My heart stuttered at his words.
Please don’t be dead, Noor.
“Hopefully the healer did her job.”
I bit down on my bottom lip so hard I tasted iron. If Thohfsa herself was coming to see Noor, that meant I had limited time to get her out. And if a healer of the unseen had been summoned, that meantthe emperor himself had sanctioned the use of zoraat to heal her. Emperor Vahid approving the use of one of his prized djinn magic healers meant he did suspect Noor knew something about Souma’s treasure. But right now, I was more relieved than anything—if Noor was healed, she was alive. And if she was healed, I wouldn’t have to carry her, and we might actually have a chance of escape.
I closed my eyes and inhaled the billowy scent of chai one final time before making my move. Then, I grabbed a large rock nearby and threw it into the bushes on the other side of the infirmary. I didn’t have time to be stealthy anymore, not if Thohfsa was on her way.
My fingers clamped around my stick, the makeshift sword cutting into the meat of my palm.
“Eh, did you hear that?” One of the guards turned toward the sound. “There aren’t any guards on patrol over there.”
The other guard snorted. “You’re in your head again. No one will attempt escape after what Thohfsa did to the last girl. And it’s unlikelyshe’lltry again.” He gave a low laugh, and I nearly laughed right along with him.
Let them think I gave up. They would know soon enough how wrong they were.
I curled my hands tighter around the branch, ready to take them both on. But just as I was about to rise from the shadows, the first guard shook his head and walked to the other side of the building to investigate the noise.
Leaving me alone with his friend.
I rolled from the bushes, stepped into the torchlight, and raised my stick high.
The guard’s eyes went wide, his mouth open in a surprised scream, but thankfully he didn’t have a chance to make a sound. I clubbed him with the thick end, and he dropped to the ground.
“I did try again,” I muttered as I kicked his motionless body. But I couldn’t leave him here, not if the other guard was on his way back. A ring of keys hung from his waist and I grabbed them as noiselessly as Icould, unlocking the front door and dragging his heavy body through the entrance, along with the tree branch I’d hit him with.
I closed the door behind us and we were encased in silence, except for my harsh breath.
The same stone floors as were in the rest of the prison graced the infirmary but with considerably less grime. In fact, the whole building was cleaner, as if it had barely been used, and with only the slight smell of turmeric from the salve they applied to our wounds after Thohfsa’s interrogations. It wasn’t large—only one long hall with different rooms where patients were housed. The entrance was dark except for the faint glimmer of the moon through a window above and a low light from an open door at the far end of the hall. Various unlit torches dotted the walls and a slight draft blew its way down the corridor. I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself, wishing I had some of that chai now to warm me.
I lifted the guard’s arms once more and grunted with the effort of pulling him to the nearest room—an empty chamber housed with medical supplies. Once I dumped his body, I flexed my hands, working the blood back to my fingers, wishing I still had some of the physical endurance I’d come to prison with.
All the muscles I’d honed from sparring with Mazin in the training yard had melted away when met with the steady starvation rations of the prison.
I nudged the guard’s leg with my toe and he didn’t react. My hands raked his body, feeling for any kind of weapon, but he didn’t have anything on him I could use. Pity. There wasn’t anything to tie him with, so I propped one of the gray metal chairs under the door handle. Then I went in search of Noor.
Seven
My feet slapped lightly against the cool stone as I walked down the hall, keeping to the shadows along the edge. Every room I passed was an empty husk and I didn’t see a sign of any other guards.
I walked toward the faint light emanating from the end. That was the only indication anyone was in the building other than me, which meant it must be where Noor was kept.
A small voice in my head repeated that I was a fool for going back for her and not escaping when I could.
But the other part of me, the part that kept my feet moving and my heart racing, knew that if I didn’t go back for Noor, if I didn’t try to rescue her too, I’d feel as if I never left the prison. That sick feeling was gnawing at my gut, spreading its black roots, and I knew exactly what it was.
Guilt.
I wouldn’t be free of it if I just left her here to die. And what was freedom worth if I still felt imprisoned?
I crept closer, listening for any sign of life other than the dim flickering light. It wasn’t until I got to the door that I heard a soft whisper and hope rose in my chest.
Noor.
Noor was alive. Noor wastalking.
But I held back, because she certainly wasn’t talking to herself.
