Phoenix

“Then why are you going along with it?” Natalie says tiredly.



“Because we don’t have much choice. When we found out about the Tenth from Lucinda’s letter, we knew it was only a matter of time before the Sentry came for us.” Acelot perches on the edge of the crate, his tail brushing against the dirt floor. “Elijah told us what he’d discovered about the Ora. The senate saw the opportunity to get their hands on a powerful weapon to defend ourselves with, but we needed a backup plan.”



“Let me guess; you’re intending to hand us over to the Sentry in return for your lives?” I say.



“Pretty much,” Acelot admits.



I shake my head disbelievingly. “You’re fragging crazy if you think the Sentry’s going to agree to those terms.”



“I’m not convinced they will, but we don’t have many options,” Acelot replies.



“You could’ve joined the rebellion,” I say.



“That’s what I wanted.” Acelot sighs. “I just couldn’t persuade the others to work with the Darklings.” He leaves the tray and heads upstairs, briefly pausing on the steps. “I truly am sorry.”



The door closes behind him. As soon as he’s gone, I slump my head back against the pillar, my temples throbbing. I shut my eyes, trying to block out the headache.



* * *



The sound of siren birds wailing wakes me up. I blink a few times, trying to adjust to the dark, and glance over at Natalie. I don’t even remember drifting off. How long have we been asleep? She turns her head toward me.



Overhead, we hear footsteps marching through the atrium toward the senate room.



They’re here.



Fear spikes in me.



“Ash!” Natalie says, hearing the footsteps too.



“I won’t let them hurt you,” I say.



There’s a clamor in the senate room above us. Chairs scrape back. Footsteps march across the room. I recognize Garrick’s distinctive gait.



“Where are they?” he says gruffly, his voice muffled through the ceiling.



“Downstairs,” Bezier replies.



“Go get them, then,” Sebastian orders.



More footsteps cross the floor. Shortly after, the door to the vault opens, casting a shaft of sunlight into the room. I expect the Bastet guards, but instead Elijah appears. A set of keys jangle around his shackled wrists. He hangs his head slightly as he stands in front of us.



“How could you betray us?” Natalie says.



He raises his eyes. “What would you have done in my place? I was just following orders.”



“You make it sound like you didn’t have a choice in this,” she says.



“I didn’t!”



She fixes him with a hard, unforgiving look.



“I didn’t,” he insists, subconsciously playing with the gold bands on his wrists. Bands just like the ones the guards upstairs wore.



“You’re a servant,” I say, understanding.



Elijah nods slightly.



“So Bezier isn’t your father?” Natalie says.



“He is,” Elijah says. “But when Rowanne found out about his affair with my mom, and that they’d had a kid, she demanded that I work as their servant, to punish my mother.”



“Is this the bit where we’re supposed to feel sorry for you?” I say.



“No,” Elijah replies. “But maybe you can understand that I didn’t have a choice. He’s the Consul; I have to follow his orders.”



Natalie rolls her eyes. “Whatever. You were just trying to impress him.”



Elijah flushes.



“We could have helped you,” I say. “With the Ora, the rebellion might have succeeded. Now there’s no chance. You’ve condemned us all.”



Elijah sits down on the damp earth, his shoulders slumping. “I’m so sorry.”



“Pardon us if we don’t believe you,” Natalie replies.



“I mean it,” he says. “I care for you. I never wanted to hurt you.”



“Give me a break,” she says. “It was all make-believe.”



“It wasn’t! It isn’t,” he says. “I wanted to confess to you a million times—”



“Then why didn’t you?” she challenges.



“I thought I was doing the right thing for my people,” he says.



Natalie glares at him.



“And I wanted to impress my dad,” he admits.



“I’m glad that worked out well for you,” I retort, looking at his gold shackles.



He rubs his wrists, a frown on his lips. “I did hope—”



“What? That your dad would suddenly accept you into the family if you delivered me and Natalie to him? You’re an idiot,” I reply. “You’re not even a person to him. You’re just a tool to be used and tossed away when he’s done with you.”



