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“I have no idea.”
He took a deep breath. “And after you tell her. What willyoudo?”
She turned to look him more directly in the eyes. “I have no idea,” she repeated. “But it sounds like it won’t be safe to stay in Corcannon.”
“It sounds like it won’t be safe anywhere.”
She was silent a moment. “If the quakes start getting worse—I think I might take Aussen and head to the islands. See if I can find her family. I have to think—”
“What?”
“The islands might be the safest place of all. If Zessaya had enough power to make bargains with Cordelan, maybe she has enough power to protect her own lands when the tremors come. Maybe. At the moment, it’s the best plan I can think of.”
Cody nodded, his face determinedly neutral. “When would you leave?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know how long we have until the quakes start tearing the land apart.”
“Don’t go without letting me know.”
She shook her head, looked away, and finally said, “You’d be welcome to come with me.”
He didn’t respond for so long that she had to turn back to face him. He had managed another smile, this one warmer and sweeter. He took her hand and carried it to his heart, and she let him hold it there. “That’s an amazing offer, coming from you.”
She tried her own smile, though it wasn’t as successful. “Easier to travel when there’s two of you on the road. Two adults, I mean.”
“I’m not sure I can do it,” he said. “Leave everyone behind. All my family.”
“They could come,” she said. “Everyoneshould be leaving the city.”
“Can I say that I’ll think about it?”
She couldn’t tell if her swift reaction was surprise or hope. “You mean, you might?”
“If I tell the others. If they know why I’m leaving. If they can choose to leave too. Then I think—it seems to me—I’m not sure I can bear if it if you just walk away—”
Before she could stop to think about it, she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his. She thought she could taste first his amazement and then his delight. He put his free hand around her shoulders and drew her tightly against his body, but she didn’t try to pull away; she wriggled against him, trying to get closer. The kiss seemed to last forever.
“Who would have thought I could be grateful for the end of the world?” he whispered against her mouth.
“It does change a person’s perspectives on certain things,” she whispered back.
“Though all in all, I still wish it wasn’t going to happen.”
She sighed and freed herself from his embrace, though she let him bend in for one more quick kiss. “I have to say I agree. But I need to go. I still have one very hard task to do today, and I don’t think I can put it off.”
He stood up and pulled her to her feet, since it turned out he still hadn’t released her hand, and they started strolling slowly toward the nearest gridway stop. Jayla wondered how long it would take to walk the whole way back. A couple of hours, maybe. Half of her wanted to take the slowest possible route home, put off the terrible conversation as long as she could. And half of her wanted to scale the nearest pole, climb onto the support webbing, and run as fast as she could to Madeleine’s house. She compromised by waving down a chugger clacking in her direction.
“I can come with you if you want,” Cody said.
She shook her head. “I need to think about this. I’ll do that on the ride. But thank you.”
He nodded, kissed her again, and let her go.
The transport was crowded. Jayla had to shove her way on, then stand for the duration of the trip, clinging to a handrail and sightlessly staring out the window. When the car rounded the bend onto Council Row, she felt another swell of cowardice and the craven desire to just keep riding. But she took a deep breath, excused herself as she pushed past the other riders, and swung off in front of the Alayne mansion. Another series of deep breaths and she had made herself cross the street. Open the gate. Enter the house. The faint smells of a savory dinner drifted from the kitchen to the atrium; the youngest housemaid was sweeping the highly polished floor.
“Is Madeleine in her room?”
The girl nodded, and Jayla ran lightly up the stairs. Her heart was pounding and her hands were clenching. She could not remember the last time she had had to do something she so much did not want to do.
