16

“We’re running behind. We must go. Now,” Cabal said as Sabi met him outside the ballroom.

She had to hold herself back as Cabal ran. If she knew where she was going her full tilt sprint would have left him in the dust, assuming she even had the energy. But he was the one who led them down dank, musty, back staircases that the servants probably didn’t even use to avoid any guards that were out.

Until they got close to the hearts. A level above where the glowing jars were stored, they found themselves face to face with a couple of chattering guards. They huddled on the dark side of the wall as the guards mumbled.

Cabal turned back to her, his forehead creased, and she muttered obscenities under her breath. Lips brushed her ear as he leaned into her, his breath hot on her skin when he whispered.

“We need to put something in their heads. Anything.”

Sabi nodded and let Cabal lead the magic. Within seconds the stamps were latched together and she was trying to hold her power in check. The images in her mind swirled, fast at first and then slower. People and things started to take shape and just as the image solidified she felt Cabal push it away toward the guards. She moved her mind to follow and it floated along quickly, as if it weighed nothing at all. It was cake compared to the flesh show they left upstairs. This was just a memory, a nanosecond of thought, and she begged whatever deity would listen that it would be enough. When it reached the men it felt like hitting a curb in a car.

When the voices stopped so did Sabi’s breathing and Cabal stiffened next to her. Mumbled words that Sabi didn’t pay attention to reached her ears and she closed her eyes. Words became disgruntled sighs followed by heavy footsteps on bare stone. Then silence. Not even the quiet shuffle of an antsy guard.

She pushed on Cabal’s shoulder and jerked her chin forward when he looked. Slowly he crept along the wall and peeked around the edge. All she needed to see was his shoulders relax to know it worked. They shuffled down the corridor at a brisk tiptoe.

One more short and empty set of stairs and they were standing in front of a solid-looking wooden door. He pulled a brass key from a hidden pocket and shoved it into the lock. When it clicked open he didn’t bother to remove it.

The room throbbed a glowing purple like a giant lava lamp. It was far brighter than the corridor, the labels glaring at her in the heart light. Faster than she could even adjust to the brightness Cabal was grabbing vials. Two were shoved into her hands.

“These are mine and Anya’s?” Cabal nodded. “How do you know?”

He let out an exasperated sigh. “Now is when you stop trusting me? I can read Northern language,” he said as he pointed to labels that looked like a toddler scribbled on them. “We need to move.”

“Right. Just give me Anya’s key and you can go.” She pocketed the vials and stuck her hand out. He pulled a different key from the same pocket but hesitated before reluctantly placing it in her palm. “Just point and I’ll go.’

The seconds slipped away from them but Cabal didn’t move. He stared at the key as she hid it in her fist and dropped it to her side. When he looked up at her, his eyes were . . . working. She could almost see the rip tearing down his center. The muscle in his jaw flexed and he blinked. Resolve looked back at her.

He grabbed her hand and led her down another corridor. “This way.”

Sabi’s heart leapt and she had to blink back the tears. He wasn’t leaving her alone. Whatever his reasons, she would thank him when they were finally in the clear.

Deeper down in the castle, closer to the dungeons, cracking thunder rattled the walls.

One more corner and they were in the cell corridor, but as they rounded the edge of the stone Cabal jerked backward, nearly knocking Sabi off her feet.

Shouts reached her ears before she could process the sight. Until the guard rushed them. The snick of steel gliding against leather was drowned by Sabi’s shriek. He lunged and grabbed hold of Cabal’s collar, lifting him up so that his toes were barely scraping against the ground. He hacked and coughed as he clawed at the man’s hand, but when Cabal’s eyes bulged she knew the guard had only tightened his grip.

Sabi’s heart thundered in her ears and her stamp thrummed. She was nearly vibrating with the energy and as if it were instinct she lunged forward and pressed her free hand onto the man’s chest. Her vision flooded orange and her hand anchored down, but nothing held it there. At first the guard frowned, confusion etching into his face. Then he gripped hard to Cabal and tried to push her hand away.

It didn’t move. No matter how hard he shoved Sabi’s hand was stuck fast. Every time he moved so did she. From somewhere deep in her head, hidden behind the orange, she tried reining the magic in but it was water through her fingers. She couldn’t stop the flood.

