Phoenix (8 page)

Beetle catches my eye as I return to the com-desk and gives me a sympathetic look.
This isn’t easy on him either; he’s gotten to know Polly well these past two months,
since she moved in with Day’s family. I try to listen to the others as they discuss
our plan to strike the Transporters, but I can’t concentrate. My eyes drift toward
the muted video footage that Stuart took this morning, still playing on the digital
screen. Families are being torn apart; people are being killed.
You’re doing this for the greater good.
There’s more at stake here than Polly’s life. Still, it’s a bitter pill to swallow
when I see her terrified image broadcast across the city every hour.

Something Stuart said earlier suddenly flashes into my mind:
The government’s somehow jamming any signals going into or out of the city . . .

I jerk bolt upright in my seat, alarming everyone.

“If the government’s blocking all broadcast signals coming into and out of Black City,
how are they showing the live footage of Polly?” I say.

Everyone’s silent for a moment, then Stuart grins.

“The signal has to be coming from somewhere in the city!” he says.

“Where?” Beetle asks.

“Sentry headquarters?” Juno suggests.

“No, we’ve broken in there before,” I say. “It needs to be somewhere they know we
can’t get access to.”

My mind races. If I had to keep Polly in the city, but somewhere out of reach, where
would be the best place to hide her? The answer hits me. I peer toward the window.

“She’s in a Destroyer Ship,” I say.

NATALIE

I CURL UP
on the leather chair beside the stone hearth in Sigur’s office and watch the yellow
flames as they dance in the fireplace. Amy and Day sit cross-legged on the antique
rug in front of me, giving me concerned looks. It’s clear neither of them knows what
to say, but what
can
they say? I’ve basically just signed my sister’s death warrant. I blink, and the
flames blur through my tears.

“Maybe the rescue team will find her,” Amy says hopefully.

Pain knots inside my chest, and I try to knead it away with my fist, but it doesn’t
work. I let out a pitiful groan and crumple in on myself, finally allowing myself
to cry. Day rushes over, putting her arms around me.

I cling to her, hating myself for betraying Polly, and hating Purian Rose for tearing
my family apart. Again. How can he do this to his own daughter? Would he save her
if he knew the truth? Somehow I doubt it.

The door opens.

“Sorry,” Elijah says when he sees us. “I was going to make a call. It can wait.”

I wipe my eyes. “No, it’s fine. Come in.”

Elijah hesitates, then crosses the room toward Sigur’s desk. I try not to listen in
on his hushed conversation with his father.

“Any news about your mother?” I ask when he hangs up.

He shakes his head.

“Your father must be worried about her,” I say. “I’m surprised she didn’t tell him
where she was going.”

“They’re not together anymore,” Elijah explains. “My mom hates him. They rarely speak.”

I bite my lip.
Good one, Natalie.

“Do you have Lucinda’s letter with you?” I say.

He takes it out of his pocket.

“Come on, let’s try and work out where your mother is,” I say, in desperate need of
a distraction before my guilt over Polly threatens to devour me.

We gather armfuls of encyclopedias, atlases and old nautical charts from the shelves,
then carry them back to the rug beside the hearth and sit down in a circle. Elijah
places the letter on the floor between us. Day’s glasses keep sliding down her nose
as she reads.

“So Lucinda’s gone to meet the twins,” she says. “Who are they?”

Elijah shrugs. “Mom never mentioned she knew any twins.”

“Well, the city they’ve gone to definitely starts with an
m
and ends with an
r,
” Day says. “And given that only a few letters are stained, we’re looking for a place-name
that’s five or six letters long.”

“Okay, everyone look through the books and see if you can find anything that matches,”
I say.

Elijah picks up one of the books. I’m sure he’s done this already, but without anything
else to go on, it’s all we can do. Maybe he missed something.

I pick up an old atlas and flip through the yellowed, musty pages, scanning the tiny
print for any reference to a city that could match the name in Lucinda’s letter. With
every book I get through, desperation rises in me, my desire to save Polly getting
muddled with the need to help Elijah. I furiously throw the last book across the room
and sink my head in my hands, taking a few deep breaths.

