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Jayla broke into a run, Tezzel easily keeping up. In the knot of people outside the gate, Jayla recognized first Norrah, then Reese’s captain, then Reese—then, unexpectedly, the priest Pietro. Even more unexpectedly, Cody. All of them were shouting. All of them whirled to face her as she came jogging up.
“What happened?” she demanded. “Where’s Madeleine?”
Everyone answered at once, so she turned to Cody for clarity. He took her arm to steady her. “Tivol took her,” he said, his voice low and grim. “And Aussen, too.”
Chapter Thirty-three:
Pietro
Pietro had been in a fever of impatience ever since they had sighted land that morning. By the god’s ownface,how long could it take to sail into a harbor, and dock, and disembark?
Hours, apparently, but at last he was on solid land, having made the sketchiest of farewells to Danner and his sons. The ground seemed curiously uneven beneath his feet, but he didn’t let his unsteadiness slow him down. He merely hitched his pack over his shoulder and headed for the narrow uphill bridge that led from the harbor to the city. The gridway didn’t run down this route, and there were no horse-drawn wagons immediately available, so he set out on foot.
Stollo fell in step beside him. “Where to now? To find that girl?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have any idea where she is?”
“No, but I know someone who does.” He glanced over at Stollo. “It might take me some time to track her down. You don’t have to come with me—I’m sure you’ve been missed at the temple.”
“I’m sure I have,” Stollo said cheerfully. “But I need to hear the end of this story.”
Pietro was breathless by the time they made it off the bridge at the top of the hill; there was no way he could race all the way to his lodgings, even though his instincts were screaming for him tohurry, hurry, hurry.But it would accomplish nothing for him to exhaust himself in one ill-advised sprint. “There’s a chugger,” he exclaimed as one heaved into view, and they ran for it.
It took a maddeningly long time to get to Pietro’s rooms, where he’d written Cody’s address on a scrap of paper. While they were there, he grudgingly acted on Stollo’s suggestion that he change his clothes, wash his face, and shave. “You look like an old sailor just washed ashore,” Stollo observed. “If I was a little girl, I’d be terrified.”
“Aussen knows me. She won’t be afraid,” Pietro muttered, but he freshened up anyway.
Finally, they were back on the street, catching another chugger to Cody’s neighborhood. They were almost at their destination when the car lurched violently to the side, its wheels making a horrific screech across the pavement and sparks raining down from the cable overhead. Passengers screamed in panic and stampeded out of the doors and windows before the vehicle even stopped moving.
“A quake,” Pietro murmured. “The day wanted only that.”
Stollo was tugging him toward the door. “Come on. If another one hits—”
One did, of course, almost on the words, but they managed to exit safely with the last of the riders. The driver was already outside, trying to assess the damage, recruiting the brawnier passengers to try to shove the transport back into alignment. He looked hopefully in Stollo’s direction, but Pietro grabbed his arm and said, “I think we’re close now. Let’s go.”
The pavement stuttered beneath their feet a few more times, but they didn’t lose their balance and nothing fell on them from overhead, so Pietro thought that counted as success. He found Cody’s street easily enough, but he had to cast around to find the right place, as nothing was numbered and Cody’s description of the exterior matched about half the buildings in the neighborhood. Finally he spotted a red vest propped in the window of one of the old warehouses, a signal that couriers lived on the premises. He strode up and knocked furiously.
A moment later, someone flung the door open, clearly expecting disaster on the other side. “What is it? What’s wrong?” the young man exclaimed. Or maybe young woman. Pietro wasn’t sure and didn’t have time to study personal jewelry.
“I need to speak with Cody right away. Is he here?”
For an answer, the person turned and bellowed into the house.“Cody!Someone’s here to see you!”
Over the doorkeeper’s head, Pietro could spot a few other figures hovering inside the front room. Clearly his urgent summons had roused the whole house. He wasn’t sure he wanted an audience for this conversation—then again, he didn’t care. He just had to find Aussen. He thought the ground shifted slightly beneath him, but maybe that was his body still trying to anticipate the roll of the ocean.
There were running footsteps, then Cody brushed past his housemates to push out the door. His open, friendly face looked concerned. “Pietro. What’s wrong?”
“I need you to take me to Aussen. Right now.”
Cody took a quick step backward, and his friendliness disappeared. “No. I can’t.”
“You don’t understand! I won’t hurt her. I swear it, Cody. This is so important—”
Cody was shaking his head. “No. No. I promised Jayla. I’m sorry.”
“Cody,she can save the city!Don’t you feel the tremors running under the street?” As if to prove his point, the ground rocked with another restless wave. “The whole place is going to come apart!”
