He’s always been good at blocking his feelings from me.I give him a grim smile.But I’ve sensed something new from him lately.
What is it?
Uncertainty.
It’s enough to make Red tighten his grip against my arm. A trickle of hope, wary and strained, comes from him.
Well, he answers.It’s something.
Adena’s voice rings out from somewhere across the garden. It’s thesound of her that finally stirs us out of each other’s arms, suddenly feeling light and awkward. I look in the direction of her calls, pinpointing where she’s coming from, then begin to pull my clothes back on. Red moves quickly and quietly beside me. Our moment is over, but I still feel the warmth lingering between us like a rope, tugging tight.
By the time we hurry out of the thicket, Adena has already made her way to the beginning of the grove of trees. She lets out a relieved sigh at the sight of us, then points back toward the estate.
“Jeran’s already out there,” she says breathlessly. “We could use your help.” She pauses to squint at us. “You two were gone for a while.”
I concentrate on tying my hair back up while Red coughs. “Talin was telling me about the palace’s layout,” Red says. “I know the palace’s layout a little, of course, ah, but she—”
Adena sighs. “I’m just kidding. I know what you were both doing out here.”
I glare at her, while Red turns scarlet. But Adena’s already moved on, her cheeky grin dropping to make way for the serious version of herself. “We have to hurry.”
A sickening feeling shoots through me. “Why? What for?”
But when Adena glances back at me, her eyes are alight with possibility. I can see the gears turning in her. “The other artifact,” she replies. “Remember? A rebel has located it.”
At that, Red straightens. “Where?” he asks.
“At the other end of the city’s prisons.” Adena hesitates as she recalls what she was told. “Among their textile factories.”
The diversion we need to block Constantine’s main escape route. This could be it.
“You want to use it for the palace?” Red says.
“Exactly,” Adena replies
He shakes his head at her. “It’s far too heavy to move in time. We’dneed more of our people than we can spare. Besides, it’s too hard to control. You remember the first blast. That thing could take out the entire palace if it’s put close enough—along with everything in its radius.”
“I don’t need all of it.” Adena pulls out a few of the small cylinders from her pocket that she had carefully wrapped in bits of rubber and lead shielding. “Get me there, and I can disassemble it into smaller pieces without setting it off.”
“How can you be sure?”
She holds up one of the small cylinders. “That first one? I saw how their workers were unloading pieces of it before you detonated it. If we can grab enough fragments, we can lay out a strategic set of smaller, controlled explosions. Set them off as we need to.”
“Can you do it quickly?” I sign to her.
“If I have help,” she replies. “Could use your strength. But we have to go now. There are already signs at the palace of Constantine on the move. Rotations of soldiers.”
Fear shoots through my chest, and as if on cue, I feel Constantine’s moods stir within me. A darkness fills the space between my ribs. He is making plans.
There’s already a carriage waiting for us at the front entrance to the estate. Adena hops in, scooting over to make room for us. Jeran is already inside, along with Aramin. Scarcely have we all settled in when the carriage jerks forward, taking off toward the other end of the city.
I can see the scattered fires stark against the sky, haloing the horizon with red and gold. As we draw closer to the city center, the crowds grow thicker, until it becomes impossible for us to go any farther. Mostof the people in the city are not soldiers, who have retreated to the palace. Still, I stare out at the scene of rebels with rising fear.
“Detour,” Red calls out as our carriage screeches to a stop at a blockade. Already, the exchange of gunfire and the clang of metal on metal ring out as rebels on one side of the blockade clash with Constantine’s troops. “We have to take the west thoroughfare road.”
“Do we know if that’s blocked too?” Aramin says.
I suddenly leap out of the carriage. “We need a view from the skies,” I sign hurriedly at them before shutting the carriage door. There in the street, I crouch and unfurl my wings.
