Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
F urniture crashes on the street. Sitting on a wooden planter a short distance away, I watch as Draven’s soldiers throw chairs and side tables and books and decorations out of the windows of the houses before me. Wood cracks and ceramic shatters as the humans’ treasured possessions hit the stone street below.
Apparently, the different strategy that Draven mentioned in the barracks earlier today involves destroying people’s homes as much as possible while they search the buildings for the Red Hand.
Curling my fingers, I grip the edge of the wooden planter hard and grind my teeth as I watch Draven. He is standing in front of a row of silent humans. All of them have their heads bowed while he stares them down with merciless eyes.
“If you just tell me where the Red Hand is, we won’t need to keep searching through your homes,” Draven says.
Sounds of crashing furniture punctuate his words.
The humans standing in the row before him say nothing. But they squeeze their hands into fists and grit their teeth. Even from my position, I can practically feel the anger radiating from them.
I shake my head at Draven, even though he can’t see it.
This is all so unnecessary. These people know nothing about the Red Hand. They’re just ordinary people.
Forcing out a long breath, I unclench my hands from the edge of the planter and flex them to relieve the tension that had started to build up. While Draven continues threatening the humans in front of their homes, I tilt my head back and look up at the sky.
Orange and pink streaks line the heavens and paint the soft clouds in vibrant colors. It’s almost sunset. Draven and his clan members have been at this all day. Barging into people’s homes to check if they’re hiding the Red Hand in there and destroying their possessions while Draven rounds them up outside and threatens them.
It’s almost as if he is going out of his way to be as cruel and ruthless as possible. And I can’t help but wonder if part of it is because of how the Icehearts are treating him. I still remember the way they berated him and threatened him in that corridor where the latest dead body was. Maybe that’s why he does the same thing to the humans. As a way to take back control. To not feel so powerless.
I study the burning anger that is visible on all the humans’ faces as they are forced to stand there and watch their homes be destroyed.
It’s cruel. But, as much as I hate to admit it, there is one positive side effect of what Draven is doing. It’s making the humans angrier. Which will make it easier for me to fan the flames of rebellion by heightening their outrage and fury even more with my magic. I need the spark of anger to already be there so that I can manipulate it. And after this, a large portion of the city will already be boiling with rage.
“Don’t turn around.”
I suck in a sharp breath between my teeth.
Fortunately, a bookcase hits the street right at the same time, which drowns out the sound.
It takes all of my willpower to force my features back into a normal expression and to keep my eyes on the buildings ahead as I whisper, “Kath?”
“Hello, Selena,” Kath replies in an equally soft voice.
She is sitting on the other side of the planter, behind my back and a little to the left. When I pretend to sweep my gaze up and down the street, I can only just make out her red hair from the corner of my eye.
I didn’t even hear her walk over and sit down. But since Kath is a member of the human resistance, and a pretty high-ranking one too, I suppose she does know how to discreetly move through a crowd.
“You’re a hard woman to find,” she says.
Tilting my head down, I pretend to watch the stones below so that no one will notice that my mouth is moving when I reply, “I know. I’m under almost constant surveillance. Did you get the messages I left?”
“Yes. But it has been a while since your last one now.”
“I’m still trying to find the other entrance to the tunnel. But for that, I need an excuse to go out to the east side of the mountain when it’s still daylight.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
I adjust my position a little so that it won’t look suspicious that I’m sitting in the exact same way for too long. Once my mouth is once more hidden from view, I begin asking a question that I have been wondering about ever since I realized how the Red Hand is getting in and out of the Ice Palace.
“Kath?” I begin.
“Yes?”
“Why can’t the Red Hand do this? If he can get inside the castle, why do you need me to find a route to the treasury?”
Her red hair swings slightly in the corner of my eye, as if she looked up and down the street to make sure that no one overheard me. Then she lets out a soft sigh. “Because the Red Hand is our secret weapon. He’s not involved in the heist. The heist is my responsibility. He only focuses on assassinating strategic people. We could never risk him being captured just for a surveillance mission like this.” A soft laugh, barely more than a whisper, escapes her lips. “And besides, he kind of just does whatever he wants.”
I suppose that makes sense. The Red Hand isn’t just a skilled member of the human resistance. He is their most important symbol. If he were to be captured, they wouldn’t just lose a capable operative. If Draven were to arrest the Red Hand, it would gut morale and destroy the hope and revolutionary momentum that the resistance has built.
“Makes sense,” I reply.
“I need to move soon, otherwise they might start to notice me,” she whispers back. “Is there anything else?”
“Yes. After the heist, I need to get out of the city.” I swallow down a sudden sense of dread. “Draven is going to hunt me to the ends of the world once he realizes what I’ve done.”
“Figured as much. We’ll try to set up a plan for how to get you out.”
“It’s not just me. There are three more fae in the palace. I’m getting them out too.”
Kath falls silent. I desperately want to turn around and look at her, but I force myself to keep my eyes on the buildings ahead. The soldiers from the Black Dragon Clan are still hurling furniture and decorations out of the windows while Draven stands there in front of the humans, staring them down and daring them to protest. A loud crash echoes between the stone walls as a cabinet hits the ground. The people who were passing this part of the street hurry past while casting worried glances at the unfolding events.
“Just getting one fae out of the city will be difficult enough,” Kath replies at last. “But four?” Her hair swings in the corner of my eye as she shakes her head.
I grip the edge of the planter hard. “I’m not leaving without them.”
Once again, she falls silent. Then she lets out a soft sigh. “Then you’re gonna have to convince someone I’m not even sure exists.”
“Who?”
“According to my brother, who has listened to one too many bedtime stories in his life, there is supposed to be a fae woman living out here in Frostfell who helps smuggle other fae out of the city. I’m not sure if she’s real or if this is just a myth, but I’ll talk to my brother. If he knows where to find her, I’ll leave the instructions at the drop point.”
“Thank you.”
“I really need to go now.”
“Then you…” I trail off, because the hint of red hair has already disappeared from the corner of my eye.
A few moments later, I find Kath walking down the street in the other direction. I slide my gaze back to Draven, who is once more threatening the humans.
Drawing in a breath, I straighten my spine as resolve pulses through me.
This mysterious fae woman is real. She has to be. And I am going to find her.
I flick a glance up and down Draven’s muscular body as his words from earlier echo through my skull.
You’ll pay for this little stunt tonight.
My heart starts beating irregularly in my chest.
Yes, I will find the mystery fae. But first, I just need to survive whatever punishment Draven has in store for me tonight.