Page 35

I am. They look away, tension bleeding into Their body. Our time is short.

And I’ve wasted it looking for a trap. If I only have one chance at answers, I’m going to take it. “Why did my mother commit treason?”

The Moon tilts Their head to the side. She didn’t. She presented a threat to the Minor Court and they moved accordingly. Not even they can interfere with the Trials, but after? They shrug. I couldn’t save her. I wish with all my heart that I’d possessed the power to do so.

My lungs shrivel in my chest, but I try to cover it up with a bitter laugh. “Of course you didn’t have the power to save her. How fucking convenient. She sacrificed everything for you—her future, her life, me—and you stood by while she was cut down and branded a traitor.” I have more than enough anger to go around when it comes to my mother’s fate, to everything I lost when I lost her. The Moon is not exempt.

She was the perfect champion.

All my life, I’ve heard how perfect she was, and that perfection wasn’t enough to save her life. “Perfect and dead.”

Yes.

“I offered you everything and you gave me precious little in return.” I take a sharp breath. I want to know why They didn’t give me the same powers as my mother, but there’s a more pressing concern I haven’t let myself consider. “What did you take from me?”

All your questions will be answered in time. The Moon glances away, Their strange eyes tracking something I can’t see. It’s time for you to go, Daughter. We’ll speak again soon.

“But—”

Hands on my shoulders, shaking roughly. I slam back into my body. If it hurt in the Moon’s realm, it really hurts now. Vesper speaks directly in my ear. “Kestrel, you have to wake up.”

I open my eyes. “I’m awake.” My head feels like someone took an axe to it, but at least the stars remain in the sky as I gingerly sit up. It’s still dark; dawn is hours away. I must have only been out for a few moments, though it felt like much longer.

“Good.” Vesper looks more rattled than I’ve ever seen them. Their hands shake where they grip my shoulders. “I was wrong about our being able to hide indefinitely up here. They’re hunting us and they’re getting closer.”

I can’t hear anything over the pounding in my ears, but I have no doubt Vesper is telling the truth. A quick glance at Cato shows him still unconscious. Fuck. That’s going to be a problem. I’m not sure if I can walk on my own right now, and Vesper was so tired from our flight that there’s no way they can haul one of us, let alone both. “We need to hide.”

“I’m aware, but for that to happen, you need to get up.”

I look around, but this rooftop is bare aside from the greenhouse we lean against. If someone comes through the door behind us or ascends the ladder, we’ll be exposed. We’ll be dead.

Vesper squeezes my shoulder. “There’s a water tower on the roof half a block to the north. It’s tall enough that no one will be able to see us once we’re inside. We can wait for dawn there.”

Unspoken is the need for me to get us there with my magic. We’re sure as fuck not making it on our physical strength. Especially not with Cato out. I drag myself up, the pounding in my head becoming more violent in response. My stomach lurches dangerously, but I muscle down the sensation as well as I can. The very last thing I want is to make this headache worse by vomiting. I take a careful breath. “Show me.”

They turn me to the right and point a shaking finger. I see it instantly, a great gray circle that’s wide and tall and, frankly, ugly. But water tower means water, and that’s the kind of vital resource that keeps a community alive.

“Okay.” I try to stand, but my knees feel like they’re made of gravel. Another deep breath does nothing to fortify me. I’m so fucking tired, the kind of tired that sucks away my will to live. If I could just lie down for a little while … if I could just lie down forever.

Vesper presses a hand to the center of my back, keeping me upright. “Death and the Tower are combing the street below,” they say softly, their words barely reaching my ear. “It’s only a matter of time before they think to look up. We have to move, Kestrel. If we don’t, we’re dead.”

Dead, dead, and more dead. It seems like all my routes end the same way my mother’s did—abruptly and violently. Like mother, like daughter. I clamp a hand over my mouth before I can laugh. I’m even worse off than I realized. Punch-drunk. The air feels different here than in the Dregs. Cleaner. I can’t even taste it, gritty and thick on my tongue. How nice for the Cups. “I can do it. I’ve got things under control.”

Vesper’s concern is present in the way they grip me a little too tightly, in the furrow between their perfectly shaped brows. It’s not, however, evident in their voice. They give me only confidence when they say, “I know.”

I reach down and wrap a hand around Cato’s wrist. My free hand clasps Vesper where they clutch my shoulder. This is going to hurt. “I’m going to pass out again once I get us there. Maybe for a long time. Don’t let me die.”

“I won’t, Kestrel. I promise.”

A ladder goes up the side of the water tower and there’s a tiny platform at the top made of grated metal. That’s our destination. The shadows respond sluggishly to my call, thick and resistant and sticky, but they still come. There’s no way I’m going to be able to take a step, so I simply topple forward, dragging Cato and Vesper through the space in between and depositing us on the metal grate.

Where I promptly pass out.

This time, there’s no Moon waiting for me with meaningless words. Only darkness. I don’t know how long I’m out, but when I finally peel my eyes open, we’re inside the water tower and the sky overhead is shading toward blue. Not dawn, not yet, but it’s close enough to reach out and touch.

I turn my head, my skull feeling three times its normal size and throbbing with an intensity I feel in the back of my eyeballs. I’m laid out next to Cato on a narrow shelf that lines the entire inside of the water tower. It must be for maintenance.

“They’re gone.” Vesper speaks even softer than before. I realize why a moment later; sound travels within this round space far too easily. “They headed in the direction of the champions’ island.”