Dorian returns in exactly forty-eight minutes.
I’d been hoping he’d be a minute late, so I could give him hell. Of course, I won’t get the satisfaction.
When he walks through the cave door, his mood from when I last saw him has made a complete turn. He loudly announces, “Change of plans!” And tosses a leather belt with a pouch full of throwing blades my way. Somehow, I manage to catch it.
“That was risky,” I mumble.
“That is how much I trust your hand-eye coordination, V.”
“Fair enough.” Still, I glare playfully. “You were saying?”
“Right. Change of plans. What was going to be a perimeter check is now an attack. A large group is already on the Upper, but based on intelligence, they’ll need backup.”
“What?” I ask.
Before he can explain, Imi enters the cave behind him, followed by Xavier. “I brought reinforcements.” He motions toward Imi and Xavier, but before he can say anything more, Imi steps forward. “Just so you know, I’m not officially fighting for the Night. I’m purely extra protection.”
“For whom?” I ask.
Imi smiles widely. “I’m on Lunalette duty.”
Dorian clears his throat. “Yeah … So, I’ll admit, I wasn’t going to tell you.” I raise my eyebrows in total annoyance. “You’re too valuable a prize for the Imperi right now. But … I knew you’d find out and follow along anyway.” He shrugs.
“So you talked Imi into being my bodyguard?”
“No.” He looks at Imi. “She volunteered.”
Imi nods.
I look back and forth between them. Dorian was only gone an hour. How the hell did he get all of this organized?
Xavier, bow and quiver of arrows slung over his shoulder, steps forward. “We’re only backup … I doubt we’ll see any action. I was up in the Dogio village about an hour ago. It’s calm, but according to my source”—he pointedly looks at me and tries to give a grin of thanks for the note he passed me letting me know Nico was safe; he sort of nods but continues talking—“an Imperi squad is set to cross paths with one of our groups near the main tunnel. It’s too late to warn them, so we’ve got to assist.” I nod. “Luckily we outnumber them by quite a lot.”
I stand up, lace the belt through my pants, check out the blades. “When do we leave?”
WE TAKE THE den that spits us in the forest outside the main tunnel.
According to Xavier, the attack is set to occur in the town square at the south entrance of the tunnel. If we’ve timed it right, we should be able to sneak out of the den, hide behind the tree line, and support the group of Night soldiers from there.
Or …
If things go badly, join them.
When we reach the ladder that will take us up to the trapdoor, I check my hourglass: it’s still an hour until vesper bells, which means the sun is still out. I’ll be visible, but we all will.
Dorian and I share a look.
“Hood—” he says, pulling his own over his head.
I do the same.
Imi pulls out her blade.
Xavier loads an arrow.
I grip one of my knives.
From the top of the ladder, Dorian unlocks the den door and shoves it open a crack when an explosion goes off directly above us, sending dirt to rain down on top of us. We’re all shaken off balance, and Dorian loses his footing, falling off the ladder and onto the ground.
Once we regain our composure, I spot Dorian and Imi exchanging a look. One that has to do with some previously decided-on plan. One that, no doubt, has to do with me. And instead of waiting around for one or both of them to hold me back because the Lunalette must be protected, I quickly scale the ladder.
Shove the den door open the rest of the way.
Dorian swears.
I come up onto the island.
Xavier’s right at my side. “Eh! I promised him if there was danger, I’d back you up.”
Did Dorian make deals with everyone on our team?
But I nod because not too far away arrows are flying and explosions are sounding and if anyone has my back, I feel certain, based on his reputation, it’s Xavier.
The two of us run and duck behind a group of boulders just as Dorian and Imi emerge from the den. They jump in the opposite direction, take cover behind the trees.
Daring a peek up over the largest boulder, I spot the group of Night soldiers. Then another. And one more in the distance. They’re spread out. A bit confused but holding their ground. With only the cover of the piazza fountain and a small wall, they’ll be left out in the open once the smoke from the main explosion clears.
Imperi forces huddle just out of the Night’s line of sight: From what I can see Xavier’s contact was correct and we outnumber them by quite a bit, but they definitely have the advantage of position and cover. The Imperi stand in lines on the other side of the square behind the trees opposite us.
Even worse, they spot Xavier and me right away.
I duck, look at Xavier, his dark eyes dead serious.
“This is not great,” he whispers, seeing what I’m seeing. “But we’ve got the numbers.”
We watch as the Night soldiers search for cover. “We have to help get them out of there before the smoke clears and the Imperi strike.”
Instead of trying to talk me out of it, Xavier nods confidently. Finally, someone who’s on board with me fighting.
