Page 111 of Nocturn

Damien moved forward, bursting out and crouching next to the hole. I took his proffered hand, and he aided me to my feet. I held on a bit longer to steady myself because my injured leg buckled.

Screaming echoed from the distance, muffled and erratic. Jagged stone spanned behind me, and I had to crane my neck. The texture of the building, rigid, polished stone, told me it was the House of Lords . . . just a different end of it.

“This is where I leave you,” Damien whispered, his breath brushing my ear. He tipped his head, touching his fingertips to his temple. He looked at Piper standing on her hind legs beside me and did the same head tilt.

‘Tell him bye for me!’ she said, rushed. ‘And thank you.’

I heard the admiration in her tone.

“Piper thanked you,” I whispered. He winked at Piper and left, casually strolling the opposite way.

“Stop swooning,” I nudged her with the tip of my foot, unable to hide the twitching of my lips.

‘I was not,’ she scoffed.

I gave her a look telling her how little I believed it.

‘Follow me,’ she grumbled, her small feet putter-pattering across the dirt. ‘The carriage will be at the servants’ entrance.’ She quickened her pace, and I struggled to keep up. ‘Stop before the turn to make sure there is no one to sound the alarm.’

The wall ran on past where I could see. I kept as low as I could, hugging the shadow it cast.

Keeping calm at this moment was vital when all I wanted was to scream and shout at everyone—no, at Cassiel. Now I understood why he had not even allowed me a speck of belief; he knew about the Resistance and my part in it.

With how he felt about redbloods, the strength it must have taken him not to snap my neck . . .

I slowed and carefully peeked around the bend to find a section that dipped inward covered by an awning. A wagon, wooden and half the length of a carriage, stood strapped to four draft horses, sitting about fifteen paces away. One of the two doors had been propped open.

“Just two more carts after this, Billy,” a woman announced, following a thickset man as he carried an empty wooden container. Something where fruit was toted around. He leaned up and the sound of scraping came from inside.

Four moon rotations had passed with me here, and this was the first time I saw this back entrance.

The man and woman continued chattering, but their voices faded under the thundering of my pulse. He straightened, and they rounded the wagon, entering the dark entrance.

‘Now!’ Piper squealed and took off at a sprint, me on her heels. I gritted my teeth, ignoring the stabbing pain traveling from my knee to my hip.

‘Everything is clear,’ Piper said, returning to my side as I reached the wagon. She climbed up my leg and I stretched my arm out so she could get inside. With my palms braced on the lip of the wagon, I hoisted myself up, tossing my good leg up.

‘Back here!’

I followed Piper’s direction and slid through the wooden barrels and stacked containers. Far enough that all the clutter blocked me. I found Piper tucked in the far corner behind a thick barrel. I braced myself and slid onto the ground next to her.

“These Elites and their dramatics,” the muffled voices continued from outside, nearing.

Just in time.

Their chatter faded, and there was movement from the front, but I kept painfully still until the dawnlight coming in was cut off and all that was offered were the little slivers spilling between the slats. It was no more than a few breaths before the wagon began to travel, shaking as the horses settled into a steady pace.

I drooped, hugging Piper’s long body to my chest.

We did it.

“It took you long enough.”

A scream caught in my throat.

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

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