Chapter 26
The room spins, and I fall to my knees. Taurean gingerly touches the mended cut on his face. “Shit,” he mutters.
“What do we do now?” Niko asks, voice higher than usual. He and Ivander sit on the floor beside the shattered potion bottle and the judge’s limp body.
I can’t make myself move. My knees ache from slamming into the floor. Confusion and fear muddy my mind.
Isla crosses to the door. She opens it a tiny crack as Zora begs for her to keep it closed. “I don’t see anyone,” Isla whispers.
“Yet,” Niko says. “They’ll bring backup to deal with us. More bosses.”
Ambriel’s jaw clenches as she holds her friend’s hand. Her friend is crying and refuses to look at me. “Why would the other bosses come for us? They’re the ones who broke the rules.” She trails off, turning an ashen gray as she looks at the blood-drenched floor.
Ivander pushes himself up and stands. He reaches into the folds of his long coat and pulls out a knife. The silver hilt is embossed with a twisting smoke design. As he grips it tight in his clenched hand, he says, “The bosses aren’t playing by the rules anymore.”
Clearly, this has never happened before. I’m not the only one in the dark on this. It needles at me that the judges appeared to be in on the forced extraction too. I pull my cloak tighter around me. “Where’d you get the knife?”
Niko unveils a belt tucked beneath his chef’s coat. Knives hang from each of the loops. He hands them out. “I served in Tamarynth’s army for about six months before I came here. They give each of us one when we start training. They’re cheap and simple, but effective.”
Ivander crosses to me and helps me to my feet.
The weight of his palms against mine provides a rich comfort I never thought I could experience from someone else’s touch.
He hands a blade to me. “A few charters ago, Niko and I snuck out during a port stop. We smuggled knives onto the ship. They’re the only weapons that are easily concealed.
” He shows me his knife, the one with engravings on the hilt.
“I buried mine at port when I first came here. Thought I might need it at some point.”
I can’t tear my gaze from the knife. This disaster has been building for a long time.
Father never told me how bad the relationships between Morphics and non-Morphics had become.
Eliza and I were mostly confined to the estate.
We rarely traveled to the other provinces, and we’d been only once to Alexandrite Estate.
The blade weighs heavy in my hand, and I turn to face the other staff members. The acrid smell of blood singes my nostrils. I try not to look at the mangled corpses on the ground.
“We need to figure out what’s really going on here. The extractions. Elayne’s death,” I say. “All of it.”
“The only way we can do that is by getting you off this ship and back home,” Ivander says.
Although part of me is stunned to hear our plan spoken aloud, in front of others, I know he’s right. Father has the answers, and I no longer have the luxury of waiting on his timetable to give them. It doesn’t matter that I’m afraid of what he’ll tell me. “How will we sneak off the ship?”
“It’s simple enough.” Alana smooths her rumpled skirt with fidgeting fingers. Her own emotions are starting to return after calming ours. “You have cloaks. And knives if anyone tries to stop you. The bosses will be in a panic, anyway.”
“Which makes them more dangerous.” Isla steps through a smear of blood to get to me. “Whatever they planned in here—”
“It’s obvious what they planned in here,” Taurean mutters, shaking his head. “No, I worked my ass off for this. This retrial was supposed to be my ticket home. Whatever’s going on here … It’s not right. My friends and I are getting off this ship too. Now. Not later.”
Maybe he’s right. We need to get as many staff members off this ship as we can before the bosses hurt anyone else.
I can’t hide in here and pretend anyone is going to fix this for us.
We’ve been so determined to keep our plan a secret, we were keeping it secret from the wrong people.
Morphics can be our strength in numbers.
Taurean and his friends don’t wait for a debate. He nods to us, knife clenched in his hand, and leaves the room with his friends. Ambriel bites her lip, teary, as she looks at me. “He’s right. I’ve been here nearly four years. I hope you can change things, but I can’t wait for you.”
She and her friends leave the room, shutting the door with a resounding thud behind them.
I’m losing time to come up with a plan. Niko claps Ivander on the back and tucks his knife back inside his chef’s coat.
“It’s settled then. Ivander, you’ll go with Roe.
