Chapter 12
Finn
“Dance with me,” River says.
“I’m looking for Caden.”
“He went out with Josh and Trey.”
A while ago. I wonder if Caden hates this ball so much that he’d spend most of his evening outside.
He seemed fine when we got here, but maybe he pretended for my sake.
I leave Timothy with Lyla and Otto and go dance with River, happy to see that people are already leaving.
I’m more interested in speaking with the king about the jetpacks than taking part in more pointless conversations.
“River, you’re hopping.”
“So?”
“It’s not dancing.”
“Of course it is. Don’t you know how to hop?”
“I can hop just fine, but…” I catch a guard entering the hall and walking straight to the throne to speak with the king. As I watch their exchange, the king’s eyes dart around the room and land on me.
A bad feeling grows in the pit of my stomach when another guard walks into the hall and heads straight to Lyla. He whispers in her ear, and her expression turns somber. River stops hopping abruptly and dashes through the crowd toward Lyla, with me at his heels.
“They weren’t among the dead,” Lyla tells River, “only Trey.”
“Wait, what?” I wish the band would stop playing.
Lyla clears her throat as the guard who spoke with her slips away.
“A group of guards was spotted going down the back of the mountain with Caden, Josh, and Trey. They didn’t come back, and when someone went to check, they found the guards and Trey dead.
There are traces of two buggies, but it’s impossible to tell where they went. ”
My head spins, and by the time I turn to look at River, he’s already sprinting out of the hall.
“We have to do something,” Otto says. “The king must be informed.”
“I am informed.”
I jolt at the sudden sound of his voice. He’s looking grim, surrounded by dozens of armed guards and Remy by his side. “I’m told there’s been an attack. Nasty business. Must be those damn Raiders. Everyone! The ball is over! Out!”
Dozens of confused guests hurry out of the hall. I only remember to breathe once Timothy holds my hand.
“Why did they take Caden and Josh?” Otto asks once the hall is almost empty.
“Well, which Raiders wouldn’t want to capture Defenders?” The king sounds as though it’s obvious.
“But how did they know?” I ask. “They weren’t in their uniforms. How did the Raiders know they were Defenders?”
“I’ve no idea, my boy, but rest assured I have already sent troops to search for them, though…” he sighs. “We aren’t likely to find them at this late hour, and buggies can cover long distances quickly.”
I want to tell him to shut his mouth, but I can’t help but picture those buggies speeding into the night. I turn my head at the sound of River approaching, his shirt dirty and torn. He’s out of breath, which I didn’t know was possible.
“They’re gone,” he says between huffs. “We have to do something!”
“You should all go back to your residences and calm down,” the king says. “Lyla knows how seriously we take such matters.”
Lyla steps forward. I can’t see her eyes, but the king can, and it’s making him tense. The guards look at each other nervously. “Why did Caden, Josh, and Trey go down the back of the mountain with a group of your personal guards?”
“Well, I can’t possibly know since I was here.”
“Something made them go down there. It was either by force or by trickery.”
“Lyla,” Remy says in a warning tone.
The king rubs his chin while holding his golden staff in his other hand. “Are you implying that those guards might have been working with the enemy? Hmm, a concerning notion.”
“Liar!” River takes a step forward, and the guards aim their weapons at him. “I can tell that you’re lying! Bring Josh back!”
I squeeze Timothy’s hand and tilt my hand to the side. He catches my meaning and lets go of my hand. I don’t need to look to know he’s quietly sneaking away.
“I understand that you’re upset,” the king says, “but remember that you are a guest in my palace and in my city.”
“Whatever they offered you, they’ll stab you in the back the moment they can,” I say. “Tell us where they’re taking them, and we’ll leave right now.”
For a second, I spot doubt in his eyes. Maybe he’s already suspecting that the Raiders might betray him, but he ends up saying, “I’ve had quite enough of this nonsense and disrespect. You are no longer welcome in my city. Send Dino my regards.”
“I’m not leaving until you tell me where Josh is!” River shouts.
The king shakes his head. “Semis can die from bullets just like the rest of us. Don’t make me give the order.”
I grab River’s hand firmly, my diplomacy training going down the drain. “This lying filth isn’t worth it. We’ll find them ourselves.”
“Filth?” The king chuckles. “That’s rich coming from Dino Lopez’s personal bitch.”
