The City on the Edge
Twenty-six

When Ronnie and Sebastian finally stumbled out of the alcove, breathless and still holding hands, the guards had long since passed. Lorna and Varice were waiting for them at the cellar door, not wanting to leave them alone in the hall. Ronnie appreciated the consideration.

When Lorna saw them, her gaze dropped to their hands and her eyes narrowed. “Is everything okay?” she asked, the concern of her words lost beneath the bite that carried them.

Ronnie realized what she was getting at and dropped Sebastian’s hand. “Everything’s fine. Let’s go.”

Lorna turned with a flip of her red braid and stormed down the stairs, obviously angry. Varice pretended not to notice and followed after her.

“Is it fine?” Sebastian asked quietly.

A coolness seeped into Ronnie’s bones and she knew she was experiencing an emotion that didn’t belong to her. She swallowed around the foreign sadness that settled in her chest. She’d hurt his feeling and now she could feel the result in her bones.

This was going to take some getting used to.

“I think so,” she answered vaguely. By the frown on his face, she knew it wasn’t much of answer but it was the best she had. She gestured for him to follow her down the stairs. They couldn’t have a full blown conversation in the middle of the hall with an alarm blaring around them. “I’m not sure what to say. I don’t fully understand what just happened.” The stairs opened up into the cellar where the others were waiting. Malik waited at the servant’s entrance, ready to make a break for it. “Can we talk about this when we aren’t in immediate danger?” she asked. Sebastian nodded reluctantly and walked past her.

“Talk about what?” Lorna whispered, coming up beside her.

“I’m not sure yet.”

Lorna didn’t look like she believed her but she let it drop. It wasn’t the time or place, not when they were so close to getting out of this gods forsaken place.

“Once we get outside,” Varice said with her hand on the knob, “We should be able to take the shrubbery gardens to the fence. If one of you can make an opening, then we can escape into the forest.”

Malik flexed his hand. It lit up with shocks of yellow magic, strong and ready. He nodded. “I can get us through the fence.”

Ronnie gave a cursory glance over the group. They’d lost a few already, but that still left a half dozen of them. She hoped the number would work to their advantage. It would be like trying to catch a flock of silks- difficult when they all flew at once.

Varice looked up at Malik, who nodded at her, before turning the knob and pushing the door open. The damp cellar sucked in the cool night breeze like it was gasping for air. Even beneath the layers of yellow pollen and black grime smeared across her skin, Ronnie basked in the feeling of cool night air ghosting over her body. She closed her eyes for only a second, enjoying it before she opened her eyes again and followed the line of frightened witches outside.

The shrubbery gardens were exactly what she imagined they would be. Flourishing bushes and small trees trimmed into intricate shapes of animals and other plants. It seemed a little absurd to Ronnie to take one plant and shape it into another, but whatever. It made sense to someone, she supposed. She should actually thank them, she mused, since the wide collection of floral art was large enough to hide the group from view of the front lawns.

Excitement writhed around in her gut and thrummed through her body, right down to her twitching fingertips. They might actually get away clean.

Decorative gravel, shimmering slightly in the moonlight, crunched quietly while they moved, the only sound they made as they traversed the winding pathways. They passed carved stone benches and a sculpted fountain replica of the Marble City’s Golden Tower that Ronnie had to admit took incredible craftsmanship. Water sluiced over the sides of tower so seamlessly that it looked like it was made of glass.

“Over here,” Varice whispered from the front.

The fountain sat in the center of a wide circular walking path. It opened up on both sides and Ronnie knew that they would have to run across the open path, in full view of the front lawn and the guards stationed there, in order to get to the other side where the promise of escaping into the forest beckoned.

“Check everywhere,” a distant voice trickled into Ronnie’s ears over the constant trill of the alarm. The sound grated against her head like rough stone, pulsing behind her eyes. Sloan probably wasn’t going to turn it off until he caught them. With any luck, he was still searching the old passages inside the walls where they’d last been seen.

Malik looked over his shoulder at the rest of them. “One at a time,” he commanded quietly. The lines on his face were drawn and he looked years beyond his age. Was it too much magic or too much grief?

