CHAPTER 17 EZZO #2
Her protests immediately intensify beneath the gag.
For while her eyes might be wide with terror, they’re also clear and they’re focused, and there’s no mistaking the fact that she’s recognized me for the Hue I am.
I recognize her, too, come to think of it.
The bobbed, black hair, and the sharp-cut features, and the hidden fold to her eyelids.
She was the one standing next to Raya during my execution, but unlike her friend, when it came time to enact my sentence, she didn’t look away.
She wanted to watch me die in that court chamber.
She’s a scared, hungry tiger and I’m about to snap open her chains.
“You can trust me, okay? I’m with Raya.” The name appears to calm and confuse her in equal measure, as though she understands my words, but not this turn of events.
“Now, I’m really sorry, but this might hurt,” I say as I grab the base of the needle protruding from her flesh.
It’s a crude, cruel thing, and judging by the burgeoning flush of bruises, it took more than one clean stab for the point to pierce the vein.
And though I tease it out as gently and quickly as I dare, Akari still bucks on the table, her hands clenching and unclenching, her muffled moans sharpening to a wail.
“Done, it’s done.” I toss the bloodied needle to the floor and take stock of her restraints. The iron has left a series of bitter burns along her skin, blistering it the way her blood blistered the typic’s—albeit to a lesser extent.
A problem for later. Since I didn’t find a key on Alara, I start searching the walls for something I could use as a pick.
“Sparing the Shade will only delay the inevitable,” she seethes from inside her cage. “You cannot stop the will of the divine. He will cleanse the world of magic.”
Oh, good, she’s not just a fanatic, she’s a fanatic who doesn’t seem to realize that the rapture she’s preaching would affect her, as well, that she’s as tied to her color as the rest of us.
Or hells, maybe she does realize it and that’s actually part of the appeal.
It’s not uncommon for a Hue to grow self-loathing.
“Once these are off, I’ll take you to Raya,” I tell Akari, ridding her mouth of the gag.
“What did you do to her?” Her voice is weak and stripped raw from the yelling, but the fire in her question is all hate.
“I didn’t do anything to her—and before you ask, she’s fine.
” I hope. For both our sakes. “Her job was to lure the Meridian away, mine is to get you out of here, so please, don’t try to kill me when I’m done,” I say, getting to work on the cuffs.
Cemmy’s always been better at picking locks than I am, but I do okay when it comes to jail breaks, even if my skills are rusty.
Knowing the theory is half the battle—the rest is muscle memory, luck, and a little patience.
It only takes me a few seconds to release Akari’s legs.
“Raya will explain everything properly,” I add as I move onto the next fetter. “But until then, she said to tell you that she fucked up and asked an open question. She said you’d know what that means. Do you?”
“Yes, I know what it means,” Akari growls, though there’s no hiding the sudden storm in her expression, the flash of shock and the spark of anger, the stab of hurt that causes her pupils to dilate. “Will you hurry up?”
“I’m going as fast as I can.” With a few more twists, her arms go free, then the last remaining shackle is the iron around her neck. The moment that springs open, she scrambles off the table with imprudent haste.
“Whoa—easy.” The blood loss immediately buckles her knees, forcing me to lurch forward and catch her.
“Don’t touch me, half breed.” She shoves me away despite her inability to balance.
“No wonder you and Raya are friends, you have the same bedside manner,” I mutter, turning my attention to the boy, instead. “Just try not to fall and hit your head for a minute. I’d rather not have to carry you out of here.”
“Then stop wasting time on the typic and let’s go,” she barks, damn near stunning me silent.
“You can’t be serious.” I fix her a look that’s pure judgement. “We’re not leaving him.”
“Why not? He’s a typic.”
“No, he’s a child.” Gods, what is wrong with these Shades?
“And he was captured, same as you, and tortured, worse than you, so try to muster up a shred of compassion,” I grit, though even as I clamber to pick open his shackles, I find myself wondering if it’s already too late.
Yes, the boy has finally quieted his screaming, but the transfusion has left him sobbing with misery, his body riddled with weeping blisters and oozing welts.
“Here, take these.” I fish a handful of Green crystals from Alara’s stash as the boy slowly staggers to his feet.
Healing charms are rarely as powerful as a bespoke spell or a tonic—they’re made to treat smaller ailments, not burns inflicted by a Shade—but it’s better than nothing, especially since even the charms cost more than a blacksmith’s apprentice would make. “Now, run.”
Despite the pain of his injuries, the boy doesn’t need telling twice.
“Great, he’s gone, so take me to Raya.”
I can’t decide if I should be impressed by Akari’s single-minded persistence or enraged.
“You know, you’re really in no position to be making demands here.
” She’s lost too much color, for one thing, and there’s enough iron in this cellar to keep it from regenerating itself.
“But since I made a promise to Raya, are you going to let me help you or not?” I almost wish that she would double down on her disgust and say not, that way, I could absolve myself of this responsibility and disappear into the night like I should have done earlier, when first given the chance to slip away.
Because technically, I’ve already honored my promise; I’ve freed Akari and spared Raya the loss of a friend.
So perhaps now’s the time to stop playing with fire, acknowledge that she’s a Shade and I’m a Hue and that our paths were never destined to converge. Find a different way to feel useful.
“Why did Raya want you to tell me about the open question?” Instead, Akari asks me the one thing Raya was certain she’d ask—before allowing me to lend her help.
“She said breaking her magic is the only reason you’d accept for why she’s working with me.”
And on that, it seems Raya was right. Because with a huff and a creative string of obscenities, Akari finally lets me drape her arm around my shoulders and phase us into the Gray.