Elijah rakes his hands through his mane. “I don’t want it to end like this.”



“It doesn’t have to. You can release us,” Natalie says.



“I can’t—”



“You owe me,” Natalie says. “I released you from the Sentry HQ, remember?”



“Sebastian will kill my dad and brothers if I don’t hand you over,” he says. “You know he will.”



I glance at Natalie. I have to get her out of here; it’s her only chance to live.



“Leave me behind. I’m the one Sebastian wants anyway,” I say to Elijah.



“Ash, no!” Natalie says.



“Please, Elijah,” I say. “If you truly care about Natalie, then set her free.”



Uncertainty crosses his features.



“Please,” I say.



In the room above us, I can hear Sebastian and Garrick pacing around the senate room, getting impatient. Elijah looks up at the ceiling, then at Natalie. He briefly shuts his eyes, clearly conflicted. Finally, he gets up and unties her. Relief crashes over me; there’s a chance she’ll escape, a chance she’ll live. That’s all I need to keep me going.



“Thank you,” I say to Elijah.



“Don’t thank me yet,” he says, surprising me by removing my binds. “I still have to get you both out of here.”



I scramble to my feet, confused about why he’s letting me go.



“Why are you doing this?” I say to him.



“Because someone has to save my people,” he says. “And I don’t think my father’s the man to do it. Promise me you’ll protect them.”



“Aren’t you coming with us?” Natalie says.



He shakes his head. “I need to stay and defend my family.”



“You’ll be killed,” she says.



A sad smile crosses his lips. “Don’t worry about me, pretty girl.” He looks at me. “Do you promise?”



I clamp a hand on his shoulder. “I promise.”



We race up the stairs into the atrium, but skid to a halt as we spot the two Bastet guards from earlier, patrolling the corridor. They’ve got their backs to us, so they haven’t seen us yet. We quickly slink back into the shadows just as one of them peers over his shoulder. My muscles tense, waiting to see if he’s spotted us. My body relaxes when he turns away.



The Bastet guards pace down the hallway, then enter one of the rooms on the left. As soon as the door shuts behind them, Elijah emerges from our hiding place and whistles the four-note tune to silence the siren birds. He beckons us forward, and we follow him. We hurry past the large rosewood doors leading into the senate room.



“I haven’t got all day, Bezier,” Sebastian snaps from the other side of the closed doors. “Bring them to me now.”



“My servant has gone to get them,” Bezier replies. “Now, about our terms—”



There’s a gunshot, followed by the sound of a body hitting the stone floor.



Elijah spins around, his face ashen. “Dad!”



Pandemonium instantly breaks out in the senate: people scream, more gunshots are fired, bodies hit the floor. The doors burst open, and the Bastet senators run out of the room, tripping over one another in their haste. There’s a smattering of gunfire, and they fall into a heap on the mosaic floor. My nostrils flare with the scent of their blood.



Through the open doorway, I see Acelot and the other Bastets fighting the Sentry guards, while Marcel takes cover under the table. Donatien lies lifeless on the floor beside his mother and Bezier. In the center of the melee are Sebastian, Garrick, Sasha and two other Lupines.



The loud noises startle the siren birds, and they begin squawking. Sebastian turns, drawn by the sound, and catches my eye. Surprise briefly registers on his face, and then it hardens into a snarl. He barks an order at the Lupines.



Garrick and his pack bound toward us, followed by Sebastian and a pair of blood-soaked Sentry guards. The Lupines leap over the pile of dead senators, barely breaking their stride as they chase us down the corridor, although Garrick has a definite limp as he runs. The agitated siren birds wail as we dash by, their cries echoing around the atrium.



We burst out the front door, into the main plaza. Parked on the far side of the plaza is the Transporter that Sebastian and his men took to get here. The hatch is open. We race toward it, knowing it’s our best chance of escape. I risk a look over my shoulder. Garrick has reached the front door. He charges toward us, closely followed by Sasha and the other two Lupines.



