Astrid mutters something under her breath that Skylar chooses not to hear. In reality, it’s been surprisingly easy to get out of the castle so far—a few sleeping potions (Astrid vetoed Skylar’s suggestion to drain the life out of all the Dreki standing guard), the deactivation of a ward or two, and now—climbing down said castle wall. Skylar supposes no one seriously thinks anyone will try to break out. She wonders if it might be a bit trickier to break backin—but that can be dealt with later.
Apparently, Astrid has figured out that in order to find the Heart,all they need to do is to stick some kind of witchy tracker on a carriage headed in that direction and job done.
“We’re nearly at the bottom, right?” Astrid asks.
Skylar glances down at the mound of earth below them—still another twenty yards or so. “Sure.”
“Okay, good. Well, when we get there, I think—” But Astrid stops on a sharp intake of breath as she slips. And falls.
Skylar acts without thinking, throwing out the energy inside her. And like her magic is able to sense her thoughts, it doesn’t explode in a destructive way this time. It shapes to her will, so that she catches Astrid midair, right before she hits the ground.
Skylar has a moment of shock just as Astrid swears loudly. She takes that to mean Astrid is okay.
“Thanks,” Astrid says as Skylar reaches the bottom of the wall, her magic releasing its grip.
Skylar waves a dismissive hand in the air. “We’re quite the team.” The irony of that is not lost on her. “So, where now?”
“The warrens,” Astrid says. Skylar frowns—she’s not exactly clued up on Stone City geography. “According to the map you brought me, they’re right at the edge of the city.”
“I’ll leave that to you. I’m no good with maps.” She thinks briefly of the island, of the path she strayed off, and the secret the dragons were guarding in that cave. She wonders if she’ll ever find out what it was. She wonders if she cares.
Astrid leads the way, the smell of spice welcoming them as they move through the city center. They pass unnoticed, thanks to Astrid’s Masking Mist. It feels good, to be lost in the bustle of people around them—a memory of what it was like to be anonymous.
The warrens are in a desolate part of the city, near the outer walls, where the scents of cinnamon and cardamom are replaced by something rotten. It’s darker here, the telltale lack of Vitalas denoting it as a poorer area. Though there is one group of buildings that are lit up like a beacon. Big and soulless stone.
Astrid nods toward them. “According to the map, this is it.”
Skylar can feel it. Energy, thrumming from the place. Lots and lots of energy. Something in her tightens as they creep closer, alarge, open doorway showing part of one of those Arach-forsaken carriages.
And there’s only one thing that can be causing all this energy.
There are Blooded down there, inside those carriages. Because this is the holding area the soldier talked about at the ball, isn’t it? The place the conscripts are brought to be divided up.
She knew this would be the case. She and Astrid went over various scenarios while planning, to see if they might be able to rescue some of them. But they are just two people. So they might not be able to save them now—but maybe, if they can find out where the Heart is, in the long run, they can save so many more. That was Astrid’s reasoning, at least.
But she thinks of Cam, trapped in one of these carriages. Brought here to this soulless place, before being carted off to his death.
“Skylar?” Astrid murmurs. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Let’s just get this over with.”
Astrid drops her voice still further. “There are too many guards, Skylar. If we try anything—”
“Relax, Little Witch. I’m not about to be all heroic—that’s your thing, not mine.” But she wasn’t quite prepared for it, this onslaught of emotion after days of numbness.
Astrid hesitates, then nods. “Let’s be quick.” She hands Skylar a bunch of circular, flat metal objects.
“So I just… stick these on?”
“Exactly. Somewhere they can’t see, obviously.”
“Right. Can’t we just stick them all to one of them?”
“We don’t know which is heading where—we’ve got to make sure we target one that is going to the Heart.”
They move closer. Around them, the streets are deserted. “There are guards in there,” Skylar says slowly, indicating the moving shapes between the carriages.
“We knew there probably would be,” Astrid whispers back.
