“What are they doing?”an older man demands.
“They seem to have caught a scent this way, Lord Salis,” one of the guards says.
“Then follow it, man!”Lord Salis says.
“There’s still a chance they’re heading through the woods,” another noble puts in.“They’d be visible anywhere else.”
“Then take half the men and go through the woods,” Lord Salis says.“I’ll be taking my dogs and hunting!”
He goes with the hunting pack and half his men, heading off on the wild goose chase I’m leading them on.The other group has only a couple of the dogs now, but it might still be enough to disrupt them.
“They’re coming,” I say.
Alaric nods.“Then we need to get moving.”
We head deeper into the woods, while I try to lead the half of the guards with the dogs as far away as possible.The other half are making their way through the trees now, and I hear a snap followed by a sharp cry as one of them is caught in one of the snares Alaric has carefully repositioned.More cries follow, and I can see through the eyes of the two dogs with them that one of the guards is trying to cut down another from a snare.The others are moving more cautiously, trying to carefully avoid the traps.
That’s when I set the dogs on them, causing chaos.There are only a couple of dogs, not enough to defeat the group of guards, but it’s enough to send another of them stumbling into a trap, and to wound the leg of another.A guard slashes at one of the dogs with a sword and I pull my consciousness back, not wanting to force the dogs to fight to the death.
We keep running through the woods, and a couple of the guards are starting to catch up.Their particular magical talents seem to make them faster than other people, and I move to intercept them.
I’m not alone.Alaric wheels as they approach, slashing a sword across one of their arms, even as I dodge aside from an attack and trip the other man.He’s moving too quickly to stop his momentum and goes face first into a tree, stunning him at least temporarily.We turn and run again.
We burst out of the stand of trees now, and the temptation is to keep running across the open ground, but Alaric directs us to one of the fields filled with vines.We get to it before the first of the guards bursts from the woods, squatting down and moving as quietly as we can.
I direct the owl I’ve borrowed sight from to circle above the guards, looking through its senses to track their progress.I gesture to the others and guide them carefully away from the group, determined not to give them any chance to catch up to us.We sneak together, moving as one through the darkness without a sound.
I’m impressed by the resistance’s efforts here tonight.They…we,worked together in a way that’s a long way from the badly thought through protests of their early efforts.It’s clear they’re becoming a force to be reckoned with in the city.Maybe even something that can truly stand up to Selene’s plans.
Not that those thoughts do anything to reduce my tension as we continue to sneak away.My heart is still pounding, and not just with the possibility the guards might find us at any moment.I’m still controlling the dogs and the owl, still borrowing night vision from the latter, and I can feel every other animal around me, too.My body is fighting me, as if it wants to change, wants to shift into something more bestial.But I don’t dare let go of my control on any of them, not until we reach the edges of the Salis estates and start to run back towards the city.When I finally let go of my powers, I must force my body to become what it was, force it to fully let go of the beasts I was connected to.I stumble slightly with the effort, but Alaric catches my arm, helping me.
“Are you all right?”he asks me.
“I was just holding onto the hounds’ minds too long, that’s all,” I say as we keep going back towards the city.Physically, I’ll be fine.Emotionally… I’m not so sure.I saw Marcus tonight at the heart of Selene’s plans, urging the others to go along with them, determined to smooth the way for the former arch-magistrate to make herself empress.I don’t know how to react to that.I feel betrayed in a way that makes my heart ache.I knew Marcus was in favor of the games, but this is several steps beyond that.I can’t imagine how he could do it.
I want to believe he’s under Selene’s control, but I didn’t feel that kind of direct manipulation from psychomancy tonight.Maybe she’s implanted a few small suggestions in Marcus instead?But such things wouldn’t be enough for him to take a leading role, certainly not with her absent tonight.
“I don’t get why Selene wasn’t there,” Thalia says, as the city comes into view again.The first rays of morning light are just reaching over the horizon to touch it, bathing its white marble in the bloody red of dawn.It feels too much like an omen for the city of what’s to come.The streets will be filled with blood, and Marcus will help bring that about.
I need to understand why.I need to know if anything between us was true, or if it was all just a lie designed to get what he wanted.As we slip into the catacombs beneath the city, heading back through them towards the resistance’s safehouse, I know there’s only one way I’m going to get those answers.
I need to confront Marcus, face to face.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“You want to do what?”Alaric says, when I put my idea to him.We’re both sitting in a back room of the inn together, going over some of the scraps of parchment the resistance stole from the villa, trying to work out what’s useful.
“I want to speak with Marcus,” I reply.I’ve been thinking about this since we came back from the raid, and now I’m certain of it.
“And say what?”Alaric asks.
“I want to know why he’s siding with Selene.I want to try to persuade him to work against her again.I want to know if he’s being controlled using psychomancy.”
I need some kind of explanation, because otherwise his presence at the meeting last night will never make sense to me.
“And when he calls for the guards to come throw you into a prison cell?”Alaric says.“When he decides to prove his loyalty to Selene by handing you over to her?”
I shake my head.“He wouldn’t do that.”
