23. The Trap You Choose
THE TRAP YOU CHOOSE
DAWN
An oath sworn in blood will survive death itself.
A PROVERB, PRE-CROSSING ORIGIN
Dawn’s eyes stayed on the street behind them as she pounded on the gate. Too much open ground. If anyone came around that corner, they were pinned. Talia leaned heavy on Holloway’s shoulder. That enforcer boy’s blood still painted her face.
Rusty hinges wailed. The door swung open slowly and Lore stood in the gap.
“Quickly,” he said, but it took him a beat to step aside. “We have a lot to do.”
Something about the way he stood—clasped hands, serene smile—didn’t sit right. She scuffed the gravel path with her toe while she waited for the gate to close again. So fucking slow. When it finally shut, the metallic clang echoed through her chest. No going back now.
Lore led them into his chambers. He pressed a cup of thavi into Talia’s hands. She shook so hard the drink slopped over the rim.
Dawn couldn’t shake the picture of Flint looming over that girl. That tiny sob she’d let out when she thought no one was coming. Sure, Dawn had stopped it, but she was too fucking late. Should’ve shot Flint weeks ago.
Talia stared at the thavi. Lore knelt in front of her. He wrapped his hands around hers to steady the cup.
“I can’t go home, can I?” Talia’s voice came out a whisper.
“No,” Lore said, low and soft. “You cannot go back. But you can go forward. I promised Starfall would protect you, and we will.”
Dawn watched Lore as he spoke. He failed to mention that associating with him was what got her in trouble in the first place. Or that they couldn’t stay here in Starfall.
“Holloway too.” Talia’s eyes might be unfocused, but she said the boy’s name clear as a bell.
A small line showed between Lore’s eyebrows. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“I won’t go without him.”
Lore studied Talia’s face. Gave a nod. “Fine. But I need some assurance of his loyalty.”
“What kind of assurance?” Dawn cut in. Nothing was ever free with Lore. He might ask for information, or money, or promises. He might get those things and still ask for more.
“An oath,” Lore stood and walked to a sideboard, started opening drawers. “His protection in exchange for mine.”
That seemed reasonable. She didn’t trust it.
“And if he won’t swear the oath?” Dawn asked, scanning the room. Holloway’s face was pale. Talia was looking into the middle distance, picking at her fingernails.
“If he won’t swear this oath, in blood, the captain walks out of my gates.” Lore spread his hands. “I won’t stop him. I won’t help him.”
A blood oath? Dawn didn’t know how that worked—blood magic was old and messy. Some old families had practiced it, but she’d never had a use for it herself. Lore pulled a knife from the drawer, its blade reflecting the firelight. Holloway’s eyes cut to the door.
“This is your choice,” Lore purred. “I won’t force you.”
Some choice. Bind his soul to this asshole or leave Talia alone? This was how Lore operated. He’d put a gun to your head and call it free will.
Holloway rolled up a sleeve. “Do it.”
Lore pressed the blade into Holloway’s palm. Dark blood welled up, weeping over his wrist and splattering on the table. Then he cut himself. He took Holloway’s hand and pressed their palms together.
Sweat beaded on Holloway’s forehead. His back jerked straight.
“I accept your service,” Lore murmured. “And you accept my protection.”
“I accept your protection,” Holloway choked out. “And I live to serve.”
She knew the moment the oath snapped into place. The air went slack. Flux lamps flickered around the room. She tasted copper and felt a tug on her skin, like metal filings drawn to a magnet. Lore released his grip, and Holloway staggered. Caught the edge of the table. Sucked in a shaky breath.
Lore drew a length of gauze from the sideboard and wrapped it twice around Holloway’s hand, tying it off with an expert twist. His own wound bled freely, but he didn’t seem to notice.
He whispered something to Talia and ushered her out of the room, letting the door click closed behind them.
Dawn stared at a smattering of blood on the floorboards.
Just two of them now. Dawn hooked the back of a chair and dragged it to the fire. Holloway dropped into the chair across from hers, eyes on his hand. Heat crawled under her collar. She unbuttoned her jacket and leaned back. This fucking day.
“Well, good,” she said, kicking an ankle over her knee. “We were short one bleeding fool.”
His face stayed neutral as he stared into the fire, but amusement flashed around his eyes as he said, “I do live to serve. Apparently.”
She’d expected him to bristle, not joke back. That was a good sign. “Anything you’re useful for? Besides ordering people around?”
