Aina’s eyes widened. The main smuggler still hadn’t arrived from Kaiyan. She listened closely, but the man replying only gave numbers: fifty. If they had fifty men just to meet this smuggler, that must mean there would be an even bigger shipment than before. Probably not only weapons, but also hired fighters.
A moment later, chairs were pushed back with a squeak on the floor of the other room; the meeting had ended. Aina flattened herself to the wall behind the chest as the Jackals made their way out of the apartment.
Her thoughts raced with what she’d heard. Bautix was planning to poison the whole Sentinel, infiltrating the Tower to do it. He knew Fayes was dead, but he still seemed confident—with the men and weapons he was bringing in, he’d be more than a match for the Diamond Guards in the Tower.
She moved to sneak out of the apartment again, but a few feet from the window, the air shifted behind her and an arm wrapped around her throat. She jammed her elbow into her attacker’s stomach and spun to face Kerys aiming a gun at her.
“Hear anything interesting?”
“Care to introduce me to this smuggler of yours?” Aina replied.
It was best to let her think Aina had only heard the end of the conversation. As Kerys considered her words, Aina took a moment to look more closely at her. Instead of the usual hard blaze, tears rested at the corners of her eyes.
“She’s working with you all,” she said. “She shouldn’t be.”
“You mean Lill, your daughter?” Aina asked after a pause. “What else should she be doing in this great world you and Bautix made together? Should she hide and wait for one of your Jackal friends to attack?”
With a sharp shake of her head, Kerys spat out, “You have no idea what you’re talking about. All I wanted was a chance at survival—you understand that, don’t you? No matter what the Mothers promise, there’s no guarantee we’ll survive in this city. Lill was no safer with or without me there. I can’t change how much I hurt her in the past, and all of them, by leaving. But I will never put my daughter in danger.”
“You already have,” Aina scoffed. “And every day that you continue to work with Bautix, you still do. So, I assume it was you who ratted out our plan to him about trying to stop the shipment. Kohl shouldn’t have trusted you.”
A brief, sad smile flickered on Kerys’s features. She took a deep breath before saying anything else, her gun still aimed at Aina’s face. “The safe houses in the city aren’t safe. The only reason I haven’t killed you right now is because I want you to get my daughter out of them.”
“Does Bautix know where they are?” Aina asked, a sinking feeling in her stomach. “What is he planning?”
“I told Alsane the location of some old ones that aren’t in use anymore, but I wasn’t the only Jackal informing him,” Kerys said in a terse voice. “He has enough people working for him that he can scour every corner of the city and find their hiding places. He’s going to kill all of the Inosen.”
As she spoke, Aina was already moving toward the window. The sky had gone overcast, the sun hidden behind deep gray clouds that gave the city a dull tone. Leaning halfway out of the window, Aina looked toward the south of the city, then back at Kerys.
“I’ll get them out.”
“Tonight,” Kerys barked. “Now.”
Without waiting another breath, Aina slipped out of the window.
23
Aina raced through the tunnels, nearly running into walls as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. But she had to get to the safe house soon, or it would be too late.
Years ago, while she and her parents had sneaked through these same tunnels, there’d been a night when they’d had to outrun Diamond Guards hunting for Inosen in the secret worship centers underground. Her mother had knelt down, taken Aina’s face in her hands, and whispered that they were playing a game.
“Whoever stays quiet the longest before we get out of the tunnel will win a prize.” She glanced over her shoulder, where Aina’s father gestured for them to hurry, to leave the little nook where they’d briefly hidden. “Not just your voice, but your feet too. Try not to make a sound, and I’ll buy you any sweet thing you want.”
Aina nodded, pretending she was so easily fooled—but she knew what was happening. She’d seen people killed for the same things her parents did. She knew what they risked. This wasn’t a game, and she wouldn’t treat it as one. But for her mother’s sake, she hid the real fear burrowing into her bones and nodded excitedly.
“Sweet ice,” she whispered, and that was the last word she said before grabbing her mother’s hand and following her father’s lead through the tunnels, careening into the walls like she did now and wondering if the Mothers could really hear them down here like the Sacoren always said. That was the first time they’d done it, and it wouldn’t be the last—but all those times, as soon as she’d said, “sweet ice,” that meant they were on their way to safety.
Minutes later, her fists slammed into the door of the safe house. She knocked loudly, louder than she should have—she definitely would have lost the game her mother had played—but she didn’t care. They had to get out now, or they never would.
There was a small hole in the door where someone could peer through, and Aina waited as a gold eye blinked at her before opening the door. “Aina!” Lill exclaimed, ushering her inside. “What’s going on?”
She glanced around the room once, taking them all in—most of them were chatting in small groups or reading in quiet corners. The Dom’s employees, however, stood as soon as they saw her.
“You have to leave,” she said, so quickly she thought they might not have understood her. “Bautix. He’s going to attack all of the safe houses in the city.” When they didn’t do anything, she threw her hands in the air and shouted, “What are you waiting for? Move!”
Tannis, Mirran, Kushik, Markus, and Johana grabbed their weapons and moved to stand next to Aina a breath later. Some of the younger Inosen half-rose from their seats, but seemed unsure what to do, their eyes going to their parents and the three Sacoren gathered near the fire—June, Urill, and Sofía.
