“She’s right,” Erith said in wonder.
“Even if this isn’ttheproof they wanted,” said Cook, slowly lowering to his knees on the other side of the Timekeeper, his eyes on me. “Theycan tell us everything in Kohen’s stead. They know.”
“This boy definitely knows something,” Anika muttered, rubbing her shoulders as she looked at Silas’s face.
“I’ll carry him,” Cook said and grabbed Calren’s arm.
“I’ll help.” I had strength. Plenty of it to use, but…
“I got him,” Seth said. “It’ll be faster. Move.”
Together, Seth and Cook they got Calren up—and then Russ came in, muttering under his breath, and just hoisted him over his shoulder like he weighed nothing.
Just like that.
The Timekeeper’s head hung limp against Russ’s back, his hands dangling, bloody and still.
“There. Happy now?” the Diamond said.
I smiled—he wasn’t half as mean as he wanted us to think. “Very.”
He rolled his eyes and started for the other side of the room. “Let’s just get out of here.”
So, we did.
We climbed up the stairs as fast as we could, my heart hammering so hard I could feel it in my throat. I went to help March with Silas, even though he didn’t need it, but the boy was barely conscious between us, his feet dragging whenever he tried and failed to step on his own.
Russ was right ahead, Calren a dead weight on his shoulder, Seth hovering at his back, ready to help.
We made it up the stairs in no time, and through the first hallway. Then the second, barely breathing, none of us making a single sound as we went.
We’d just turned the corner of the corridor that was going to lead us right to that same doorway we’d come from, when…
Two maids, different faces from the night before but dressed in the same uniforms. They were both carrying clothes in their hands, talking to one another—until they saw us.
It was like someone had turned them off.
They stopped. Just…stopped.Lips parted, eyes wide, watching us like we were ghosts. Not too far from what I felt, but regardless.
I expected them to scream.
I expected them to shout, to call for the Timekeeper woman, to tell us to stand still and not move.
I expected them to attack.
But I didnotexpect them to back away toward the wall without a word.
They didn’t look like Timekeepers—both had brown hair. Could have been Clubs or Hearts, but either way, they did not say a single word. Instead, they lookedterrifiedas they analyzed Calren’s limp body over Russ’s shoulder, and then March holding Silas upright while his head moved to the sides, eyes closed.
It occurred to me they might thinkwedid this. It occurred to me the maids would think us capable of knocking them both out like this.
“Go,” March whispered. “Go—don’t stop.”
Just like that, we were moving again, toward the maids—and we went right past them. They became one with the wall,pressed their backs against it with all their strength, just watched us walk away.
I wasn’t as relieved as I thought I would be, though. Because silence meant they were going to tell somebody—later, calmly, in detail. Silence meant we probably didn’t have much more than minutes before the whole palace knew we were here.
Then we were through the doors and in the abandoned corridor on the other side, shouting,go, go, go!Ignoring the withered flowers and the thick dust that coated every inch of this place. We hardly noticed the doors at the far end until Cook pushed them open and the cold air filled our lungs.
