I’m about to dash into the fray of soldiers by Red’s chamber when a slender young figure lands right in front of us in a perfect crouch, his face half covered by his mask. It’s Jeran. He barrels into the soldiers like a possessed madman. All I see is the flash of silver blades and blood.
I dart through the crowd like water. Inside Red’s chamber, he’s already in position near the entrance and bracing himself against the glass. His eyes lock on mine.
I reach the door and break it open for him. Instantly, he bursts out through the entrance, his wings extended and eyes glowing.
All around us, glass shatters. Ghosts break free.
More soldiers are pouring into the space, their attention turned on the Ghosts—but for the first time, I see the Ghosts, blind in their fury, turning indiscriminately on whoever is blocking their path. I rush to help Adena, who’s fighting off a dozen guards in one corner. Daggers appear in my hands. I throw them and they hit true. Two of the soldiers collapse.
But there are so many of them. Overhead, Red cuts a line through some of the soldiers as we make a dash for the exit corridor we’d used to enter earlier. All around me, Ghosts are shattering their glass walls, some of them injuring themselves so badly in the process that they crawl, shrieking, on the ground.
It is a scene of madness.
Had we truly succeeded? It seems wildly impossible that this missionmay actually end with us crippling the Federation—that, despite everything the Speaker did, we may have destroyed their hold on their war beasts.
The corridor comes into view. At the end of it, though, is a line of soldiers, all with guns drawn and waiting for us.
Beside me, Adena yanks out one of her daggers and flings it at the soldiers. She catches one—but there are still too many of them. As they head toward us, I draw the blades I’d taken from the soldiers and give Adena a nod. Somewhere behind us, Red is fighting in his weakened state through the throngs. The Ghosts are all loose now, their bloodcurdling screams filling the air. I face our enemies and brace myself.
Jeran glances back once at Adena, then darts ahead at the soldiers. Watching him attack is like watching a perfect storm in action—everywhere at once, cutting down all in his path. He arcs and bends, his blades deadly in their efficiency. Adena wastes no time. She falls right into place beside her Shield, moving in sync with his every attack, weaving around him whenever he ducks to slice through soldiers’ calves, stepping forward whenever he shifts back. Even without our full arsenal of weapons, they are a sight to behold.
I cut forward as we force ourselves through the corridor. I hear Jeran suck in his breath in pain—an arrow has pierced straight through his side. Adena immediately pushes him behind her as two soldiers lunge at them. Her swords whirl.
I don’t feel the slashes through my sleeves and vest. I don’t feel the pain from the bloody wounds I’m accumulating. If we are going to have any chance of getting out of this place alive, we can’t afford to stop and think.
I feel like I’m back in the dark field my mother and I once ran through, only now I’m running the other way,intothe throngs of the Federation’s killers, cutting through their ranks just like they had once cut through ours.Don’t look back, Talin.
And then, suddenly, I feel the shock of cold air against my cheeks. We’ve made our way through to the outside of the lab complex.
It looks nothing like how it’d been when we’d broken in. Now the courtyard is full of soldiers trying to keep the Ghosts from escaping. One glance across the space tells me that we may not make it out of here alive. There are too many soldiers for us. We number four. There are dozens of them.
Still, I move forward. Somewhere behind me, back in the complex, Red is wreaking havoc. Even with his strength contained here, he is a fearsome sight, his teeth bared and flashing. I cannot turn around to get him. All I can do is sense the bond between us as I continue to fight, to push forward.
I’m here, I tell him.I’m here.
He answers back with a fierce tug.
A blade catches me on my leg and slices deep through my thigh. I gasp in pain—through the link, Red senses my wound in alarm. I stumble, but slash out even as I fall to one knee. My sword catches the soldier who had tried to cut me down. My blade stabs hard into his stomach. He grunts in shock. I twist my blade, then stab him again. He collapses.
Suddenly, a giant fist closes around my neck.
My eyes pop open. The fist belongs to a Ghost—the monster narrows its milky eyes at me as it lifts me off my feet. Its cold, cracked fingers tighten around my throat.
For an instant, I’m a child again, being dragged by rough hands out of my home. For a moment, I forget who I am and how to fight back. I claw helplessly at the Ghost gripping my neck.
Through my panic, I hear the rasping voice of the Premier echoing in my memory.
You are too good to fight for Mara.
Then he is here, standing near me as the Ghost holds me still. Thetips of my boots barely touching the ground, forcing me to stare at him. He’s on the back of his horse now, surrounded by a patrol of soldiers as he surveys the damage around us. The cheekbones of his thin face jut sharply in the light, and his eyes glint like a predator’s.
“Your reflexes are remarkable,” he says, tilting his head at me.
I clench my teeth.You’ve lost your war beasts, I want to say. And yet, here is a Ghost beside him, doing as he bids.
He only gives me a grim smile in return. “I didn’t think anyone could engineer something to disrupt the links formed between our Ghosts and Skyhunters, and our Federation. Yet here you are, with your team of allies.” He narrows his eyes. “You don’t think my Architect didn’t make plans to fix our Ghosts after the Speaker told us about your mission?”
His words blur through me as I continue to struggle against the Ghost’s grip on my throat. It continues to obey him, despite the serum Adena had created.