On a silent count of three, we run from one clump of rocks to another. Then to a group of trees. Slowly, we make our way closer until we’re at the final line of trees before the open town square.
That’s when everything goes terribly wrong.
The first surge of Imperi soldiers hits without warning and with the crash of a hundred angry waves. Knocks the breath clean out of me when I’m forced to jump belly first behind a clump of tree stumps.
Smoke and shouting, yelps of pain fill the air all around me.
I’ve no idea where Xavier, Dorian, and Imi are.
I glance to my right, then to my left. Over my shoulder. But they’re nowhere to be seen. I’m suddenly alone, and they could be alone too.
Or worse. I force the wave of panic constricting my chest and making quick work up into my throat back down. Quell it for now because I can’t allow fear to take over.
With a deep breath, I peek up over the stumps to try to spot them again but instead watch as a Night soldier throws an explosive where the group of Imperi soldiers are hiding.
There’s a flash, then an explosion, and I duck back behind the tree stumps. When I risk another look, the same Night soldier who threw the explosive receives an arrow to the chest and drops to the ground. A second Night soldier runs to his aid when she too is hit and falls not too far from him.
It’s impossible to see where she’s been hit or how bad it is. But there’s blood. A severely pained cry. A horrible clomp when her body hits the ground.
And the sound is so final, her body is unfathomably still. For a moment it feels like I’m asleep and watching a nightmare unfold behind my eyes.
But this is no dream.
My hands shake and my breath moves in quick shallow wisps as I watch and hope for even the slightest movement. A flutter of her eyelids. The twitch of her pinky finger.
There’s nothing.
And when I move on hand and knee to a closer location, I spot her face. Her eyes—they’re still open but she’s clearly gone.
This is the image that will forever haunt me about this moment: the emptiness in her eyes.
Standing up fully, I pull two explosives from my pack. I grip one in each hand and hold my blade between my teeth and at the ready for the moment I throw the explosives.
I toss the first one across the way, directly into the tree line where the majority of the Imperi soldiers are.
Then the other.
One, two, three more go off—my team got the message loud and clear and has my back.
Among the smoke and chaos and screaming I run into the square, begin telling Night soldiers to retreat. It’s no good. Too risky. Our position isn’t going to hold. We’ve stopped them for a moment, but we’ll never make it out alive.
In an instant, Dorian, Xavier, and Imi are by my side, gathering up wounded Night soldiers and taking them to the nearest den door—inside the tunnel.
But just on the other side of the square, I hear a similar “Retreat! Retreat!”
Imperi soldiers begin to back away too.
The multiple explosives, the fact that we clearly outnumber them, must scare them off.
As we’re retreating and the smoke’s finally clearing, I’m making my way toward the tunnel when I hear, “Heir Denali!”
All blood leaves my face.
I stop.
Don’t dare breathe a breath or allow my heart to beat even once before I know he’s all right.
I turn around.
Stare in the direction the shouting came from.
There, across the small piazza just on the other side of the dried-out fountain where we used to meet up that other life ago, is Nico. Surrounded by smoke and death and blood, he stands tall. Taller than I remember.
Our eyes meet.
Nico …
I want to run to him. Wrap my arms tightly around him and never, ever let go. Make him flee this place with me. We’ll jump in the sea and swim until we can’t swim any longer or we reach a new land.
Anything to be free of this hell.
But I can’t.
He can’t.
And it’s over before it begins.
Because Nico’s distracted—by me—he doesn’t see the Night soldier and Imperi soldier about to attack each other.
He doesn’t see he’s in the crosshairs.
I want to shout his name, but I know I can’t. Instead, I bound out of the tunnel, only to immediately be jerked right back inside.
“Veda, no!” Imi says, her hands clutching my arm. “It’s not safe!”
“Damn it, Imi!” I shout and shove her away, but she has a death grip on me. “Let me be!” Somehow, I’m able to half scramble my way back up to my feet.
I will drag her with me to the tunnel entrance to be sure Nico’s safe if I have to.
I’m barely there when again I see Nico.
He’s back near the trees.
Safe.
Our eyes meet.
Then right between us that same Night soldier and Imperi soldier attack each other. The Imperi soldier strikes with his sword first. The Night soldier defends himself with a series of arrows at close range.
Both fall to the ground.
Neither moves.
Our eyes still locked, I see the tears filling in his eyes, how they must reflect the flood filling my own.
Then he’s pulled away and I’m pulled into the tunnel.
But I can still see him. Still make out those dark eyes of his until …
An Imperi grenade strikes the entrance.
There’s a blast.
The arch of the tunnel falls to the ground.
We escape through the den.
Walking quickly back no one dares utter a word.
All I can think is this cannot continue.
This is over.