“How do you know?” June asked.
Lill met Aina’s eyes, as if she could somehow predict what Aina would say—and she shook her head a fraction of an inch, her skin paling under her freckles.
“I got good information out of a Jackal,” she said instead of Kerys’s name, not wanting to bring up the painful reminder that Lill’s mother was a traitor. “I don’t know what kind of attack he’s planning, but I know it’s something big. You need to get out of here.”
“We’re as safe here as we are anywhere,” Sofía said, her hands folded together in front of her. “Where would we go?”
“The safe houses in the city aren’t safe,” Aina said, looking directly at Lill as she added, “but there’s another one, just outside of the city.”
Her words sank in, and the rest of the group finally started moving, grabbing one or two things and throwing them into small burlap sacks, ready in moments. Maybe they’d been slow to react, but they were used to upheaval, disaster, and moving on.
“What about the other safe houses?” Urill asked. “Have you warned them yet?”
“I only found out about the attack twenty minutes ago,” Aina said, shaking her head. “I don’t know when it will happen.”
“Then we need to send people to each of the other safe houses to warn them and get them to the mines safely,” June said, her voice taking on a tone of command.
“How many other safe houses are there?” Aina asked.
“Five more, one in each district,” Raurie answered, standing. “I’ll go.” Her voice left no room for doubt, and though June frowned slightly at Raurie’s words, she didn’t argue.
“I’ll go to one too,” Tannis said. Mirran, Lill, and one of the other younger Inosen all agreed to split up and go to each safe house. Urill looked like he was about to protest Lill leaving, but she merely gave him a determined nod before slipping out of a back door
along with the others.
“I’ll go with the rest of you,” Aina said, nodding at those who remained—Kushik, Markus, Johana, and the rest of the Inosen.
Aina led the way out of the main door, heading back through the tunnel she’d come from, and she wondered for a moment how many situations like this her parents had dealt with—if this kind of bone-deep panic was what the Inosen had felt during the war. It wasn’t like when she went on jobs; usually adrenaline urged her on, her skills and strength shielding her from any fear that might make her mess up. But this was different. They were in a tunnel, they were hunted as a group, like mice being led to a trap. If they didn’t find air, they’d die under here—and the attack hadn’t even started yet.
But just when she was wondering when Bautix would finally strike, the earth shook beneath them, tremors that knocked them into the walls. Aina winced as her face hit the tunnel wall, a rock scraping her cheek sharply. A couple of the Inosen behind her cried out.
Aina hardly breathed. Dust billowed from the tunnel ahead, making her cough and her eyes water. Another tremor shook them, a second explosion—she caught her balance then, her hands held out to both sides of the tunnel wall. People clung to her, Inosen holding on to her arms and waist as if she could actually do anything about a bomb.
She unstuck her mouth, dry and nearly sealed shut from the heavy cloud of dust that had passed over them, and said, “Maybe we should go the other—”
The tunnel collapsing ahead drowned out her next words—rocks fell from the ceiling, closing the way ahead, and the rest of the tunnel began to follow suit, clouds of dust rushing toward them. The Inosen ran back in the direction they’d come. Aina followed at the back of the group with her hands over her head as if that would protect her from a falling rock.
Then the memory of the night of the fire flashed through her mind—the beam, falling toward her, Raurie holding a diamond in the light of the flames, a rock jutting out of the earth to save Aina from being crushed.
They reached the safe house again and raced toward the back door, but Aina withdrew a knife and one of the remaining diamonds Raurie had given her yesterday. With shaking hands, she made a quick cut on her upper arm and tried to recall the spells they’d learned so far.
This room was a bit more stable than the rest of the tunnel, so she had more time—but if she was unlucky, the tunnel would crash down on both sides around her and bury her in this safe house. The old game would be over, but she’d go quiet very fast.
For a moment, fear gripped her that maybe the Mothers wouldn’t let her use the magic again, like how Raurie hadn’t been able to heal Lill on the roof of the train after using the magic to kill.
But then Teo’s words came back to her: the magic is like a knife in your hands. Shoving aside her doubts, she concentrated on the tunnel floor ahead with the razor-like focus of a Blade. That would be the only way to get everyone out of here alive.
“Shinek inoke,” she said, sweeping her hand upward with as much force as she would when swinging a knife.
The earth rose in front of her, grating and screeching like metal sliding against metal. She slid backward as a ramp rose out of the floor of the safe house, its sharp tip extended toward the ceiling.
She stumbled backward as the ceiling was gutted, the ramp carving a path through it like it was no thicker than blood.
Forced through the back door as the ramp continued to rise, Aina looked over her shoulder, blinking the dust out of her eyes to see that the Inosen stared back at what was happening with their mouths open in awe.
When Aina looked back at the ramp, relief surging through her that it had worked, she was nearly blinded by the light spilling through the hole in the ceiling.
But it wasn’t sunlight—it was flames, licking at the buildings visible through the hole. Bautix must have planted bombs in the buildings lined above the tunnel, not caring who was caught in the crossfire as long as the Inosen were buried beneath.
