The Disappearance of Ember Crow (30 page)

“There’s a delegation of students from all the cities here to witness the Adjustment. But they’re teenagers – surely they couldn’t be assassins?”

I exchanged a horrified glance with Connor and Daniel. It had never occurred to us that the minions might actually be part of the crowd
invited
to the Adjustment. My thoughts raced.
We might have even warned the minions we’re onto them with the increased security
… this is a disaster
. But there was no time for regrets. “Believe me, they’re not ordinary teenagers, and you don’t want to see what they can do close up. Where’s that delegation right now?”

“Probably in the old dining hall, at breakfast with everyone else.”

“Including the Prime?” Connor asked.

Duoro nodded, eyes wide. “Yes. I never thought – I didn’t think the danger could come from inside!”

We hadn’t either. “We’ve got to get to the hall.”

“Wait,” Duoro said. “I don’t know if this means anything, but one of the teenagers was ill this morning. Or said he was. He went to see Doctor Wentworth.”

“Where’s she?”

“She’s set up an infirmary in the old hospital.”

Oh no
. “That’s right near the cells!”

“Ah, yes. Why does that matter–”

“Because Neville’s in the cells!”

He looked puzzled, and I realised I’d done a terrible job of conveying the dual threat.
And I can hardly say, Rose might be in danger because he knows too much about a paranoid, three-hundred-plus-year-old aingl
…

Daniel intervened to deliver a short, masterful explanation. “We think Talbot was allied with Neville Rose in some way, including being involved in some of Rose’s unlawful activities. Talbot might now be trying to cover his tracks by getting rid of him. Rose could be a target, along with Prime Willis.”

“Then we have to protect them both!” Duoro said. “Not that I think Rose deserves any help, but an assassination by an Illegal would be a disaster for the reform process.”

He was a little erratic but not at all stupid; I should have remembered that.

“We’ll need to split up. I–” I stopped, interrupted by a hissing sound from outside.
What’s that?

The four of us ran out to find a massive fireball hovering in the sky above the centre. We started towards it, but the fireball simply hung there for a moment, popping with small bursts of flame, before vanishing completely.

“Is that the attack?” Duoro asked.

Connor gave a grim shake of his head. “It’s a signal. For the attack to begin.”

We’d run out of time. “Daniel and I will take the hospital and the cells. Connor, you go to the Prime. And be careful.”

Be well, be safe, come back to me …

He met my gaze. “You too.” And I knew he was saying that in answer to both the words I’d spoken and the ones I hadn’t.

I nodded.

Connor leaned over to grasp hold of Duoro’s arm. “We’re going to have to fly. Don’t worry, I won’t let you fall.”

An expression of sheer delight flitted across Jeremy Duoro’s face, and the two of them soared upwards.

I reached out to Daniel. He lifted me up again, and we Ran.

When the world resolved into itself, we were at the old hospital building. Daniel set me down and zoomed inside, tearing through one room after another. I could only follow his progress by seeing doors fly open down the central hall; I couldn’t actually see
him
.

He materialised in an open doorway, looking shaken. “Ash? There’s a woman in here … and if this is Wentworth, she’s dead.”

I sprinted forwards, my heart slamming against my ribs, and stopped at Daniel’s side to take in the terrible scene.
Doctor Wentworth
. The brown-skinned Mender was sprawled on the floor, red robes pooling around her.

Half the back of her head had been caved in with a blood-soaked rock that was still sticking out of her skull.

“The minion who was here has probably gone after Neville,” Daniel said.

I nodded. I knew I should say something, or do something, only I couldn’t seem to move or speak. My friend is dead. I wasn’t in time to save her.
My friend is dead
.

Daniel shook my arm. “Ash? We’ve got to stop them from assassinating Neville, or this is all for nothing. And she’s
gone
. No one could survive that.”

He was right. No, I realised with dawning hope, he was half right. One of us had to stop the minion, and
almost
no one could survive. I shoved the stunner into his hand and started towards Wentworth. “You go. I’ll catch up.”

“I can’t take the weapon, it’ll leave you defenceless.”

“There’s no reason for anyone to come back here. It’s Neville they’ll be after.” I kneeled on the floor and called over my shoulder, “Stop the minion, Daniel, and that’s an order!”

