39. Ash
Chapter 39
Ash
Footsteps echoed off the walls, and I knew who it was before she stepped through the doorway. Ryan appeared, and Jerek narrowed his eyes at her. She looked urgently at me.
“Can Ash and I have a few minutes alone?” she asked. I was instantly on high alert. What’s going on?
“No,” Jerek grumbled, standing up to speak to her. “What are you doing up in the middle of the night?”
Ryan glared at him. “I was looking for Ash.”
“Why?” he asked sternly. The way he spoke to Ryan—like she was a little girl—annoyed me.
“Jerek, can we please have a minute? It’s probably only something to do with the personal women’s items I requested earlier,” I said sweetly.
Ryan understood the second I said it, nodding in agreement. Jerek looked between us incredulously. “Gross,” he muttered under his breath before stepping out of the kitchen to wait in the hallway.
Ryan rushed over and took the seat Jerek vacated.
“What’s going on?” I whispered urgently.
“Advisor Davis and Advisor Telman are meeting with the Dark Rise down in the city.”
“What’s the Dark Rise?” The name didn’t sound like anything good.
She pursed her lips like she didn’t want to tell me before she sighed. “They hate blondes. They think they should all be dead.” What a shocker, more people who hated me and wanted to see me dead.
“Instead of in the Pit?” I asked.
“You know about the Pit?” she asked with her eyes wide.
I nodded. “I’ve heard of it,” I lied. I’d more than heard of it, I’d seen it with my own eyes, but information was my greatest weapon, and I had to choose carefully who I gave it to.
“It’s—it’s where Maximus keeps all the blondes. Hundreds of them…thousands, maybe. He used to keep some of them in a fenced-in facility full of old apartment buildings, but when I was little, there was a rebellion. Several escaped, so Maximus forced them all into the Pit.”
Now that was new information. They weren’t always in the Pit? Was it the same rebellion that had killed Beth? The same one that sparked Liam into taking me to Pop? “How many years ago was that?” I asked.
“Sixteen. ”
My suspicions were correct. That was right when Pop took me from Liam. The pieces of the puzzle were beginning to come together, but one remained: where was I and who was I with before all of this?
“The Pit is a sulfur mine—part of the reason the King is able to make bullets when no one else can. He also has a…”
“Saltpeter mine?” I cut in.
“Yes, how did you know that?” Ryan began tugging at an earring nervously like we didn’t have enough time to discuss all of this.
“I heard Peters talking about it on the way here,” I answered.
“It’s to the east somewhere, but rumor is he has all the other blondes hidden away there. The less…threatening ones.”
“So…you know that blondes have abilities?” I asked. I wondered how much she knew about blondes.
“You hear a lot as a maid,” she quipped, but didn’t ask me anything about my abilities. I could tell she wanted to by the way her mouth opened and closed like she was trying to find the right way to phrase the question.
“So, this group in Hope, how big is it? Obviously, Davis sides with them,” I interrupted before she could ask.
“It’s been practically non-existent for years. I don’t know what Davis and Telman are meeting with them about… That’s why I was coming to tell you—I’m going to the meeting,” she said, with fire in her brown eyes and determination in her face.
“Like hell you are!” Jerek stomped back around the corner, and it didn’t surprise me that he had been listening. It was a test of sorts to see what he would do. Something was happening between Ryan and Jerek, and I needed to know if he would turn us in for conspiring against the King or not. I had a gut feeling he would not, and it was the sole reason I had let the conversation continue .
“You two, stop this nonsense right now, and go back to your rooms,” he whispered urgently. “Come on, Ash, let’s go.” He wrapped his hand around my upper arm to pull me away.
“Wait, Jerek…please. Isn’t it your job to protect me? Davis is trying to kill me; we have to go find out what he’s up to.”
“No, absolutely not.”
“Jerek,” Ryan said. They stared into each other’s eyes, and I knew that there was more than the death of Rafe between them. “I’m tired of working for the King. This is our chance to help. Please, Jerek, do it for Rafe.”
After a lot of begging and a few more sad looks from Ryan, Jerek finally caved, and I now understood the connection between them. I understood that Jerek might do about anything for Ryan, but I didn’t think she knew that.
