Frozen, all I can do is stare, watching Uno work her way through the keys.
I should be more relieved, but one look at Kyzari—lips tinged blue as she rattles through breaths growing progressively more shallow—and I’m certain there’s no coming back from this.
She’s dying, be it here or—
Anywhere but here, in this cell that feels like a tomb.
I shift into action, gently untangling from Kyzari while Uno releases the lock on my cell, pushes the door open, and scurries in on all fours with the ring of keys dangling from her mouth. She gets to work on my shackles while I take in the filthy state of her feet, eyes widening on the splatters of blood in her mane.
My gaze shifts to the guard and the growing puddle of crimson now seeping into my cell …
Creators. I mustn’t get on her bad side.
The shackle falls away, revealing the weeping chafe wound. “Thank you,” I whisper, bursting to my feet.
“Veya’s very welcome.” Uno scurries out the door, leaps over the puddle of blood, and gets to work on the door to Kyzari’s cell, cycling through the keys with nimble hands.
Once in the tunnel, I collect Uno’s shroud and toss it over my shoulder, keeping watch despite the eerie silence.
Unease nettles my skin. “It’s so quiet …”
“Yes. Moonfall is coming.Many.”
The sentence is soft, but it punches so hard I feel the blow from my chest all the way up into my slackening jaw.
“When?”
“Soon.”
The knowing hitch to Uno’s voice sends a shiver up my spine. “Are we going to besafeoutside?”
“No choice.”
I open my mouth, snap it shut as the lock clunks open, then rush in and fall to my knees beside Kyzari. Uno gets to work, and I frown when I notice she’s not working on releasing theactualshackle. Rather, she’s targeting the lock that connects Kyzari’s ankle cuff to the chain that’s tethered to the ground.
I point to where the thick iron clamp has already worn through her skin in places. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather she not be wearing that when she—”
“Must leave iron shackle on. If Veya wants to live, that is.”
I’m about to ask what she means when the lock clicks open.
Uno goes deathly still, aside from her tail—flicking forward to rest against Kyzari’s face. Her eyes widen, pale pink morphing into an unseeing, iridescent swirl that makes my skin prickle, her pale complexion lightening so much she almost turns see-through. After a long, heart-pinching moment, she blinks her eyes back to normal. Her tail slackens, though her tone strings tight enough to snap. “We must hurry. Or die.”
“Creators.”
“You will carry.” She rips a bright-pink button off her tunic and tosses it on the floor. “Uno’s too small.”
Deciding not to question the button thing, I pocket Kaan’s lark, then work my arms under Kyzari. Push up with her tucked limp and clammy against my chest, passing Uno a strained smile. “Small, but big brave.”
Her responding grin is all glinting pin teeth, lighting up her face. Perhaps the most terrifying smile I’ve ever seen.
“Which way?”
Uno scurries ahead, looks left and right down the gloomy passageway, tail poised. “I thinks this way …” She darts left and pauses, bringing her frail hand to her mouth. “I thinks.”
“Worth a shot.”
We rush down the damp serpentine tunnel that seems to go on forever, only sparsely lit by the odd lantern or flaming torch. The moment we pass a drinking well gushing down the side and into a rough-hewn basin, Uno perks up. “Yeses. This is right.”