He vanished in a whoosh of air. I felt frantically at Wentworth’s neck. Was that a pulse? It was so faint I couldn’t be sure. But, just as Firestarters didn’t burn and Waterbabies couldn’t drown, Menders were difficult to kill. Their bodies clung to life, and the more powerful the Mender, the harder it was to kill them. Wentworth was the best Mender I’d ever seen. Only she didn’t seem to be Mending, not from this. Had I imagined the pulse?

I hovered over her, biting back a whimper. Then I noticed the rock. It was a funny shape, all pointed and sharp, almost as if it were – crystal?
It’s not a rock
. It was unprocessed rhondarite. The minions must have swiped it from one of the displays in the centre. And it was partially embedded in Wentworth’s head.

Which meant it was blocking her ability.

I grabbed hold of the rhondarite, trying to be gentle as I pried the awful thing out.

“It’s gone, Rae,” I whispered, when I had it free. “Get better. Please get better.” I threw the rhondarite away, and wiped my bloody hands on my pants. Then I brushed her dark hair back from her face so I could see her eyes, hoping they’d flutter open. They didn’t, but … was her skull repairing itself? It was hard to tell, so I felt her neck again. There was a definite pulse this time, growing stronger by the moment. She was Mending. I heaved a sigh of relief and leaned back.

That was when I saw it.

There were letters scrawled across the wall to my right. Letters written in blood.
We are everywhere
. I fought a sudden urge to throw up. Whoever had been here had taken the time to use Wentworth’s blood as she lay dying, so they could – what? Inspire fear?
No, inspire terror
. To make people believe there were Illegals everywhere ready to attack them the way Wentworth had been attacked. It was cruel and twisted and … effective.

The doctor stirred. She stared up at me out of dazed dark eyes. “Ashala? What are you doing here?”

I got control of my rage and replied in something approaching a normal tone of voice. “Long story, and you’ve been badly hurt, doc. You need to lie still.”

“There was a boy. He said he was sick. Did he hit me with something?”

“Yeah. With rhondarite, but you’re getting better now. Listen, he’s an Illegal, and he’s here to hurt people. If you’re okay, I have to go.”

“People are hurt?”

She struggled up, rising onto her feet. I stood with her, trying to keep her steady. “You need to lie down!”

“If someone’s hurt,” she said stubbornly, “I need to help.”

“No, you don’t, and anyway no one’s hurt yet, I hope …”

“Ashala.” She shook free of me. “Explain to me what is happening. Why would someone attack me?”

I didn’t think I’d ever admired Rae Wentworth more than I did in that moment – covered in blood, barely recovered from a wound that should have killed her and
still
determined to help.

“This isn’t going to make much sense,” I told her, “but you’ll have to trust me. There are bad Illegals here who work for former Prime Talbot. Um, he’s not dead, I don’t know if you’ve heard the rumours. Talbot is trying to derail the reform movement, stir people up against Illegals, and we think the Illegals who work for him are going to assassinate Prime Willis, or Neville. The one who hurt you has probably gone after Neville, and a member of my Tribe is out there too, and I have to go help.”

She nodded. “Then go, and I’ll follow as soon as I can.”

I ran, out of the hospital and into the centre. As I neared the cells, I could hear sounds of a struggle. I peered around a corner to see that the door to the cell block was wide open. An enforcer was lying on the ground with his skull caved in, by a rock this time instead of rhondarite.
Didn’t even have time to draw his sword
. I could make out a white-haired figure and a dark-haired figure huddled in the shadow of the next building, both dressed in the plain brown clothes of prisoners.
Neville and Grey
. And in the open space between the structures, Daniel was fighting with a sandy-haired boy.

The two of them were struggling for the stunner, and one of them must have their hand on the trigger, because every now and then a blast would shoot out. I gaped in surprise.
Daniel’s so fast, how did the minion manage to get anywhere near him?

In a moment, I had my answer. The boy disappeared, just vanished completely, and reappeared behind Daniel.

I shouted a warning as the minion aimed two sharp, vicious blows at Daniel’s side. He staggered, and the boy grabbed the stunner. I sprinted over. Before I could tackle the minion someone slammed into me from the side, throwing me to the ground. I hit the dirt, twisted and struck at – Miriam Grey?

