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“Hey, everyone,” I said, knowing I needed to give the world a moment to wake up, see, and pay attention. “It’s me. Sloane Marlow. And I’m currently I don’t know how the fuck high up in the sky, dangling off of Arcus Tower.” I held the phone out so they could see where I was, without me looking down, because if I did I was sure I would puke. “I know my dad told you all I was resting after that shooting, but I wasn’t. I was kidnapped and held captive in Threadstone, this whole time.” I looked over to Ellum. “What day is it?”
“August twentieth!” he shouted back.
I blinked in surprise as hearts and thumbs up and all sorts of emojis began flooding the screen. “For almost a month of my life,” I whispered, then gained strength. “The longest month of my life, that’s for sure. My dad wouldn’t pay my ransom—I’m sure he had some reason that made sense to him, you know? But he didn’t, and everyonethought I’d died. Well, not you all, but everyone who knew I’d been kidnapped. Except they sent one last person in to find me...and he did.”
I couldn’t hear the fighting above anymore, which worried me—and then Ellum’s helicopter flew over the edge of the building in an ungraceful arc.
“Fuck!” the minotaur shouted.
“Did you all see that?” I asked the people on the screen with me, my heart in my throat. “I’m pretty sure there’s been an epic double-cross—which is why I need to get this message out, before my father’s people try to cover everything up again.”
I brought the phone up to my face. “First off, I’m sorry—I’m so sorry—for all my friends and fans. I know people were killed because of me, and that will never, ever be okay. I will hurt for them every second I have left in my life, and even when and if I seem happy in the future, that joy will always have a hint of sorrow. Please believe that I will carry them in my heart, always.” I blotted my face with the back of one hand, and found it muddy with cave dirt and tears.
“Secondly—after this—I’m through. With everything. With all my dad’s money. I’m walking away from everything if I survive this, and he can’t stop me. I’m making that promise to myself, and to all of you.
“And third? I fell in love with the bodyguard they sent for me. He’s an Arachnaea, his name is Nia’n’an, and he’s fighting an orc on top of the building to protect me—Westly, where the fuck is your helicopter?”
Because that was the only way I could maybe help savehim—if Shiranak realized it was too late, that he’d been caught on live TV.
Westly came back on screen. “Sloane, babe, helicopter fuel’s expensive?—”
“You didn’t believe me? Fuck you!” I would’ve thrown the phone, but it wasn’t mine. “Fine, then!” I said, turning my full attention back to the people watching, on the other side of the screen. “If you’re in the city watching this, get down to Arcus Tower, now! Help me record this—if I survive, you can hold me accountable! If I don’t, you can say you were here when I died!” I shouted, and turned the phone off.
From his slow spin beside me, Ellum seemed slightly appalled.
“What?” I shouted at him, full of energy and anger with no current place to spend it.
“Nothing!” he said, raising both his hands with a laugh. “I just assumed you were going to call nine-one-one.”
I had no idea how emergency services would be able to save us, if Nia’n’an wasn’t. “I didn’t intend to.” I stared at Ellum’s phone, swallowing all of my pride. “But I’ll do one better.” It rang twice, and then a gruff familiar voice opened up the line, saying much the same thing Westly had.
“How did you get this number?”
I waited a second, and then squeaked out, “Daddy?”
Forty-Five
NIA’N’AN
The orcand I were more evenly matched than I liked.
I was faster, but he was tough, and we’d grappled repeatedly. He kept trying to break my legs, and I kept trying to pull him apart—he didn’t need both his arms to confess, and I felt fairly certain I could tourniquet pieces of him fast enough to stop him from bleeding out.
But neither of us got anywhere.
I’d spattered him with my acids, and they didn’t make a dent on his leathery orc skin, even though they burned through his clothing.
And he was stronger than my strongest webbing, which was makingnotkilling him hard—but I’d managed to get my net up over the elevator tower’s doors, to hold whoever was coming up to reinforce him back, giving me a little more time.
“You can’t keep this up forever, Nine!” he shouted as I dodged another one of his blows.
“You are right. I cannot. I only need to keep it up for long enough.”
Surely someone below had noticed the falling helicopter—and once I started tossing his reinforcements over the tower’s edge, people would notice that, too.
Then he raced up and swung for me, and I ducked at an angle as I attempted to cut him with two of my front feet, only for my claws to rattle without catching against his toughened belly and for my translation device to pop off of my ear slit and fall to the ground, spinning.
I lunged for it, but Shiranak stepped on it before I could come near—and when he realized what he’d done to me, he laughed.
