I tossed and turned in bed, pretending to sleep when a servant checked on me, but my mind was racing with thoughts of Ranine. I needed to trust that Genet could handle it, but I barely knew him. Was he as capable as Gasni seemed to believe? What if he was discovered?
I needed to calm down. It was barely eleven. It would take time. Maybe she wasn’t even in the capital. She could be anywhere.
Someone knocked. At this hour?
I found Gasni, of all people, at my door. “May I?”
I let him in, and he handed me my leather bag with my commoner’s clothes, knife, and daggers inside. “What is this?”
“Get dressed, quickly. I need to move you. Now.”
He turned away, and I didn’t bother asking questions. I threw on the clothes from my bag, tucking my blades into their places. I grabbed my tablet for good measure, dropping it into my bag. “Where?”
“Into town. Don’t bother shifting.”
I grabbed his arm and blinked us through the walls and floor until we were past the castle’s outer wall. “What’s going on?”
“Yesida’s killer is coming back for you. Come on.”
“But then Ranine—”
“I have people on it.”
“Genet isn’t going?”
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“He’s needed with you.”
Because I couldn’t be trusted.
He pulled me down side streets, avoiding the main road. He took me along the side of an inn.
“Take us up to that room.” He pointed to a window on the second floor. I blinked us into the darkness and fished for my tablet to provide some light, but Gasni shoved it back into my bag. “No light.”
“No one is going to check into this room?”
“I have a permanent claim on this one.”
“What now?”
“We wait for Genet.”
I felt for the edge of the bed and took a seat but flinched when an alarm sounded in the distance.
Gasni sighed. “Seems my days as Spymaster are over.”
“I don’t understand.”
“As of now, I’m officially a traitor. As are you and Genet. The Council will claim you ran off with that man and that we gave you up. In reality, it was the Council that surrendered.” He groaned. “I need to advise my agents to scatter.”
All those people would be dragged down with him? With me? Gods. I moved to the window and leaned to one side to get a view of the main road. Guards sprinted in the direction of the castle.
“Yes, she’s safe for now,” Gasni said into his comm. “Spread the word to the others but save those in Jakasi for last. Yes. To you, as well.”
“What’s in Jakasi?” I asked.
He joined me at the window but drew the curtains closed. “Your sister.”
“Where will they take her?”
“To a location Genet recommended. There wasn’t time to ask for details.”
Everything was out of my control. And if that Givel man found me… I shuddered. I’d grown used to being trapped, but I’d rather die—permanently—than be a mindless slave to that man’s whims. Why did he hold such sway over me in the first place?
Someone knocked, and Gasni drew his sword before answering.
Genet pushed past him. “Eujia?”
“I’m here.”
“My Sparrow is just outside town.”
“Then let’s get moving,” Gasni said.
I grabbed their arms and blinked us back down to the alley. My head spun for a moment, and Genet steadied me. “I’m fine.”
We took more side streets, Genet occasionally hiding us when guards ran by, then hurried to the grouping of Sparrows parked in the field outside town. Genet swiped his wrist over the scanner, then we climbed up into the seats.
This Sparrow was unlike any Yesida had ever shown me, but there was no time to marvel at it. “Where are we going?”
“To Jakasi.”