She needs your help getting off the ship. ”
“Alana should come with us too,” I add, surprised at the steady sound of my own voice. “We may need an emotive.” We might need her to calm people down if tempers flare. I hate doubting my own father, but knowing there’s so much he didn’t tell me makes me less confident in how he’ll react.
The truth is, I want to take all of them with me. We all need to get off the Celestial. “Zora and I will stay,” Isla says. “Niko too. We’ll help as many Morphics off the ship as we can. We’ll warn everyone we can not to board.”
My fingers twitch at my sides. Even with a knife in my hand, I don’t feel prepared to defend myself against the bosses.
They still have all our raw Morphia at their disposal, and they’re clearly not afraid to wield it.
I don’t like the idea of anyone staying behind, even if they’re trying to help. “What if the bosses try to hurt you?”
Zora puts a hand on her hip. “Then we’ll take a page out of your book and fight back.”
Ivander’s eyes slide over the dead bodies on the ground. “Please be careful. It doesn’t matter if Roe changes anything if you’re not here to see it.”
Isla bites her lip. “Only if you promise to make it out too.”
Ivander folds Isla into a tight hug. He and Zora do a quick handshake they no doubt spend more time rehearsing than their dance numbers.
Niko wraps him in an embrace but lets go quickly. “We don’t have time. I’m not going to let any of us get killed because we were busy saying goodbye.”
As the words leave his mouth, the large door creaks, and we all jump. My heart leaps into my throat, and I whirl around with my knife in front of me.
Gray bursts into the room with a resounding bang. He wears a long maroon coat with intricate bronze fastenings and polished brown boots with gold buckles. He’s the picture of a captain, but he shuts the door fast behind him like he has something to hide.
Ivander lifts his knife and points it in Gray’s direction. Niko backs him up, with Zora close behind. The way they hold those knives makes me wonder if it’s not the first time they’ve had to use them.
“What do you want?” Zora snarls, lip curling.
“I want to help you.” Gray nods to me. “But we need to leave now.”
His face, paler than usual, dares us to challenge him. He opens his mouth to say more but closes it again and turns, gripping the iron doorknob. He wrenches the door open. “If you want to get off this ship, we go now.”
In a matter of seconds, I have to decide if I trust the man I’ve known for most of my life. My gut tells me he wouldn’t hurt me any more than Leith would have. I give a silent nod of reassurance to the others.
“This is it, then,” Ivander murmurs.
We stand in silence together, but the moment doesn’t last long.
Ivander lowers his knife and grabs my hand, pulling me from the room. Alana follows close on my heels. When I turn back over my shoulder to make sure Isla, Niko, and Zora are following, Alana shakes her head at me.
“Don’t look back,” she whispers, a mantra for herself as much as me. “They have their own plan now.”
She’s right. But what’s our plan? Nerves make my palm sweaty in Ivander’s. Gray stays close to the wall, motioning for us to follow. Instinctively, we stay quiet.
As midday approaches, most staff members and bosses will be on the upper decks. Most are running activities or helping new guests load onto the ship. However we plan on getting off this ship will attract immediate attention. They’ll try to stop us.
When Gray stops in front of the staircase, he turns back around.
Ivander’s hand hovers over the slit in his coat, ready to seize his knife again, but Gray only puts a finger to his lips.
“Be silent. If anyone asks you anything, don’t answer.
I’m going to try to get us out of here without arousing suspicion. ”
Ivander raises a brow. “How do you plan on doing that?”
“Never mind how I plan to do it,” Gray mutters. “I’ll explain once we get you out of here, but it’s chaos up there right now, and I don’t have time to field questions.”
He bounds up the spiral staircase, taking them two at a time.
Ivander looks to me for a decision and I nod to him. Even after everything that has happened today, I trust Gray because I know Leith would have.
We follow close behind him on the stairs. By the time we get to deck five, we’re panting.
Gray pauses, steadies his breathing, and walks onto deck five like he owns the Celestial itself.
Ivander, Alana, and I exchange nervous glances but fall into step behind him.
Gray’s right about one thing. Amid the masses of guests clinking glasses with dazzling fire sparklers sticking out the tops, bosses stalk around, ripping staff members from the atrium.