After assuring that everyone understood the plan, he gripped Anya tightly to his chest, stood and darted over the open path, ducking back down when he reached the other side. He blended almost perfectly into the shadows, but Ronnie could still make him out as he pressed back into the leaves.

They waited, listening for anything that might indicate they were seen by a patrol or a passing guard. After a moment, Malik waved the next one over, a girl as young as Varice, if not younger, and it made Ronnie’s heart ache to think of what sort of suffering these taken children had endured. The girl scrambled over the loose gravel, kicking it up as she went until she cowered next to Malik, pressed against his side. Ronnie could hear the quick draw of her breath. The girl knew she’d been too loud.

Though it was nearly impossible to distinguish footsteps over the blaring sirens, Ronnie tried anyway. Malik looked at her, watching and waiting for a sign. He had always depended on her enhanced senses, much like Lorna and Anya whenever they were sneaking around. She held her still up her still shackled hand, trying to communicate that there was little she could do while it was still attached. As she waved her hand back and forth, a thought suddenly came to her.

“Thought I heard something…” another voice from far away.

Ronnie stared down at the cuff in disbelief as realization slowly dawned on her. She looked up at Malik and his questioning expression. Even in the dark, she could make out the bags under his eyes and the furrow of his brow as clearly as if he were only inches away. Layers of sound were coming back to her and she picked through them, focusing on each one and pulling it from the rest. The shrill repetitive wailing of the alarm, panicked heartbeats, commands being yelled while patrols ran around the grounds. She could even hear the nightsong of feathered silks perched in the surrounding trees.

A warm hand settled on her shoulder, sending a wave of heat pulsing through her. Sebastian watched her, concern drawn over his gentle features. “Are you okay?”

Something had definitely changed.

“I’m fine,” she answered breathlessly. A new energy surged through her. “I’m fine.” Power thrummed gently through the bond between them.

Ronnie turned to Malik and nodded. He waved more people over, one at a time, single file, until there were more on his side than Ronnie’s. With a pat on the shoulder, she sent Varice scurrying silently across the path.

They were so close. All Malik had to do was take a couple of bars out of the fence and they’d be gone while Sloan still searched the manor for them. Ronnie almost wished she could hang around to see his face when he realized he’d lost them. Almost.

Varice was nearly to the other side when a protruding stone that had been uncovered by all the activity caught her foot and sent her crashing to the ground. She slid over the gravel, crunching and rolling the loose stone noisily. She tried to scramble to her feet but a light fell over her and she froze.

“What are you doing here?” a man’s voice demanded.

No one moved. Beside her, Lorna flexed one of her hands, but her magic only glowed weakly, weaving around her fingers like smoke. She swore under her breath and Ronnie nudged her shoulder gently. Lorna may not be able to fight, but Ronnie wasn’t feeling so weak anymore. She felt stronger than ever. Claws raised up from her fingers, ready for blood.

She crawled forward silently and perched next to the open path, still obscured behind a thick wall of green leaves and vines. Malik slowly shook his head at her, but Ronnie ignored him. After everything Varice had done to help, they couldn’t just let the White Guard take her. There would be nothing stopping the guard from looking around and replaceing the rest of them too.

“I- I -” Varice stuttered her words, her eyes wide in the light the guard held up. He had a sword clutched in his hand and Ronnie thanked whatever gods were listening. It was easier to dodge a sword than a bullet. He surprised her, though, when he slid the sword into its sheath.

“Captain Sloan will want to have a word with you,” the guard said and leaned down to grab Varice.

Before he could touch her, Ronnie leapt from her hiding place. She pivoted around the turn and shot up from her crouch, bringing a clawed hand up and catching the guard below the chin. Sharp claws met soft flesh and the guard cried out as he stumbled back. He opened his mouth to shout for help, but Ronnie was on him before he could utter a single word.

Shifters were strong, something the White Guard often forgot. Ronnie tackled the man, sending him sprawling flat on his back. She grabbed the lantern, ignoring how the hot metal burned her palm, and brought it down on the man’s temple.

One hit, then another. The guard fell back against the ground, limp and silent. A trickle of blood trailed down his forehead from where Ronnie had hit him, but it wasn’t enough to kill him.

“Ronnie!” Malik hissed, but it was too late.

She’d been seen.