“You all right?” Elijah asks.

I nod, drawing my hair back into a bun. “I didn’t find anything that matched. Only
Maize, Mercury, Majesty, Monns Peninsula and Molten Lake.”

“Same here,” Elijah replies, tossing his book on the pile.

“Me too,” Day says.

“I found a place called Mountain Shade on one of the older maps,” Amy says. “But I
don’t think the town exists anymore, after Mount Alba erupted.”

Elijah’s face crumples, the last glimmer of hope gone.

“I’m sorry,” I say, taking his hand.

The study door opens, and Ash and Beetle enter. They’re both breathless.

“There you are!” Ash says.

His sparkling black eyes flicker toward my hand, which is clasped around Elijah’s.
I let go.

“What’s going on?” I say.

“We’ve worked out where Polly is,” Ash says.

I stand up, my heart leaping. “What? Where?”

“She’s in one of the Destroyer Ships over the Park,” Beetle replies. “Ash and Stuart
worked it out.”

“He was able to trace the signal to the airship
Roselyn,
” Ash adds.

I run over to Ash and throw my arms around his neck, kissing him passionately. A tremendous
weight lifts off my heart; we can save Polly!

He breaks the kiss. “It’s not going to be easy getting her back.”

“But we’ll try, right?” I say.

He nods. “The others have already started planning the rescue mission.”

Beetle nudges the pile of books on the floor with his boot. “What are you guys doing?”

“We’re trying to work out where Lucinda and Elijah’s mom have gone,” Day replies.

“But we can’t find any cities that match the place referenced in the letter,” Amy
says. “We’ve looked through
everything.
”

“Maybe it’s a code name,” Beetle suggests.

“Oh!” Day exclaims, jumping up. “Oh!” she says again.

“What did I say?” Beetle asks.

“Sshh, I’m thinking,” Day says, pacing in front of the fireplace. She snaps her fingers.
“I’ve got it! It’s the city’s
nickname.
”

Amy and Elijah exchange confused looks.

“Come on, guys,” she says, grinning. “Centrum’s nickname is the Gilded City—”

“Viridis is the Vertical City!” Elijah chimes in.

“And Thrace is the
Mirror
City!” She gives us all a smug look as she sits down.

“How do you know all this?” Beetle asks, impressed.

“Some of us actually paid attention in geography.”

“Oh, yeah,” Beetle mutters.

Ash furrows his brow. “Did you say
Thrace
was the Mirror City?”

“Yeah,” Day replies.

He jogs out of the room and returns a few minutes later carrying a leather-bound journal.
He takes out a photograph and shows it to us. It’s a picture of two Darkling girls—I
assume they’re Ash’s mother and aunt—standing beside a young barmaid in a wheelchair
and a stunning girl with honey-colored eyes wearing a hooded green robe.

“That picture was taken in a tavern in Thrace,” Ash says.

“That’s my mom!” Elijah says, pointing to the girl in the green robe.

“Look on the back,” Ash says.

Elijah flips it over. “T4K, Thrace . . .
T4K
? The Four Kingdoms!”

Day looks at the photo. “Huh. I thought the Four Kingdoms were about uniting the four
races, but there’s no Lupine in the picture.”

“Maybe the Lupine was the one holding the camera?” Ash suggests.

I take the picture from him. “Do you think this is where your mother has gone to meet
Lucinda?”

“It’s very possible,” Elijah says, grinning from ear to ear.

“It’s not much to go on,” Ash admits. “I don’t even know the name of the tavern.”

“It’s more than I had yesterday,” Elijah says, looking at the young barmaid in the
photograph. “She might know where my mom and Lucinda went to fetch the Ora.”

“So we have a plan,” Ash says. “We go to Thrace and find the barmaid?”

We all nod in agreement.

I look at Ash, and he returns a smile—we’re both having the same thought. If we can
find Lucinda, and persuade her to give us the Ora, maybe we’ll finally have a way
to bring down Purian Rose. I’m coming round to the idea of using the weapon against
the Sentry, after they kidnapped my sister, bombed Ember Creek and then threatened
everyone in Black City.