Staff members, looking confused, follow as the grips tighten around their arms. My mouth dries, and I try not to think about what the bosses might be doing to them. They’re hunting for someone. For us.
All we can do now is hope Niko, Isla, and Zora are able to get as many Morphics as they can off the ship and to safety. It’s a hollow dream. Which province is safe for runaway Morphics? But I can’t think about that right now or I’ll shut down.
An illusion of a white Thoroughbred horse gallops around the atrium, entertaining the guests. But then a scream sounds from a hallway leading to the Lotus Salon. Guests’ heads snap up as several staff members halt.
“Don’t stop,” Ivander whispers. Keeping my gaze trained on Gray’s back, I follow the bobbing of his broad shoulders as he strides across the atrium. We’re near the gangway leading off the cruise ship now. It’s the same platform staff members use to load luggage on board.
I’m so focused on the light filtering through the exit and the idea of solid ground under my feet for the first time in a month that I don’t realize when Gray stops.
Ivander throws out his arm to keep me from crashing into him.
Alana grips my shoulders from behind to steady me.
When I see the man who’s stopped us, I let the curtains of my hair fall around my face.
Ivander tenses beside me. His clawlike nail grazes my back. He’s ready for a fight, not just with his knife.
Boss Stellan holds up his hand to Gray, arching a brow as he looks over our small group.
“Isn’t this an odd companionship?” he asks, passing a gloved finger under his chin as he pretends to think.
“I can’t figure out why three staff members would need the captain of the elite Hawk hunters to help with luggage. ”
Gray clears his throat, green eyes hard as he stares at Stellan.
With his hand hovering over whatever weapon resides under his coat and his jaw set in a firm grimace, I’m reminded of why my father made him captain.
“These Morphics no longer get to carry bags,” he says, voice low and calm.
“I’ve been ordered to take them to Malachite Prison. ”
Stellan pauses, brown eyes sliding over the three of us.
His gaze lingers on me, and I resist the urge to scratch my skin that’s now flushed hot and itchy.
He knows something’s off. He glances over our heads at the chaos descending over the atrium.
Guests are starting to get upset that their staff members are disappearing, either taken by bosses or escaping on their own.
Stellan’s eyes return to us, and there’s an odd flicker in them as he steps aside. “Then by all means, take them.”
Gray doesn’t acknowledge the change of heart. He walks straight toward the platform leading from the Celestial to solid ground. As we pass Stellan, holding our breath, his hand flies out and seizes Alana’s shoulder.
Alana lets out a small shriek, but Stellan lets go as quickly as he grabbed her. He locks eyes with Gray again. “Don’t stop until you’re where you need to go.”
We don’t wait to hear more. I pull my cloak tighter as we follow Gray off the ship.
A pile of forgotten luggage rests on the grass.
Most of the staff members have disappeared from the port.
Whoever was checking Morphics in for their first cruise is nowhere to be found.
“Everyone knows something’s wrong,” Ivander whispers.
Alana exhales a harsh breath. Her face goes blank as she says in a flat tone, “There’s plenty of fear. I feel it everywhere.”
“Might be us,” I mutter.
But that’s not true. Not entirely. I’m afraid, of course. For Isla, Niko, and Zora. For every Morphic still aboard the Celestial. For any unknowing guests caught in the crossfire. But I’m also filled with a lung-crushing exhilaration because I know Alana and Ivander are free.
As Gray leads us to a Windmere stable, we keep our heads down and our steps quick.
I inhale the earthy smell of soil beneath my feet, and I revel in the peaceful scent of it.
After a month aboard the Celestial, I’m back on Tamarynth soil.
Alana’s been aboard for months, and Ivander …
almost two years. Despite knowing we’re far from safe, I feel freer than I have since the day I failed my trial.
Then Ivander places a hand on my arm, drawing my attention. He nods back in the direction we came. All I see are a few bosses unloading heavy crates from the ship. Another man takes the crates and loads them into a carriage waiting not far from the platform.
I can’t see what’s inside the crates, but I don’t need to. My throat tightens.
The bottom left side door of the carriage is emblazoned with the small silver sigil: A potion bottle with a thin wisp of smoke twisting around the body of the bottle, like a noose.
The Damarcus family sigil.