“Come on!” Kushik yelled, and he, Markus, and Johana gestured for the Inosen to run up the ramp. Aina led, a dagger in each hand as she came onto the street.
It was a blaze of fire, carnage, and madness as the buildings around them burned. Aina froze for a moment, the fire searing through her resolve and sending her back to the night she’d lost the Dom. For a moment, she wondered where Kohl was now—if he feared losing their home as much as she did. People screamed, running away from falling debris and collapsing walls. The late afternoon sky was slate-gray and shrouded with clouds of ash.
A gust of wind swept that ash toward her as she waited for the Inosen to come up the ramp, and she shielded her face with her hands, forced to crouch in the rubble until it passed. A wave of heat passed over her and she remembered leaping out of the window of the Dom, her clothes singed with flames and the windows melting before her. For a second she feared she would be lit aflame right where she stood.
But then the wind passed, and when she opened her eyes, she was safe—for now. Fire still blazed around her, she could barely see more than five feet ahead due to the cloying smoke, and the road was a maze of fallen walls, isolated fires, and collapsed ground.
The Inosen stumbled out into the street around her, wide-eyed at the wreckage. Aina gestured, barely knowing what street she was on, but at least she was sure of the direction—ahead was north. She just needed to get them off this street that ran directly above the tunnel.
She led the way, veering right through an alley past a building that was still intact—if they could reach the next block, they might avoid any more attacks. Kushik, Markus, and Johana took the sides and rear of the group, each of them holding pistols that they’d only recently gotten used to using.
She heard the next explosion before it hit. Like metal screeching directly in her ears, followed by a strange quiet like snow falling over an empty street. Then the world shattered.
Hands over her head, Aina let herself roll with the burst of hot wind that followed behind her. She could do nothing for the Inosen now except hope they hadn’t been next to the building when the explosion rocked it.
Her back slammed into a wall a moment later. She wasn’t burning alive, so she allowed herself a moment to rest there, eyes squeezed shut, her body aching. When Kohl had saved her from the bombing of the tavern when she was twelve, they’d landed in a pile of snow to cushion their fall. The cold and wet had helped smother some of the flames, easing the aftereffects of that particular explosion.
In the heat of summer right now, there would be no such relief.
She opened her eyes again, her eyelashes white with ash, and saw her city burning.
Shadowy figures rushed toward her, their shapes and features barely discernible, just black shapes moving through white clouds.
As she staggered to her feet, the others came into view—some of the Inosen who’d been with her, June among them. Aina spotted Markus stumbling out of the wreckage, but couldn’t make out any sign of Kushik or Johana. Her heart clenched at the thought that they might be trapped there, but staying here to search would only risk the lives of the survivors even more.
“They all know the way to the mines,” Urill choked out, his hands on his knees when he reached the group. Then he gestured at the smoke and dust clouds surrounding them. “There’s no way we’ll find them in this, so we need to go.”
They walked another block, still veering northeast, when two more Diamond Guards rushed in their direction, their gleaming buckles and pistols making them stand out among the panicked pedestrians. It was a little easier to see here, one block away from where the most damage was, and there was a moment when they stood across the street from the Diamond Guards, staring at one another. The diamonds and silver on their clothes glittered in the dim light, and then their eyes flicked to their group—where June, Urill, and Sofía wore diamonds in arcs on their foreheads.
Aina opened her mouth to say something, anything to get them to hurry to the scene of chaos and actually do something. But then th
e Diamond Guards raised their guns and fired.
24
Aina flung a knife into one of the guard’s throats. The other one turned his gun to Aina instead, and she rolled toward him as a shot fired. She flung his arm to the side and plunged one of her scythes into his stomach. He choked on his own blood and collapsed to his knees as she pulled it out.
Turning back to the group, Aina saw them gathered in a small circle around someone who had fallen. When she got closer, she saw Urill on the ground, his blue hair stained with his own blood and his gold eyes, so like Lill’s staring up at the smoke-ridden sky.
“There’s nothing we can do,” Sofía said, her voice thick with tears as she reached forward to close Urill’s eyes. “Not even magic could save him now.”
“We’ll find him again once this is over,” June said, her own tears falling on her cheeks in trails. Then, in the white ash that coated his forehead, she drew a small arc, and Aina remembered her mother often doing that with coal dust on the Inosen who were brought to her but died before she could heal them. To help the Mothers find them, she’d said when Aina had first asked what it was.
“Help me move him somewhere out of sight,” June said once she finished.
“I’ll do it,” Aina said, then nodded toward a boarded-up store across the street. “That store is empty, so I’ll leave him in there. I’ll loosen one of the boards on the door for you to get in later. You all need to get to the mines as fast as you can. Those Diamond Guards don’t belong to the Tower anymore—they’re Bautix’s, and I bet you he’s given them orders to finally turn, and to kill you all if they find you. Go, I’ll catch up.”
As they stood to leave, June took one of Aina’s hands and squeezed it. “Amman oraske, Aina.”
“Amman min oraske,” she replied, the words flowing from her immediately. May the Mothers bless you too.
Shadow City Page 21