I’m trying to keep you from being killed, you idiot!
Or at least keep Neville from being killed, although I doubted Terence would care if Grey was collateral damage. But there was no point in telling her that; she had always been crazy, and confinement clearly hadn’t agreed with Miriam Grey. Her green eyes were even more devoid of sanity than they’d been the last time I’d met her. She hissed and spat, clawing and scratching at my face. I flung up an arm to protect myself and punched her in the stomach – once, then twice. She gasped, and I threw her off me, aiming a last kick at her middle as I stood to make sure she stayed down. Grey howled, curling up into a ball.

A bolt from the stunner flashed past, forcing me to duck, then roll as another one sizzled by. Except the minion – the Blinker, I decided to call him – wasn’t actually aiming at me. In fact, he seemed to be shooting in all directions, following something around the space.
It’s Daniel. He’s Running
. And I was only going to get in the way. I scrambled for the shelter where Neville and Grey had been hiding. Neville wasn’t there any more, which was worrying. I tried to spot him amid the stunner blasts.
He’s probably trying to escape in the confusion
.

Daniel appeared out of nowhere, ramming into the boy and pushing him backwards so fast he dropped the weapon. I ran for the stunner as Daniel slammed him against a wall, holding a rhondarite collar to his throat. The boy struggled, trying to get away from the collar. Daniel was holding it in place, keeping it in contact with his skin.
If I can stun the minion, I can end this!

I’d nearly reached the weapon when Neville darted in. He was carrying a sword; he must have taken it from the dead enforcer.
What is he doing, trying to help us?
I shouted at him to run. He ignored me, raised the sword – and plunged it into Daniel.

I gasped in shock as Daniel collapsed, the collar clattering to the ground. My hand closed on the stunner and I swung it up to fire at Neville. Only before the blast hit its mark the Blinker appeared, grabbing hold of Neville’s arm. They both disappeared.

The shot dissipated into the air just as someone crashed into my legs, knocking me over. I had barely enough time to register it was Grey before my head slammed against the corner of a wall, and for a second everything went black. I blinked woozily as the world returned, and scrambled to my feet.

Grey was gone. So was Neville, and the Blinker. A red-robed figure staggered out from among the buildings, and I almost shot her before I realised it was Wentworth. She stumbled to Daniel’s side, dropping to her knees and putting her hands on his chest. I backed up towards them, swinging the weapon back and forth, ready to fire the moment I saw danger.

There was no one to shoot. The dreadful truth sank in. Terence hadn’t sent the minion here to kill Neville.

He’d wanted to
rescue
him.

Everything seemed to be going a little blurry at the edges, and there was a ringing sound in my ears. I kept looking for a target, determined not to let Daniel be hurt again, as I struggled to comprehend what had happened. Neville wasn’t disposable to Terence after all.
They’re still allies
. Maybe Neville had something Terence wanted, or … I didn’t know, but I shuddered to think what a master manipulator like Neville Rose could accomplish with Terence’s support. And –
wait, there they were!

Neville and Grey and the Blinker were standing on a rooftop, three buildings away.

I fired. The energy died out before it got anywhere close. I was too far away, and I couldn’t risk leaving Daniel and Wentworth unprotected to get any nearer. So I settled for glaring instead, especially at Neville, who was still carrying the sword wet with Daniel’s blood.

I aimed the stunner at him. He raised the sword, and for a second I thought he was going to throw it at me, which was about as useless as me pointing a weapon at him.

Then he twisted and stabbed it into Miriam Grey.

She didn’t even have time to scream before he shoved her off the roof, sending her tumbling downwards with the sword still sticking out of her. I shuddered at the sound her body made as it slammed into the ground.
Why?
Except I knew why, because it made a dreadful kind of sense. He didn’t need her any more. And she’d known too many secrets about him, secrets that someone as mad as she was couldn’t be trusted to keep.

Neville smiled. I couldn’t make out the details of his smile, but I didn’t have to. I knew it was the one that belonged to his true self, to the face kept hidden behind the pleasant mask he showed the world. The knowing smirk of a monster who understood exactly how monstrous he was, and took joy in it.