But first we have more pressing business to attend to.

I’m going to rescue Polly.

NATALIE

I GLANCE UP
at the sky toward the airship that’s been my sister’s prison for the past two days.
Roselyn.
It’s such a pretty name, considering what it is. Roach did a recon mission last night
and worked out that our best shot of getting onto the Destroyer Ship is to board one
of the Transporters parked on Union Street. Ash gives me a cuddle, kissing the top
of my head as I try to calm my nerves. Polly needs me to be brave right now.

We’re hidden down a side alley, near Union Street. The city around us is in chaos.
People are screaming and running in all directions; there’s a pop of gunfire every
few minutes; and we catch sight of several Lupine packs stalking the streets, on the
hunt for their next victims.

“Okay, let’s go over the plan one more time,” Ash says.

He goes through the plan again with Elijah and Stuart while Harold helps me with my
robe, since my hands are shaking too much to tie the belt.

Elijah lets out a weary sigh.

“I’m sorry. Am I boring you?” Ash says.

Elijah shrugs. “A little.”

Ash glowers at him, opening his mouth to say something, but I shoot him a warning
look. Elijah’s doing us a massive favor by helping us out today, and I don’t want
to upset him, since he’s a key part of the plan. Ash relents, muttering curses under
his breath instead.

Harold binds our hands with rope, keeping the knots loose enough for us to break free
when we need to. Then comes the bit I’m really not looking forward to: he puts the
burlap sacks over our heads. Immediately I feel suffocated and want to tear the hood
off, but somehow I manage to restrain myself. Two small holes have been cut in the
sack, so I can just about see what’s going on directly in front of me, which is better
than nothing.

“This sack stinks of fish,” Elijah whines, his voice muffled.

“I thought cats liked seafood,” Stuart replies.

Nerves start to kick in, and I ball my bound hands into fists.

“Let’s do this,” I mumble through the sack.

Harold guides us to Union Street and herds us into the steady stream of people being
ushered toward the prison Transporter
Roselyn 401.
Through the open hatch at the back of the ship, I can see long rows of metal benches
with shackles to lock onto our feet. There’s only one window right at the front of
the aircraft, so the pilot can see where he’s going. There’s a mesh grille between
him and the prisoners for protection.

Four armed Sentry guards wait by the hatch, loading the prisoners onto the Transport
and handing out Evacuation Passes to the traitors bringing them in. One of the guards,
a slim man in his fifties with close-cropped silver hair, waves a hand.

“Next,” he says.

A man shoves two dark-skinned girls toward the aircraft. They can’t be more than seven
and ten years old. Fury surges through me, thinking about what that man did to get
hold of those little girls. Are their parents dead? The younger of the two girls trips,
and he roughly hauls her to her feet. She starts crying. A smack across the cheek
silences her, and it takes all my strength not to run over to that man and punch him
in the face.

“Name?” the silver-haired guard says.

“Greer, Adrian,” the man says. “I brought a nipper here earlier today; it should be
against my name.”

The guard scans the list and then shakes his head.

“That’s fragging ridiculous! I brought it here just three hours ago. Give me my Evacuation
Pass!” the man yells, his face turning red.

“If you don’t shut it, I’ll hand you over to the Lupines,” the silver-haired guard
says to the man.

The man storms off, escorted by two Sentry guards to ensure he doesn’t cause any trouble.

“Next,” the silver-haired guard says, bored.

We take another step forward, and that’s when I see him.

Sebastian
.

I didn’t notice him earlier, because my hood blocks my peripheral vision. He’s carrying
a handheld com-screen and is making a note of the prisoners as they board the Transporter,
like we’re inventory.

“Harold—” I begin.

“I’ve seen him,” he mutters.

“Will he recognize you?”

“He’s only ever seen me without a beard, so I don’t think so,” Harold says.

I try to steady my growing nerves. There’s no reason Sebastian should recognize Harold,
not dressed in Workboot clothes and wearing a full, gray beard. The line continues
to shuffle toward the aircraft.