“That’s out of line!” Otto stands in front of the king. “Finn is a respectable representative of Unity, and he will not be spoken to like that by anyone. Apologize to him.”
The king moves his golden staff too fast for me to pull Otto back, but what happens next is not something I could have anticipated.
With the staff pressed beneath his chin, Otto opens his mouth to speak, but before he can get a word out, a blade pierces through the top of his head.
His eyes widen in horror. The blade swiftly retracts into the staff, and Otto slumps onto the ground, blood pouring from his pierced skull.
Shouts erupt around me, but they blend into the background. Otto lies with his eyes staring into space, a puddle of blood growing around him. I reach for the knife I always carry, ready to kill a king, but I’m pushed back by one of the guards before I can act.
Through the commotion, the king shouts, “Lock them up in the holding cells! You may shoot if they resist!”
*
They take my knife before locking me up in a small cell below the palace, where the air is cold and thick. River and Lyla are put in two separate cells next to me. Once we’re alone, they try to break free.
“They built these cells with old metal,” Lyla says. “I can dent it, but it won’t break.”
“I will kill him,” River says from the cell to my left, his tone sending shivers down my spine. “I will kill him, and then I will find Josh.”
I sit down on a thin mattress and try to digest what happened.
Finn is a respectable representative of Unity, and he will not be spoken to like that by anyone.
I pinch the bridge of my nose, commanding my eyes to stay dry. That big-mouthed fool. He should have kept quiet, but he was always bad at reading situations. You fucking idiot, Otto.
“Lyla, I can’t sense Nanny Spider.”
“We’re too deep down the mountain. I saw him sneaking out in time.”
“Was there blood, River?” I ask, hugging myself because it’s cold. “Did you see any signs that Caden or Josh might have been hurt?”
He thinks before he answers. “There was a lot of blood, but I couldn’t tell who it belonged to. They shot Trey in the head when his hands were bound.”
I feel nauseous, trying not to picture the same fate befalling Caden or Josh. The Raiders could have killed them, but they chose not to. There must have been a reason. “Do you know why the king betrayed us, Lyla?” I ask.
“No. I told you that something was off with him, but I didn’t imagine he’d do something like this. He started acting strange during a hunting trip over a year ago. He disappeared for a few hours, and when we found him, he claimed he just got lost, but things weren’t the same after that.”
Weren’t the same? “Do you think he met Hector?”
“Maybe. I don’t know enough about him.”
“I’m sure all of this has something to do with Caden’s nightmares. This trap was about taking him away from here.”
“And Josh,” River says.
“No, I don’t think it was about him. He never met Hector, so he might have just been in the wrong place.
If Hector is somehow affecting Caden’s dreams, then he could have learned that he was making his way here.
And if he’s working with the king, he could have given him the order to help capture Caden. ”
“Didn’t Hector let him go in the first place?” Lyla asks.
That is strange. “I don’t know why he would do that and then go to all the trouble of capturing him again, but I bet they’re taking them to Denver, and we can’t stop them in time.”
“I asked Mother to look for them, but she hasn’t found them yet,” River says.
I go over tonight’s sequence of events in my head.
“I don’t think the king counted on us finding out about his betrayal.
He tried to pretend he had nothing to do with the attack, but now we know, and Otto is dead.
” I won’t be surprised if the remaining Defenders in our team are now being handled by the king’s men, and I doubt any of them will survive the night.
“He’s going to kill me,” I say, wishing I was less confident. “He’ll claim it happened during the attack.”
“Will Dino believe that?” Lyla asks.
“No, but he can’t accuse the king of lying—our alliance with High Hope is more important. The king can pretend to be working with us for a few more months, and if he’s smart, he’ll sell us some jetpacks to make it more believable.”
I see it all playing out in my head, the pieces moving on the board. If I could just find a way to send a message to Dino, I might make a difference, though it will be too late to save myself.
“You won’t die tonight,” River says with confidence. “Nanny Spider is coming.”
I hear his footsteps a few seconds later, the tapping of multiple palms against the stone floor. I scramble to my feet and grip the iron bars. Timothy appears in the dim and narrow hallway. “Are you all okay?”
“Yes,” Lyla says. “You have a way of getting us out?”
“Remy gave me a key. He’s waiting for us at a place called The Morning Cliff.”
“Isn’t Remy working with the king?” I ask. “This might be another trap.”
“He’s working with me,” Lyla says.