A crack jolted her hand and the bone shifted under her palm. Cabal dropped to the floor and the guard’s face twisted with pain. Another crack and the skin under her hand shifted. A shriek caught in his throat and he weakly pushed at her shoulder. It did nothing.

His beating heart pounded into her palm as if it were rising up to meet her. Everything was orange, her stamp searing white-hot. A muffled underwater voice tried to talk to her but she couldn’t hear.

The guard’s knees buckled and she stepped away to let him fall, but kept her hand solid. A shriek unclogged itself and scrambled its way out, hitching and gurgling over blood as it bubbled out of his mouth. His eyes were two blinding white orbs in his darkened complexion. To Sabi they were orange. One final crack and the scream choked off. Wet flowed under her hand and the man crumpled back, his eyes staring at nothing.

When the orange receded the wet stickiness on her palm tingled and the key slid around in it. Her heart thudded and her stamp shuddered as its magic wound down. Mumbling near her feet drew her attention away from the broken body in front of her and she turned to look at Cabal, his lips moving in a wordless rhythm as he stared hard at her, his eyes slightly wider than normal.

“That . . . I didn’t think . . .”

His voice was barely a whisper as it tumbled out. Still she heard it. She looked down at her palm and watched the blood pool around the key and drip off her hand. When she looked back to the crumpled man and saw the glistening dark spread across his chest, her stomach rolled and heaved. She dropped to her knees and purged. All the food she ate that day came spilling out at the dead man’s feet. She sobbed between retches, her glittering tears stinging her eyes, blurring out the scene in front of her.

A clammy hand pressed into her shoulder, grinding stone grit into her skin. Cabal didn’t offer her any words of comfort. Sabi wavered over her sick for a moment. That’s what happened when she let the leash off. Heat flooded her face and she retched again and came up empty.

Her head shook, splashing tears on the ground. “I felt it and I didn’t stop.” Her arms turned wobbly and she dropped back onto her feet. “I killed him.”

“We have to go.” Cabal said as he lifted his hand and stood. “He didn’t care if you died. Don’t care about him.”

Through tear-muddled eyes she watched him lean over the corpse, but by the time she wiped the moisture away he was up again, urging her with his eyes. The resolve found its way back into his voice and there was only a flicker of fear left.

“His life is not worth your family’s or mine. Or Anya.”

 

She swallowed down the thick gobs of spit in her mouth and pressed a foot into the ground just outside her splatter of sick. Fingers pressed into her elbow and Cabal’s weight lifted her up. If she stayed there and cried everything would be lost. He was right. The guard wasn’t worth it. Sabi shuffled the pain, the horror, and the nightmares she’ll have for the rest of her life into the back of her mind. When they were free she could process it, let it eat at her for a while. Not now.

Without looking she wiped her hand across her nightdress and stepped a still-shaking foot over the corpse. Cabal still held onto her elbow and only released her when they cleared it. Hopefully there was another way out and she wouldn’t have to hurdle the body again.

The familiar cell door, indistinguishable from all the rest except to her, pushed the horror behind her away. She handed him the key and he fit it into the hole. The turn, the click, the squeal as it opened, seemed to shudder the walls. Before she could take a step into the shadowed room a pale flash cloaked in brown tatters hurtled out of the darkness. Anya latched on and wound her arms around Sabi’s neck. Sabi hugged back and when Anya pulled away her yellow and orange smeared her face.

“We must hurry.”

Cabal’s guttural voice broke the momentary peace and suddenly Sabi heard it: pounding and cries behind the cell doors. Shouts from farther down the corridor not muffled by steel.

“Your heart . . .” Sabi reached into her pocket and pulled out the vial.

Anya grabbed the glass, the purple illuminating her face and hands in an ethereal glow. Each with their own heart, they dashed down the opposite end of the corridor.

“Do you know where you’re going?” Sabi called to Cabal as they rounded yet another dungeon hallway without getting to the outside.

He just grunted as he kept running. Sabi hoped that was resolve crinkled across his face and not worry. They were so close. If she breathed hard enough she could almost taste outside air.

“Here.” The winded word floated back to her and Sabi jogged to a stop in front of a solid wooden door, like the one on the pretty cell upstairs. “This points south.”

Anya didn’t even sound close to being out of breath. Cabal nodded as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the last key they’ll need.

“They let you have a key to outside doors?” Sabi’s voice filled with wonder, but when Cabal looked at her like she was a moron her ears burned.