I wore one of Jerek’s uniforms, with my hair bunched into my hat and a hood pulled over my head. We snuck out the side door near the kitchen and into the wintery night.
“This is a terrible idea,” Jerek mumbled. “You two stay here and I’ll go myself.”
“Then who would stay and guard me from getting into further mischief?” I teased.
He swore under his breath. “How are we even going to get out of the gates, anyway? We can’t just waltz out in the middle of the night. The King will hear about it, and obviously I’m not going to report this little excursion.”
“I have a plan for that,” Ryan whispered and gestured for us to follow her. We crept around the buildings in the shadows, the cold air making our breath cloud in front of our faces. Few soldiers were out tonight—no one wanted to be out this late in the frigid night.
“Where are we going?” Jerek hissed, following in Ryan’s footsteps. We made it to the outer wall, and I realized I had been there not long ago. This was the corner of the property where the wolf attacked. A chill snaked up my spine remembering that night.
“How do you think Rafe snuck out to see me all the time?” Ryan asked.
I looked between them, now seeing the delicate topic between them that neither wanted to discuss.
Jerek’s face fell at the mention of her brother, and they both glanced at me. There were more pieces of that story that needed unraveling, but now was not the time.
“There’s a hole under the fence just big enough for someone to slip through. I met Rafe here too many times to count,” Ryan said softly.
We tiptoed onward down the shadow of the fence until we heard footsteps on the opposite side. Jerek pulled us both to a stop, and we pressed our backs into the wall. “Guards,” he mouthed as we waited for the footsteps to fade into the night again.
“Are you sure it’s still there?” I asked when we started moving again.
“I’m sure. Look.” She pointed, and it appeared to be like any other part of the fence—there was no apparent gap until she pushed through a cluster of bushes, revealing a small hole. I smiled and strode forward .
“Wait.” Jerek stopped me. “I’ll go first and make sure it’s safe. The guard just passed, so they shouldn’t be back for another fifteen minutes.”
I nodded, and he crouched near the hole while Ryan held the bushes. When he bent down, my eyes fell on the snow at his feet and saw something terrible. I waited for Jerek to say something, but it must have been too dark for him or Ryan to see them. We weren’t the only ones using this path to get in and out of the estate. There were wolf tracks and fresh ones—the snow that dusted the ground had fallen this morning. I pulled at my ability to see if any threats were on the other side of the wall but saw nothing, so I let Jerek go without a word. I would have to use my ability until we were back in the safety of the mansion.
Once Jerek was through, he let out a low whistle, signaling that it was safe. Ryan wiggled through the small opening, and I followed last. The snow made my coarse uniform soggy and wet, but I relished the coldness on my skin, feeling alive again for the first time in weeks.
We hurried out into the cover of the few trees and made our way toward the blinding lights of the city. It was abnormal, the way the lights reflected off the low-hanging clouds in the dark. Like the clouds captured all the light and illuminated the entire sky.
“Where’s the meeting at?” Jerek complained as we crunched through the snow and onto the first side street. Hope seemed so large—a tangle of streets, houses, and shops everywhere you looked.
“In the warehouses on the east side of the city,” Ryan said. We turned east, and I followed Jerek down the winding roads, ducking my head so I would appear like just another soldier. There weren’t many people milling about only a few hours before sunrise, but we passed a few on our way, giving us respectful nods as they passed. Jerek made sure to always stay protectively in between me and Ryan and any other citizens.
We made it to what I assumed was some sort of warehouse district. Giant buildings rose all around us, and any human activity fell silent.
“What is this place?” I whispered as Ryan clutched on to my arm.
“It’s the manufacturing district, where they make clothes and other goods.”
“What building did they say it was in, Ryan?” Jerek murmured, leading us through dark alleyways.
“I’m not sure. I planned on coming here and finding my way from there.”
Jerek shot Ryan an incredulous look. A light flickered down an alleyway as we passed. “Hold on.” I backtracked and peeked around a corner. Two walked, one holding a lantern, but it flickered into nothing as they hurried onward with their backs to us.
“I would say it’s a safe bet to follow them,” I whispered.
