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"And?"
"And I’d like to see what happens when a guard tries to shoot Nix or a netron drops Gareth"
It takes Cal a second to realize what I’er than a stoneskin And Gareth, who cananywhere anytime soon We don’t have an aruards don’t kno to fight When it dawns on hi me upward He plants a fir
"You’re a genius," he et everyone ready" He grabs the map in one hand, almost mad with intensity The same crooked sht actually work"
TWENTY-FIVE
The Notch flickers behind me, and I watch in awe as le sweep of Harrick’s hand The hill ren of our camp wipes away like sand from a flat stone We can’t even hear the children ere standing there a ht Farrah ether with Harrick, drops a curtain of protection around the youngest newbloods No one has ever coives me more comfort than I care to admit Most of the others let out victorious whoops, as if the act of disguising the Notch alone is cause for celebration Tohard But I don’t scold hi territted painfully together It keeps back the words I wish I could say--Save your energy
Shade is just as quiet as I am, and falls in next to , and keeps his eyes forward, to the dark, cold woods and the task ahead of us His lierly follow, drawing the rest along with us The hike to the airjet is not long I try to take in every second of it The cold night air bites at my exposed face, but the sky is blissfully clear No snow, no stor, whether by my hand or someone else’s And I have no idea ill survive to see the dawn
Shadeone hand onfroed to get a grip on Shade, and crushed the first fingers on his left hand before he could juht still e It reminds me of Gisa, another Barrow broken to pay for ain, his voice louder than before "We’re doing the right thing"
I know that As afraid as I am for ht choice Even without Jon’s assurance, I believe in our path How could we not? Newbloods cannot be left to Elara’s whispering, to be killed or made into hollow, soulless shells to follow her orders This is e must do to stop a more horrible world than the one we live in now
Still, Shade’s assurance is a war a hand over his
He s moon In the darkness, he looks so e, without the wheelchair, without the burdens of a life coence, the sa suspicion that kept them both alive on the war front, and now keeps Shade alive on a very different battlefield He pats esture that makes me feel like a child, but I don’t dislike it It’s a reminder of the blood we share Not in er than any ability
On aze I know he’s thinking about his own brother and his own bonds of blood now torn apart And behind hi the woods for any and all shadows For all their differences, the two boys share a startling connection They are both orphans, both abandoned, with no one but me to anchor them
Time passes too quickly forthrough the air in moments Every second moves faster than the last as we hurtle toward the dark cliff before us all This is worth the cost, I tellShade’s words over and over I must keep calm, for the jet I must not look afraid, for the others But my heart thrums in my chest, so loud I fear everyone can hear it
To coht hel my arms around the s n, Mare, Mareena, the lightning girl, the Red Queen, and no one at all She does not look afraid She looks carved of stone, with severe features, hair braided tight to her head, and a tangle of scars on her neck She is not seventeen, but ageless, Silver but not, Red but not, human--but not A banner of the Scarlet Guard, a face on a wanted poster, a prince’s downfall, a thiefa killer A doll who can take any forht suits frotag kind of uniforuises The others fuss over their suits,adjustments where they must to fit into the to loosen the stiff fabric a little Nix’s barely zips over his belly, and looks liable to rip open at anyin hers but doesn’t bother to roll her sleeves or pant legs like I have to She’ll take a different form when the jet lands, a form that turns my stomach and makes my heart race with too many emotions to count
Luckily, the Blackrun was built for transport, and holds all eleven of us with rooht to slow us down, but judging by the control panel, we’re cruising along at the same speed as always Maybe even a little faster Cal pushes the craft as best as he can, keeping us out of thethe Nortan coast
He glares out the , eyes flitting between the clouds and theinstruments before him I still don’t understand what any of the next to him in the cockpit I was a poor student in the Stilts and that has not changed I simply don’t have a mind like he does I know only shortcuts, how to cheat, how to lie, how to steal, and I kno to see what people hide And right now, Cal is certainly hiding so I would be afraid of anyone else’s secrets, but I knohat Cal keeps close cannot hurtto bury his oeakness, his own fear He was raised to believe in strength and power and nothing else To falter was the ultimate mistake I told him before that I was afraid too, but a fehispered words are not enough to break years of belief Just like me, Cal puts up a mask, and he won’t even let me see behind it
It’s for the best, the practical side of me thinks The other part, the one that cares too much for the exiled prince, worries terribly I know the physical danger of this mission, but the emotional never crossed my mind until this afternoon What will Cal become in Corros? Will he leave the same way he went in? Will he leave at all?