Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 148397 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 742(@200wpm)___ 594(@250wpm)___ 495(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 148397 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 742(@200wpm)___ 594(@250wpm)___ 495(@300wpm)
Looking down the row of beds, I spotted one with a larger blond guy, huddled in a ball and facing away. God…the pain of seeing the girl you’d fallen in love with shot to death. The horror of not being able to stop it—
Rubbing at my tears, I whispered, “So Suri and Dane are dead. Who…who else?”
“Sonya, Phillipa, and Bet. According to the gossip mill, Sonya had her throat cut, and Pip had been—” He shuddered and cut himself off. “Bet was always quiet. Her mind broke on her second week here. She had no injuries, so…I’m guessing she probably jumped.”
I swallowed hard.
If only she’d waited.
If only the jewels trusted we’d get them out.
If only we actually could…
Taking Peter’s chunky bandaged hand, I placed it on my lap and did my best to take away his thoughts of pain and worry. “Those are the last names you’ll ever recite, okay?” I shivered at the sheer determination in my voice. “No one else will die here.”
He sniffed. Exhaustion from his wounds, his fever, and the past five years of hell pressed him deeper into his pillows. “You still believe we can do it?”
I didn’t bother looking at the cameras above us.
I just kept my gaze on my friend as his eyelashes dropped and his breathing slowed. “It’s almost over, Paavak.” I kissed his bandaged knuckles. “I feel it.”
“That’s nice.” Giving me a dreamy smile, he sighed and fell into a sick-heavy sleep.
I sent him healing light and strength.
And then I went to find the girls to begin a war.
* * * * *
“This is absolutely crazy,” Rachel said the moment I stepped into the kitchens.
May, the kind cook who’d given us muesli bars before Emerald Bruises, cocked her chin at a shadowy corner by the huge larder full of herbs, spices, and a mountain of pasta boxes.
“Go talk there, girls.” She shooed us away with a tea towel. “There’s a dead spot in the camera’s sight. But…for the love of our maker, please keep your voices down.”
Obeying May, the three of us huddled close in the larder’s shadow, keeping our heads as near as possible, speaking with the quietest whisper. Even with all the boiling, steaming, chopping, dicing, and extraction fans, who knew how sensitive the cameras were.
Without guests staying, the kitchen still worked at a furious pace to feed the guards and Henri. I didn’t know if the staff got the same meals, but they still needed food, and after my headcount over the past week, I’d tallied at least twenty of them, possibly more counting the gardeners and maintenance crew who didn’t come into the castle.
“Are you guys okay?” I whispered.
“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” Rachel quipped again, shaking her head.
“You were the one who started growing a countdown clock in your womb.” Mollie smirked, brushing aside her blonde fringe. “Nine months and counting you said. Get me out before this spawn is born…isn’t that what you whispered a few nights ago?”
“I know, but—”
“We have to try, Rach.” I gave her a soft smile. “But I understand if you’d rather—”
“No. I’m in. I am.” She braced her shoulders. “Doesn’t mean it’s not crazy, though.”
“Oh, it’s crazy.” I nodded. “And dangerous.”
“And that’s why if we’re doing this…we have to be slow, smart, and steady,” Mollie said. “Nothing is in our favour. We’re outnumbered, out-gunned, and out-powered. But…if we plan it well and luck smiles down on us, then it’s possible.”
“I agree.” I smiled. “Adversity only makes us stronger.”
“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting. Sun Tzu.” Mollie grinned.
Memories of my father quoting his favourite poet spilled quickly. “Wonders happen if we can succeed in passing through the harshest danger. Rainer Maria Rilke.”
“God, can you two stop trading bumper sticker slogans?” Rachel rolled her eyes.
Mollie and I snickered, grateful to be able to laugh after everything Peter told me and all the lives that’d been lost.
A short silence fell before we all sucked in a breath and unanimously got to work.
“So…anything I missed this past week?” I asked.
Mollie shook her head. “Nothing. Been one of the most boring weeks I’ve ever spent here. It’s been sublime. I feared without Victor around, the guards would get a little trigger-happy, but…they don’t seem to care.” She flicked a look at one of them lounging by the exit to the kitchens. “No one has stopped us when we’ve done errands for Dr Mel and Rose. We haven’t been reprimanded for getting soup for the patients. It’s like we don’t exist.”
Rachel sighed with relief. “Mols is right. The past week has been a bit of a dream. For those of us not healing, of course…or dead.”
We all flinched.
I sent a thought to those who were gone.
Clearing my throat, I said quietly, “Peter said the same thing about the castle being slow and guards being lax. That’s a good thing. If they don’t care about us moving around, and there’s no Masters to serve…then this is the perfect time to—”