he said with a soft smile.
“What if Themis interferes again?” I couldn’t be sure this raid wasn’t her doing. With how Hart had described the mudslide in the Oldwood, I feared for what our separation would allow.
He touched his lips. “I have an even better reminder of what I’m returning to this time.”
I swallowed, but I knew this plan was logical on some level. Hart could make it out with or without magic. The real danger was that if I refused to leave, I would be a liability for him. He’d focus on keeping me safe instead of fighting his way through.
