Ah, there’s the greed.
“This is exquisite.”
“Thank you.”
He studies the purple stone and a line of concentration pulls at his forehead. “It looks familiar.”
“Does it? Iy was hand made for me by a friend. It’s important to me. Very important, but,” I take a deep breath, “would you like one of the others? It’s pewter.”
Marshal laughs. “I’ve never had anyone ask if I wanted their jewelry.” He studies me closely. “Who are you?”
“My name is Hildi Axel,” I reply, easing my hand away from his and loosening one of the rings. All I wanted was for Marshal to show his loyalty, and he’s done it even without knowing who I am, even while in a world that twists and torments. I hold the silver circle up and say, “Allow me to give this to you, my Lord.”
It didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would to say those words.
Another explosion rocks the town, this time closer, but Marshal’s eyes never leave me or the ring. It’s obvious he should be out there claiming the goods and treasures of the town, ransacking and pillaging, yet he’s here.
“Hildi Axel,” he repeats, tugging at the gloves on his hand. “I accept your tax.”
He splays his fingers and I slide the ring down his finger and over his knuckle. It’s a perfect fit. I wait for the spell to be broken, for him to recognize me. I wait for a backhanded compliment or an outright offensive statement. Marshal’s eyes lift to mine, and a whine fills the air. I look up and the last thing I see is a flaming ball arcing toward the alley—toward us.
And then it explodes.
24
Armin
The ache in my back lures me from sleep—not that I’d ever gone very deep. It’s strange, when I arrived at the Academy I preferred sleeping on the floor. Years of battle and enslavement made the luxury of a bed impossible. Hildi had shown me something different and now the ground feels wrong.
This whole thing is wrong.
Hildi has been gone for twenty-four hours, slipping away from the safe house. We’d left her alone for hours, giving her a chance to rest—to grieve for Miya. Elizabeth knocked on her door, hoping she’d come out for dinner. She didn’t respond and again, we gave her space. It wasn’t until the next morning that the fairy opened the door and saw the bed made and the window unlatched. She had hours of a head start on us. The only good news was Rupert finding her tracks in the mud, leading down to the river. It gave us a place to start.
I sit and rub my eyes. Dawn is on the horizon—on the other side of the river. We followed it for the better part of a day but had to finally take a rest. I glance down and see both Luke and Elizabeth still sleeping. Rupert, unsurprisingly, is awake, squinting down at the book Morgan gave Hildi.
I stand and stretch, working the kink out in my back. I approach Rupert and say, “Find anything interesting.”
“Actually, yes.” He hands me the book, held open to the last page. It’s a new last page.
“When did this happen?” I ask, staring down at the fresh script.
“Overnight maybe?”
The handwriting is the same—Dylan’s, but the information is new.
Make haste and board a boat toward the river Styx.
I stare at the sentence. The one sentence that isn’t very helpful at all.
“What does it say?” Luke asks, running a hand through his pale hair. I didn’t realize he was awake.
“That we’re supposed to get on a boat and head toward the river Styx."
His eyebrow raises. “That’s the fifth circle.”
“He wants us to skip the fourth?” Rupert asks.
Elizabeth rouses next to Luke, hair a mess and a leaf stuck to her cheek.