I still, listening, and then turn my head slightly toward the palace. Nothing happens for a while. The rebels stop too, and with them, the Federation soldiers shuffle. I can see them looking at one another, their frozen faces twitching in sudden uncertainty.
For a while, I think that I’ve mistaken what I felt.
Then the loudest boom I’ve ever heard in my life reverberates across the city, followed by a rush of hot wind so powerful I’m nearly knocked to my feet. Everyone around us—rebel, soldier—falls to their knees. And there, on the other side of the palace, I see a ball of orange and red rise blinding into the lightening sky, the clouds of the explosion swallowing itself over and over as it grows. The earth rumbles and shakes and sighs, as if the plates of the land itself are shifting.
And, to my horrified awe, I see a shaft of faint blue light shoot up into the horizon from the source of the explosion. It glows brightly, illuminating the clouds, before it fades away as quickly as it came.
Whatever was inside that cylinder, it is powerful enough to have its heat felt from here.
Adena. Was she far from the explosion? What if she’d miscalculated?
All around us, the rebels move. They flood toward me from the north and west and south gates, masses and masses of them, a sudden crowding that swells our ranks. I feel everyone jostling in, brandishing their weapons against the soldiers before them, who suddenly have gone pale. They hoist their guns higher at us, trying to figure out where best to aim, but there are so many of us that I can smell their sudden fear. My own heart leaps.
The first move has been made. There is no turning back now.
I love you, I tell Talin through our link.
I love you, Talin answers back, and her words fill every inch of me with light.
I focus my attention on the soldiers before us, and tense. The rebels gather behind and alongside me. Then I lunge forward at the soldiers and their screaming Ghosts as everyone around me surges forward at the same time.
Soldiers shoot the first row of us almost immediately. I see them fall before the gunfire. But the next wave—we—run forward relentlessly, outpacing the fallen and charging forward into the mix. The soldiers fire again, and more collapse at our feet—but we are closer now. I put all my strength into the attack. Then I’m out in front, and the first soldier widens his eyes at the sight of me before throwing his hands up in panic.
I barrel into him, flinging him across the courtyard, and throw all my weight into attacking the Ghost behind him. The creature shrieks, clawing for me, but I twist, my broken wings still shearing right through its body. A cold sweat breaks out all over my body at the pain of the strike, but I blink away the tears and lunge out again. Soldiers fall around me like wheat in a field. Ghosts rush toward me. In a blur, the east and west flanks of soldiers try to close in around me, separating me from the others. But in the next instant, rebels clash into both sides, weapons swinging—axes, kitchen knives, canes and door bolts, guns, planks of wood, homemade arrows. They use anything they can get. The soldiers fight back, cutting them down—but there are too many of us here in this moment.
A Ghost bites down hard on one of my wings. The pain lances through me like a spear through my back. I twist in time to see the same Ghost’s claws swipe down at me. Every one of my limbs tingles. I rush forward at it again, wielding my damaged wings, and cut into its leg. It loses its balance and lurches to one side.
We push and push against the flanks of soldiers. I rush forward again. Their ranks thin slightly before us. They seem to understand whatwe’re doing, and I can hear them shouting desperately at one another, calling for the rest of the guards around the palace to abandon their posts and help them here. But it’s too little, too late. I can see the courtyard beyond the masses of soldiers. I strike out with the metal blades of my wings. Soldiers go down before them in a wave.
The rebels push again. The soldiers try to close the widening gap. But we keep going until—finally—I see a glimpse of a clear path between the soldiers.
Talin!I realize I’m calling for her in our link.Talin!
She doesn’t answer—but she doesn’t have to. Because one second she’s somewhere invisible behind me, and the next she’s surging past me. The soldiers have no way to stop her. She cuts right past them and slaughters the first Ghost that dares to cross her path.
Up on the roof, the soldiers open fire. Their aim is uncertain when Talin moves so quickly, but one of the bullets catches her on the shoulder. The sting trickles through her right to me, and I find myself twisting as if the injury were mine. My heart leaps in fear for her. But she ignores it—doesn’t even look at it—and hurtles toward the side entrance to the palace.
Behind us, the ranks of soldiers begin to close again. The rebels are being pushed back as the swell of soldiers strengthens. Off in the distance, I can still hear the roar from the fires set by the explosion. A faint tide of hope fills me. We are going to do it. We are going to get into the palace. Talin is going to hunt down the Premier, and there’s nothing he can do to stop us.
And just then—
—right as I feel the first tenuous hint of victory—
—a silhouette on the rooftop catches my eye.
I halt, my gaze darting up. No. I couldn’t have seen it. Could I?
But it’s unmistakable. Outlined against the red dawn, with wings outstretched, are two other Skyhunters. Their eyes glow blue in the dim light.
Everything in me turns to ice.
Constantine had these weapons lying in wait. Ofcoursehe had.
I look at Talin in a panic and start shouting for her. “Talin!” I scream. I do the same through our link.
Talin! Talin! Look out!
She glances at me over her shoulder, her run faltering for just a second. Then she looks up to where my eyes are focused. She sees the other Skyhunters.
