Erinna took a step toward the gallows and hesitated. She could help the girl at a tremendous risk to herself and her family, or flee now and live with the never-ending guilt.
“Gods forgive me,” Erinna muttered and dove into the fray. She shoved through men and women who were scrambling to return home or pack up their wares and nearly tripped overdevout worshipers of the Everdawn who’d taken to their knees in prayer.
Fools. All fools, she thought.
Erinna choked on smoke and ash as she approached the raised platform. The heat reddened her skin and singed the hairs on her arms. The guards and mages were so focused on the fallen and the escaped pirate, they gave little mind to the aberrant, or to Erinna as she approached. Again, Erinna prayed to any god that would hear her and grant her a blessing of luck.
Inez crouched near the edge and watched the flames grow in horror.
She was beaten, bruised, and malnourished with calluses and cuts painted across her bare feet and palms. Erinna extended her hand. “Come with me.”
Inez snapped her attention to Erinna but made no move toward her. Ash rested on her shoulders and was smeared in a line where the noose had been. The rope had burned, but the young woman didn’t appear hurt. It was as if the flames had been commanded to spare her any harm.
“Gather up the fallen! Find Atwater and kill on site!”
Erinna’s blood chilled at the sound of Captain Barker’s voice.When did he get here?If he saw her…
They had to leave. Now.
“I’m going to get you out of here,” Erinna promised.
Fire licked at her fingers and singed the hem of her clothes as Erinna grabbed the diviner’s wrist and pulled her into the throng of madness.
Inez wrapped her hand around Erinna’s forearm as tightly as she could, struggling to match her pace.
They darted past merchant stalls, most already in disarray as owners hurriedly packed their goods. Erinna spared no time and little thought as she swiped a pair of boots from a shoemaker before driving her and the diviner into the back alleys of the city.
They ran until their lungs burned with strain. The two barely made it to the outskirts of academy territory.
Flashes of blue and black in the distance caught her attention, the hum of arcanum like static in the air. If they stayed the course, they were sure to be spotted.
Erinna ducked into a narrow alley, barely large enough to hide them, and thanked those nights when her father forced her to memorize the city layouts. They made it just in time. Inez fell to the ground and clutched at her chest. She was in even poorer shape than Erinna first thought.
“This should help, but we can’t stay for long.” She placed the shoes in front of her. Inez’s hands shook with strain as she pulled them on.
This was a huge mistake.Erinnaturned her back on the diviner to conceal the evident doubt across her face.
She peered around the corner and watched as mages and soldiers darted through the streets and moved through the crowd in planned efficiency. A few citizens protested as they rounded up the fallen. Guards and soldiers pushed them to the side while mages silenced the complaints.
They continued their search, moving into the nooks and crannies of the city. They would find them soon enough, if they stayed too long. Erinna cursed her misfortune.
“We have to go,” Inez rasped out and did her best to hobble back onto her feet. They needed to get away, move farther through the outskirts and put as much distance between them and the king’s men as they could. It would be a longer journey home but away from prying eyes.
If they made it closer to Market Square, they could hunker down with Madds and wait for it all to pass. They just had to stay out of sight until then.
Chapter
Nine
“What a mess.” Kane bit into the apple he swiped from a small produce vendor. He relished its crisp sweetness and tang. After a month in prison, eating nothing but contraband snacks and dirt-quality gruel, the fresh fruit was a delicacy.
Kane perched on the roof of the church, hidden within the shadow of its steeple, scanning the disorder below. Muffled cries reached his ears, soldiers shouting orders—likely to kill or capture him.
His bet was on kill.
Kane stretched his aching muscles. A fight would do him good, but there was too much at stake to risk it, even if he was sure he’d win. He didn’t need any more attention, not when he was so close to leaving the godsforsaken place with everything he needed.
Kane patted his coat pocket where the coded note sat—the index that would lead him straight to the maps the late Chancellor had squirreled away in his precious library. The shipwright had been a godsend, slipping him the final piece ofthe puzzle in exchange for...well, a deal Kane was more than happy to make.