He gave her a crooked half grin. “Why, you looking for an apprentice in the swearing and shooting department? I am looking for a new gig. ”
That made her laugh. He held his hands to the fire, and she could see the change settle in. Shock burning off. Training taking over.
“Do we have a route out of town?” he asked.
“The north gate’s closest, but it’ll be stacked with patrols. South gate might be clear. We’d have to cut across the city and circle back to the Queen’s Way.”
He shook his head. “All the real roads will be guarded. Need a third way. Rockier the better.”
“The old quarry road?” It didn’t deserve to be called a road, more like a flat bit of gravel between bigger rocks. Once you took flux out of the soil it didn’t come back. The hills near town had been stripped bare for years.
“That sounds like what we need.” He nodded once. “My boys never trained on trails. Rough terrain slows them.”
She studied his face. My boys. He’d lost one of those boys tonight. Shit, Holloway’s whole life had pretty much ended tonight. He’d given up his rank, maybe his soul, and he was already putting a decent plan together. Her fingers tapped restlessly against her holsters.
She hadn’t planned to respect him, but it was coming on fast.
“Question for you. Ever run into Riven Valros at the garrison?”
Holloway frowned. “Why?”
“Was he…was he really reporting on Talia?”
He tipped his head back and sighed, tired. “Yeah.”
Fuuuck. Lore wasn’t lying. She didn’t know what to do with that. “The warrant. Was that him?”
Holloway rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know. Someone turned in a full dossier on her this morning. Timelines. Transcripts. That’s what did it.” He looked down at his hand. “But the informant—Riven—reached out later to schedule a drop. Asked me to arrest Lore.”
“Stars above.” Dawn shut her eyes. What was he thinking?
“Tally can’t find out,” Holloway said. “She’s been through enough.”
“Agreed.”
The fire snapped as a log collapsed in on itself.
“You better scrounge up some gear,” she said finally. “Can’t wear black and green on the road. I’ll go check on our girl.”
She found Talia alone in the library, bent over a map. The girl was tracing a finger up the road that ran north along the coast and then west into those mountains.
Dawn leaned on the table near her. “How are you holding up?”
Talia’s eyes were unfocused when she glanced up. “What? Oh.” She looked at her own hands, turned them over. “I don’t know.”
Shock. Dawn had seen it before. The girl’s mind had gone somewhere else to survive. She stared at Talia’s shaking hands and made herself say it.
“You don’t have to do this. If you want out, just say so. I’ll get you somewhere safe.”
She’d been fighting off the guilt of introducing Talia to Lore. Flipping it into anger, like she did with feelings she didn’t need. But it had been building for days now, maybe longer.
It was one thing to run down Lore’s hit list or fuck over someone like Lorry. Those pricks deserved what came to them, and she deserved to survive. Talia was different—she didn’t ask for any of this.
Talia stared at the map a long time. Then, “I want to see what’s out there.”
Dawn studied her. Shaky hands, glassy eyes. Still running on momentum instead of brainpower. Dawn wanted to argue. When all your other choices got burned down, picking the last door wasn’t really choosing. But the girl looked set.
“If you’re in, I’m in,” Dawn said.
Talia fidgeted with the corner of the map. “Thank you. For tonight. For—”
“Don’t thank me yet.” Dawn pushed to her feet. “We’re not out of it.”
Bells tolled midnight as they gathered in the courtyard, which was filled with Lore’s acolytes. A sea of blue cloaks. Lore raised his hands, and the crowd went quiet.
“True gods, bless us on this road,” he intoned. “Keep us safe to the end.”
His people murmured the words back.
Dawn watched Holloway, standing next to Talia. Felt the magnetic tug of the oath wash over her skin and anchor into Holloway, pulling him forward just a half step. His face went white. Whatever Lore had done, it held.
They were all bound to Lore now, one way or another.
Lore checked his stallion’s bridle and tack before swinging onto his back. “Head for the quarry road,” he said. “West into the hills, north once we’re clear. Dawn leads.”
Someone had fetched the horses from Cannon’s.
Dawn was happy to see Brimstone. She mounted up as the gates groaned open.
The street beyond was mostly empty. She drove her heels in and leaped forward.
She knew Lore had planned this, every piece of it.
She was riding straight into his snare, eyes open, jaw set. She should have resented it.
And yet—
The wind tore at her duster coat as she cantered into the street.
They crossed the western perimeter where the wall was still being built, then Gateway shrank to a shadow behind them.
She craned her neck back to take in the sky, speckled with stars.
She laughed once—short, rough, real. The night stole the sound as they rode out.