“Follow who?” Jerek murmured by my side, squinting his eyes to see what I was looking at.
“The men right there, walking away from us, two buildings down.”
Jerek turned and peered at me. “Ash, it’s almost pitch black out here. I can’t even see up to the next building.” His eyes widened as he looked at me. “That’s it, that’s why your eyes are so bright in the dark! You can see in the dark. That’s your ability isn’t it? But it makes me wonder… Is there more to it than that?”
I mentally cursed—I had shown almost all my cards. I stepped back from him, and Ryan’s eyes flicked between us with her mouth slightly agape. I still didn’t know how good of friends Jerek and Kane were. Would Jerek divulge his suspicions to Kane even after he helped me escape the estate tonight to go to a meeting where they would be discussing my death? If Kane found out about me, then would he tell the King? All this time I’d been spending around Kane made me unsure, but one thing I did know was that I was afraid to tell anyone about my abilities. I didn’t trust anyone enough with that information. How could I ever trust anybody again? I looked at Jerek and Ryan with wide eyes and backed away another step. All they were doing to help me and I was still so afraid of trusting them. “No—,” I stuttered, “you’ve got it wrong. They had a lantern that went out. It was the only reason I saw them.”
Jerek’s eyebrows pinched together. “Then I suppose you can’t lead us after them?”
I peeked back down the alleyway and saw the men step into a building with metal stairs leading up to the door. “No, I can’t see them anymore,” I lied. “But maybe if we follow the alleyway, we’ll figure out where they went.”
“Sounds like a smart plan to me,” Ryan said quietly, ushering us forward. Jerek’s eyes finally snapped away from me, and we tiptoed down the alleyway. I felt along the walls, pretending to feel my way, to take Jerek’s scrutinizing eyes off me. As we approached the building the men had vanished into, a faint light grew brighter, glowing in the alleyway. We heard more footsteps approaching and ducked behind the corner of the nearest building as we heard more men murmuring upon entering.
Ryan trembled from the cold next to me in her gray dress. I was sure the cold was snaking up underneath her skirt, and I felt bad that she had to wear such things .
“You two stay here. I’ll go see what I can find out,” Jerek said and gave us a pointed look before disappearing around the corner. I peered around after him and watched as he snuck up to a window next to the door and looked inside. Whatever he saw must’ve been non-threatening, because he moved up the stairs and disappeared inside. I hated staying behind—I wanted to know what was happening.
“Ryan…,” I trailed off.
“I think it’d be best if we listen to Jerek and wait here,” she mused, chewing on her lip to keep it from trembling with cold.
“I’ll just go look in the window. You stay here.”
She pursed her lips but nodded. “Be careful.”
I snuck around the corner and to the window, the snow lightly crunching under my feet. If I wasn’t wearing Jerek’s giant boots, I could be a lot stealthier.
I peered inside into the glowing light and saw dozens of people in a large room, gathered around Davis and Telman and another man I didn’t recognize. I could see some shouting concerns to the men in the middle, but I couldn’t hear anything. There was an assortment of people in the room. Men, women, soldiers, people dressed in nice clothing, and people who looked like they had rolled in soot. I spied Jerek pressed against the back wall with his head ducked and hat pulled low. I had to hear what they were saying—I couldn’t trust Jerek to tell me everything.
I glanced around the room and noticed the building had a loft suspended above the main floor, with stairs leading up from it to the roof. The building had to have some sort of outside access to the roof. I snuck around the next corner and saw a ladder climbing to the top of the building. I dashed to it and clambered up. My fingers were near numb by the time I reached the top of the metal ladder that held onto the cold like a child gripping the last cookie.
I climbed over the brick edge and onto the flat-topped roof, stuffing my hands into my pockets to keep the ache of the cold at bay. I walked as silently as I could over to where I thought the ladder inside went. I fell to my knees and brushed aside the snow, revealing a trap door. The wooden entrance pulled open easily with no lock, and warmth from inside rushed up to greet me. I eased myself down into the building and onto the loft suspended above the meeting goers while easing the door shut behind me.
Voices began to trickle into my ears as I army crawled over to the edge and peeked over the side.