“Next,” the silver-haired guard says.

“Good luck,” Harold whispers as we step forward.

I can’t see Sebastian anymore, but I know he’s to my left. Every hair on my arms stands
on end, sensing him. I can even smell his spicy aftershave; the scent brings back
memories of our time in Centrum together, when we spent hours kissing on my bed. I
push that revolting thought out of my head.

“Name,” the guard says.

“H—James,” he quickly corrects, trying to disguise his mistake with a cough. “James
Madden.”

I daren’t turn my head to see Sebastian’s reaction to Harold’s slipup.

“How many are you transporting?” the guard says.

“Three,” he replies, giving our false names.

The guard checks the list and nods approvingly. He passes Harold an Evacuation Pass.
“Enjoy your train ride.”

Harold mutters his thanks and turns to leave.

“Wait.” Sebastian’s voice comes from my left.

My heart flips.

“Can I help, sir?” Harold says.

“Have we met before?” Sebastian asks.

Panic rises up inside me, every instinct telling me to run. If Sebastian works out
who we are, he’ll kill us, I’m certain of it.

“No . . . no, I don’t think so,” Harold says. “I work at Chantilly Lane Market. Maybe
you’ve visited my stall?”

Silence from Sebastian. Then, “Let me see those prisoners. Take off their hoods.”

No, no, no, no, no!

“There’s really no need for that,” Harold says quickly.

The guard rips off Stuart’s hood. He looks fearfully from the guard to Harold. I’m
so relieved Amy did some of her makeup magic and added fake bruises and cuts to our
faces, to help disguise us.
Good thinking, Amy.

“Been beating them up, eh?” the silver-haired guard jokingly says to Harold, assuming
this is the reason he doesn’t want the hoods taken off.

“Yes, well, I had to restrain them somehow,” he says.

The silver-haired guard reaches out a hand and starts lifting my hood up. A million
escape plans run through my mind as the material inches up my face.

“Don’t! She’ll bite your hand off, that one,” Harold says in a rush.

The hood is getting higher and higher. It’s reached my chin, lips, soon Sebastian
will recognize me—

“Give me my fragging Evacuation Pass!” the man from earlier yells, running back toward
us, the two Sentry guards racing after him.

The hood drops back over my head.

The silver-haired guard and Sebastian subdue the man while one of the other guards
leads the three of us onto the Transporter, leaving Harold behind to watch us go.
My heart is still racing. It’s as hot as an oven in the crowded aircraft, and sweat
instantly rolls down my back as I sit on the metal bench. Our ankles are shackled
to prevent us from trying to escape. The guard walks away.

“That was close,” Elijah’s muffled voice says beside me.

“Too close,” I mumble through my hood.

The little girls I saw earlier are sitting opposite me, and the younger one is crying
again. Her sister attempts to console her, and my heart aches as I think about Polly
and how she would comfort me when I was upset. I vow to free those girls if I can.

A moment later, the aircraft’s hatch is shut and the engines turn on. People start
crying and wailing; some even pray as the Transporter lifts off. This will be the
last time they see Black City. Their next destination will be their final resting
place.

Two seats away, a skinny woman with strings of blond hair and the black veins of a
Hazer is having a full-on hysteria attack, her screams filling the cabin.

“I’m not meant to be here! You’ve made a mistake!” she wails, even though the pilot
isn’t listening.

The bumpy journey to the Destroyer Ship takes only a few minutes, but it’s enough
to cause most of the passengers to throw up. The stench is unreal, and I only just
manage to rip my hood off in time to puke all over Elijah’s feet. He tears off his
hood.

“I’m sorry,” I say in a rush. As the Bastet Consul’s son, he’d be more used to girls
throwing rose petals at his feet, not vomit.

He lightly takes my hands in his, startling me. His hands are so hot, the way mine
feel after I’ve been warming them over a fire. The gold bands around his wrists glimmer,
and I focus on them, finding it soothing.

“The air’s thinner up here. It makes everyone feel sick.” He inspects the mess splashed
all over his feet. “Did you have carrots for breakfast?”

