Page 34 of His Noble Ruin

I ducked low behind the back and held on tight.

“Just a missing cobblestone,” called the driver. “Do not fear, milady. I’ll have you home in no time.”

I gripped the handle with one hand and waved goodbye to Cael with the other.

* * *

The buildingsand streets passed by in shadow as the carriage took me downhill. I couldn’t tell where it was headed. I hung on with both hands and tried to keep the weight off my heel, but each bump and turn made it impossible. The Lenoxes would worry themselves to death if I didn’t come home tonight. Maybe I should’ve had Cael tell them. But it was too late now.

The carriage turned onto a wide road before veering toward another street on the right. It came to an abrupt stop at a pair of gates that led to nice-looking homes that looked like they belonged in Quarter B.

The platform shifted as the woman climbed out.

“Welcome back, milady,” said a voice.

I peered around the carriage. Two guards stood at the gates and the street was bright with lamplight. If I stayed on the platform, they’d see me the moment the horses started moving. Waiting to go where the driver went next was too risky.

I stepped down to the ground carefully to keep the carriage from bouncing. The south side of the street was bordered by the fence that surrounded the Quarter B homes. The north side was a row of connected buildings without any alleyways or a good place to hide.

The quarter’s gates creaked open at the same time the horses’ hooves began to click on the cobblestones.

The end of the street wasn’t far. I hurried toward it as fast as my heel would allow. Quarter D was on the other side of this wide avenue. I paused, considering heading that way. My rank card could normally get me in, but not this close to curfew.

“You!” a voice behind me yelled.

I froze, afraid that all my stupid decisions had come down to this moment.

“The curfew is in ten minutes. Return to your quarter immediately!”

I nodded and limped away, turning right when I reached the corner of the street. The city wall and its enormous gates loomed ahead. The fence to Quarter D was on my left, on the other side of the nearly deserted avenue. Only Enforcers and the occasional passerby lingered.

There was nowhere to go in time.

A few Enforcers headed down the street in my direction, so I took a chance and hurried toward the wall, staying in the shadows. I was beginning to grow numb to the pain in my foot when the city bells tolled.

Ten. My time was up.

I took a corner to my right and leaned into a fence. My heart pounded in my chest, trapped between my ribs and the bars. On the opposite side of the street was another fence.

In the shadows behind it stood the abandoned First House.

A smile lifted the corners of my mouth. I peered down the lamp-lit street, searching for the guards that prowled this area. It was the Avenue of the Immovables, the street that curved around the border of the city in one gigantic circle. Nestled between the avenue and the city wall were the eleven Immovable mansions and their grounds. Each had its own set of guards at the gates.

Except for this one.

I crept closer. The deserted house rose up in the center of the grounds, dark and forbidding, behind a rusted iron fence overtaken by vines. Farther up ahead were the gates, wrapped in a heavy chain and padlock.

I lifted the bag higher on my shoulder and gripped the bars. The rusted iron was rough on my hands as I pulled myself up. I held onto the spear-like finials at the top and stepped onto the rail, which shook and creaked under my weight.

Raised voices and the patter of feet echoed down the street in response to the noise I’d made.

Not again. Please, not again.

A tangled hedge filled the space between the fence and the overgrown lawn, giving me no option but to jump. Again. My feet ached in apprehension. I was at least ten feet up, and it would be impossible to land without bringing back all of tonight’s pain.

“. . . you hear that?” a distant voice called.

I took a breath and leaped. As I cleared the hedge, the strap from my bag was ripped from my shoulder. My feet hit the ground and I collapsed, groaning as I clutched my heel through my boot.

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