“Is there something you’re not telling me?”I asked.
“Nothing specific.Just trust your instincts and remember that there are bad people everywhere, even in the Order of Emberlight.Spies and double agents.People who would do you harm.”
My stomach turned over as Garrick confirmed my suspicions.
“Have you ever heard of Kael Marrick?”I asked.
Garrick’s eyes narrowed.“The name is familiar.Noble-born, if I remember correctly.Why?”
“Just trusting my instincts.”
Chapter thirty-one
Pyrehold
DarionandIstockedour packs with everything we’d need and headed topside just before sunset.The sky was aglow with a hundred hues of amber.Torchlight flickered across the city.A cool ocean breeze ruffled my hair, carrying the briny scent of the sea.
Typically, before a job, a sense of calm descended upon me.I felt in control, like my fate was in my hands.Not so today.Today felt unpredictable, like any outcome was possible.My stomach ached from worry.
“You okay?”Darion asked as we made our way across the rooftops.
“I’ll just be happy when this is over.”
He paused and turned toward me, his emerald eyes filled with care and understanding.That one brief moment was all it took to make failure feel less inevitable.I focused on the positive.We had a solid plan.Everything would be all right.
As we approached the North Gate, we climbed down to street level and found a dark alcove within sight of the guard booth.
“Do you feel anything?”Darion asked.
I closed my eyes and concentrated on my Veilsense.I felt nothing.None of the slow thrumming I’d picked up when Sentinels were actively projecting a null field.
“No, it’s all clear.”
“Good,” Darion said.“In case things go south.”
The plan was to catch a prison transport outside Analon.We’d exit the city without using Darion’s Chronothene so he could save his energy for later.And despite the stepped-up patrols, it turned out that a simple bribe was enough to get us through the gate.I’d learned never to underestimate the power of a few coins on a greedy guard.
We made our way along the North Road until the dwellings dwindled to nothing and the road was less traveled, such that no wandering eyes were likely to see two dark figures waiting in the shadows.Hidden behind a boulder and a copse of trees, we pulled out Royal-issue prison garb and covered our clothing.Darion ate a brick of a honey concoction.It would help extend the amount of time he had before his Ember hangover hit, but when it did, he’d still be useless for hours.
“Now we wait,” Darion said.
It wasn’t long before clopping hooves and crunching gravel broke the silence.Almost exactly on time, an imposing-looking carriage with bars for windows, led by six massive workhorses, came around the bend in the road.
“That looks like our ride,” Darion said.
“It does,” I said.“And I don’t feel any Sentinels.”
Of course, I had left nothing to chance.Kael had provided the intel concerning the prison transfer carriage, but I had verified it against what Garrick had given me the previous night.Everything checked out so far.
“Okay, we have to act fast,” Darion said.“Are you ready?”
“Just one thing,” I said, and I kissed him with all the passion I had.Since I had joined the Order, we had felt more like colleagues than lovers, and I needed this moment.If things went badly, I wanted my last memory of him to be a good one.
Darion sank into the kiss.For a moment, it was just the two of us, and the rest of the world disappeared.
I pulled away.“Okay, now I’m ready.”
Darion let out a gentle laugh and smiled.“You’re insufferable.”