I laugh. It’s a bit of a hysterical sound, just like the crazy lady two seats down
from me, but it’s just what I need to calm my growing nerves. I’m starting to think
Elijah’s exactly the sort of person I need around me during a crisis.

We undo each other’s binds, then help Stuart with his, removing his hood in the process.
Stuart and I take off our robes to reveal the Sentry guard uniforms hidden underneath,
which Roach and Beetle managed to obtain for us last night. The two little girls stare
at us with bug-eyed wonder. We wipe the makeup off our faces, and I pull back my hair
so I look older and more serious. I shove the robes and spare hoods under the bench,
tucking one hood in my pocket to use as a disguise for Polly.

“Elijah, if you’d do the honors,” I say, lifting up the chain shackling my feet to
the ground.

He bites down on the chain with his saber teeth. It takes a few attempts before the
links break and my feet are freed. He does the same with Stuart. Many of the prisoners
are staring at us now. A boy around eighteen years old, with shaggy brown hair, alabaster
skin and startling green eyes, leans toward me and shows me the Cinder Rose tattoo
on his wrist. I show him mine.

“What are you doing here?” he asks.

“Rescue mission,” I reply.

“Are you going to save us?” he says.

I nod, unable to say the lie out loud.

The sliver of light from the cockpit disappears as we enter the Destroyer Ship, plunging
the cabin into total darkness. Now everyone begins to scream, yanking at their shackles.
The Transporter judders as it docks in the Destroyer Ship. There’s a blast of cold
air, and light floods the cabin as the hatch is opened.

We’re inside a cargo bay in the main envelope of the airship. I knew Destroyer Ships
were big, but now that we’re inside one, I’m overwhelmed by its size. How are we ever
going to find Polly in here?

A young male guard with slicked-back hair enters the cabin and stops when he sees
me and Stuart. The name tag on his chest reads
VICTOR
. Blood pounds in my ears. The prisoners around us watch silently, but no one says
anything to give us away.

“What are you doing here? This isn’t normal protocol,” Victor asks.

“We’re escorting this creature,” I say, pointing to Elijah. “It attacked one of the
guards, so they told us to bring it up with the others.”

Elijah dramatically roars and snaps his saber teeth at Stuart.

“Get down,” Stuart bellows, slapping Elijah across the face.

Elijah’s golden eyes flash with genuine anger, but he sits down, playing along.

“Sebastian didn’t radio this up to me,” Victor says.

“He’s a busy man,” I reply. “I guess he forgot.”

Victor considers this. “Who did the cat bite? Please tell me it was Holden.”

I laugh, like I’m in on the joke. “No, it was some newbie called Wadsworth.”

Victor looks disappointed, but he seems to have bought our story. He starts to unshackle
the prisoners. When he reaches the hysterical woman, she starts babbling at him.

“You’ve made a mistake—I love Purian Rose! I voted in favor of segregation,” she says.
“Please, let me go. I’m not like these other race traitors!”

“That’s what they’ve all been saying,” Victor replies, removing the chains.

The hysterical woman springs to her feet, startling Victor long enough to push past
him and run out of the hatch. She makes it twenty feet before he shoots her between
the shoulder blades. She collapses to the ground midstride, her blood splashing across
the floor. Victor strolls over to her and kicks her onto her back. She’s still alive,
although blood gurgles out of her mouth as she silently pleads for her life. He drags
her toward the hatch in the cargo bay. I watch, transfixed, as he opens up the air
lock and tosses her out into the sky.

He returns to the prison Transporter.

“Anyone else thinking of running away? If so, you know where the door is.” He waits
a moment, but no one stirs. “Get up,” he orders.

The prisoners all stand, subdued by the horror of what they just saw, and obediently
shuffle out of the aircraft. There are scores of armed guards patrolling the cargo
bay, monitoring the traffic. Transporters come and go in a steady stream, dropping
prisoners off. All the ships are named
Roselyn,
like ours, but have different numbers. I notice
Roselyn 403
seems to be loading prisoners back
on
it. Strangely, all of them are pretty girls and boys. Victor catches me looking.