“Hurry!” I cry out.



Natalie gasps as her injured leg buckles beneath her and she slams to the ground. I turn on my heel and run back for her, but I know I’m sealing my own fate by doing so. I reach her at the same time as Garrick. He knocks me out of the way, grabbing Natalie. I hit the ground, hard. The two guards grab Elijah, while Sebastian draws his sword on me, a triumphant look on his face.



He’s so focused on me, he doesn’t notice Acelot by the doorway, gun raised. The Bastet shoots the Sentry guards holding Elijah before aiming his gun at Sebastian. He pulls the trigger. Click. Nothing happens. The chamber’s empty.



“What are you waiting for, dog?” Sebastian says to Garrick. “Kill the cat.”



Garrick moves, as if he’s going to get Acelot. Then something happens I wasn’t expecting. Garrick slings Natalie over his shoulder and runs onto the Transporter, along with Sasha and the other two Lupines.



Distracted, Sebastian briefly lets his guard down, and I take my chance to strike. I lunge at him, putting my full weight behind the tackle. We crash to the ground, rolling across the plaza, each trying to get the upper hand. We’ve been in this situation before—two months ago, in fact, during the riot in Black City. But this time I’m not going to let him go.



On the other side of the plaza, the Transporter’s engine starts up. No!



“Get Natalie!” I call to Elijah.



I don’t know if he’s heard me; I’m too busy fighting with Sebastian. I manage to pin him under me and punch him in the face, over and over, until my knuckles bleed. He slumps against the ground, alive but unconscious, blood spilling out of his nose and mouth.



The Transporter’s rotors begin to spin, drawing my attention.



Elijah sprints toward the aircraft just as the hatch door starts to close.



He’s not going to make it!



Through the crack in the closing door, I see Natalie being shackled to the metal bench.



“Natalie!” I yell.



She turns, catching my eye through the slit in the closing door.



“Ash!” she cries out.



Elijah leaps at the hatch, nimbly rolling through the gap just as the door shuts and the vehicle takes off.



“No!” I scream as the Transporter flies overhead. “Natalie! NATALIE!”



I yell until I have no voice left, but it’s no use.



She’s gone.



39.



NATALIE



I PULL AGAINST the chains around my wrists and ankles, immediately regretting it as they dig into my sore flesh. We’ve been on the prison Transporter for hours, and Garrick hasn’t said a word to us this whole time. He just sits silently at the pilot seat while Sasha and the other two Lupines watch over us. She occasionally lets me use the tiny restroom near the cockpit, but that’s the only interaction we’ve had.



When I’m not worrying about Ash, which isn’t often, I plot ways to attack Garrick and take over the ship, although I know it’s futile. The Lupines would kill us before we even got close to him. Besides, it’s not like either Elijah or I know how to fly the airship.



Elijah stares ahead, his face etched with worry. He must guess that Garrick probably intends to kill him as soon as we get to our destination. I’m briefly reminded of the last time we were on a prison Transporter together, during our failed mission to save Polly. He was such a comfort to me then. I gently take his hand, and he looks gratefully at me. His fingers tighten around mine.



Clouds drift by the cockpit window. It’s impossible to tell where we are, although my best guess is that we’re on our way to Centrum. Garrick no doubt wants the reward money for himself and didn’t want to share it with Sebastian. What I don’t understand is why Garrick took me and not Ash. I’m of little value to Rose, other than . . . oh God. There’s one use for me. Purian Rose can use me to distract Ash, the same way they used Polly. They’re going to keep me alive, torture me, knowing it’ll drive Ash insane. He won’t be able to function; he’ll be useless to the rebellion.



I think Rose understands now that killing Ash isn’t the best move. Ash has already been “resurrected” twice; people won’t believe he’s dead, and if they do, he’ll be turned into a martyr, which is the last thing Rose wants. There’s no point arresting him either. That would make him a political prisoner, which will just rally more support for the rebels. No, all Purian Rose can hope for now is to keep Ash distracted, and to do that, he needs me.