Page 186 of Stormbreaker

68

I’m shoved left and right as the Guards close in. The room swirls with panic, shutting off the path between the Extinguishers and me.

I snap out of stasis. I have to run.

I search around me, but every familiar face is gone. I hop up and down, looking for Rook, Domino, my parents, but I can’t find anyone in the surrounding crush. It doesn’t matter. I need to get away.

I spot the general walking toward me, while Chancellors Marks and Orsen are enclosed by their Guards, no doubt headed for their personal fireproof shelters. Everyone will be running for cover inside one of the city’s many communal sanctuaries.

I consider my options. They know what I am, and they’ll be hunting for me now. More than ever, I need to expose the truth and prove I’m not what they think.

Stick to the plan, I decide, hoping Edward and Rook do the same. With any luck, everyone will be too busy with the storm to worry about me right now. I pick up my long skirt and pound down the stairs, shoving among the crowd flowing out of the room as red lights flash through the windows and sirens wail, nearly shattering my eardrums.

I grunt and push, dragged by the tide of bodies until we spill outside before everyone scatters. The sky is on fire, red clouds bleeding across the horizon, flashing with crimson points of light.

Blood Storm cloud bursts don’t explode with galvanic energy.

It’s much, much worse.

They hurtle balls of fire toward the earth, burning down huge sections of the city and killing everything in their path.

A shiver runs along my spine. I’ve only ever seen one in my lifetime, when I was a little girl. I remember the screams tearing through the night sky as the city erupted with fiery explosions.

I spot dozens of Patrols in their dark uniforms already flooding the plaza, trying to snuff out flames and protect the Citadel.

Thankfully, it seems that I’ve been forgotten in the chaos, and I make my way to the back, where I planned to meet up with Rook and Edward.

When I arrive, I find Edward already pacing with a large pack strapped to his back. He stops when he sees me. His gaze is searching as he scans me from head to toe, probably wondering about a lot of things I could never tell him.

“Is it true?” he asks. “Is this why you need to break in? You’re a . . . Keeper?”

I nod, panic swelling up my throat. “I’m sorry. I should have told you. I—”

He shakes his head. “Poet, it’s fine. I think I understand, but . . . I hate to ask this. Am I safe with you?”

“Yes,” I gasp in a rush. “I’m fine. I promise.”

“Okay,” he replies, zero judgment in his eyes. “How could Trinity do that to you?”

“I don’t know,” I whisper.

“Skies,” he says. “She’s never been the person I thought she was, has she?”

Edward presses his mouth together as a cloud explodes overhead. A blazing comet hurtles toward the plaza, sending up a shower of fiery stones and debris. A blast of heat burning my cheeks, Edward and I step back, seeking shelter in the recess of the door’s alcove.

“Where’s Rook?” I ask, checking my phone, hoping that he’s messaged me. Nothing. Did he get caught in the crowd? I try calling, but there’s no answer.

“Poet, if we’re doing this, we have to do it now,” Edward says. “We look even more suspicious loitering out here.”

“You’re still with me?”

“Yes, let’s do this.”

“We have to wait for Rook.” I peer across the plaza, hoping he’ll appear.

“You can’t stand out here any longer. They’ll be looking for you.”

Reluctantly, I follow Edward into the lobby and approach the gates leading to The Shield’s security wing. I pull out my father’s stolen key card and hold it against the magnetic panel with my breath held. It beeps, then the lock clicks.