“The guard.” He nodded behind her.

She was afraid if she looked the corpse would be right there, bleeding at her feet and gaping at her with dead eyes. Clatter made her whirl around anyway and the angry voices made her stomach roil all the same.

“Go!” Sabi screeched.

Cabal’s hand shook as he shoved the key into the door. The noise behind them nearly drowned out the click of the lock, but as soon as the door opened their faces were pelted with prickles of rain as the world opened up for them.

“Run straight!” Cabal yelled before he dashed out the door.

Sabi was on his heels with Anya’s hysterical laughter following close behind. The light of the open door didn’t travel far and the rain blackened out the rest of the night. Straight had no meaning in the darkness.

Her nightdress was soaked through in seconds and the ground squelched underneath her feet. The air was crisp and every time the wind blew rain stung her skin and prickled it with goose bumps. The shouts behind them thundered over the rain and she turned her head in time to see Anya turn back to look too. The framed light of the door was shrinking. An army of shadows poured out of it, black silhouettes against the light. Their footfalls nearly shook the ground and their voices clawed closer. Flames lit up the darkness and the snarled barks of dogs punctuated their cries. Sabi’s lungs burned, but her feet kept pumping, forcing her forward and away from the death squad behind her.

The white shift plastered to his dark skin barely made a discernible outline ahead of her, but she felt his stamp. It beat in tune with hers. Behind her Anya’s winded cackles let her know she was still there. All this life about to be crushed by the gaining mob.

“Cabal!” Sabi screamed into the night. “We can’t outrun them. We need something.”

A stitch bloomed in her side and her breath caught its pain. She stumbled forward, almost losing her balance before Anya was on top of her. Her slick hands gripped around Sabi’s arms to keep her from falling. In the stumble the corpse she made flashed across her mind. Alone she was able to rip open a man’s chest. Bile stung her throat at the memory. Together maybe she and Cabal could rip open a ditch to drop these guys in.

“Cabal!” she screamed again. He ran up to her before her words stopped ringing. “We need to crack the ground open or something. Fast!”

It was as if he was in her mind, watching her thoughts play out as she saw them. He stepped next to her and together they knelt and pressed their hands to the sodden ground, the muted purple glows from the tucked-away vials their only light. There was no gradual increase in the thrum of the stamp as it powered up. It exploded, her vision going orange in a blink. Sabi felt as locked into the land as she did to the guard’s chest. More so with Cabal next to her pouring his magic in with hers.

The men coming at them closed the gap, their footfalls, the beating rain, and the pounding of the stamps all swirled together in a rhythm that shook the ground. The skin on her back didn’t feel like hers as rain slid off in sizzling drops. The feeling was an echo, as if she were fading out to sleep and only barely aware of it. The world shook harder as the earth held her and Cabal to the spot. A scream ripped through her concentration but Sabi only blinked, the orange still covering everything. The feet running at them faltered, slipped, splashed and scrambled back as a crack that dwarfed the sound of a thunderbolt drowned out all other noise.

She nearly pitched over as the earth shook, but her body remained firm. Next to her Cabal stood just as still. More screams, this time from too close in front of them, pierced the night, death cries that echoed around before fading away. Sabi dared a glance and the orange lit up the night, allowing her to see the torchlight getting smaller, white hands in the dark clinging to the edge of an abyss before slipping away.

Air choked in her throat, the colors of night pushed away the orange and she fell backward, released from the grip the ground had on her. She gasped, sucking in air and rainwater as the drops pelted her face. She heard Cabal’s heavy breathing next to her and Anya’s feet running up to her over the waterlogged ground. Cold returned and chilled her to the bone with the rain soaking in.

“You opened the earth!” Anya cried as she put her arms under Sabi’s shoulders and lifted her up.

As Sabi leaned back into Anya, their anxious breaths matching, she finally saw it: a gash of black ripped in front of them, a dozen yards from where they sprawled. It’s pitch extended endlessly in either direction until it blended into the night. She looked over to Cabal and he sat propped on his elbows staring at the fissure they created, his mouth just slightly open.

“We need to keep running,” Cabal said as he scrambled up.

Anya and Sabi quickly followed. Without a word Sabi stepped a foot forward, then another, and broke into a run, splashing through the grass. Feet pounded next to her and a cackle floated to her ears. A deep-throated laugh joined it and Sabi let out her own squeal of joy.

They were free.