“What are you looking for, anyway?” I asked.
The men shared a weighty look. Vance went back to his work without answering, and Henri grimaced at me with an apology in his eyes.
“If they find me here helping you, they won’t bother waiting for the Challenging to kill me,” I said archly. “The least you could do is tell me what I’m risking my life for.”
“Considering what happened the last time you discovered our plans, you should understand why we’re hesitant to share them again,” Vance grumbled.
“The only person allowed to use this boat is me. If you’re planning to load it with bombs and blow me to pieces, I’d really prefer to know that in advance.”
“She’s right,” Henri said to Vance. “She deserves to know.”
Vance sighed irritably. “We plan to borrow it. We need to transport some sensitive cargo, and the Crown’s boats are the only vessels the army patrol won’t stop and search.”
“We’re looking for hidden areas on the boat to store supplies and people,” Henri added.
My brows dipped. It seemed like a harmless enough plan, unlikely to get anyone hurt, as long as they didn’t get caught. But the Guardians always seemed to have a way of taking things too far.
“Am I going to be on board this boat when it’s ‘borrowed’？” I asked.
Henri started to answer, but Vance cut in. “You’ll just have to wait to find out.” His lips thinned. “Trust goes both ways. We’re trusting you not to betray us. Now you have to do the same.”
I scowled. Vance seemed to see it for the reluctant acceptance that it was, because he shrugged and turned back to his searching.
Henri climbed out of the boat and onto the stone pathway, striding over to join me.
“I’m so happy you’re doing this.” He took me by the waist and dragged me close. “It means everything to me for you and the Guardians to work together. If they see you as their enemy…” His jaw ticked. “I never want that to happen again.”
“I never was their enemy,” I protested.
“I believe you,” he said quickly. “And I trust you.” He stroked a thumb along my hip, hope brightening his features. “We’re going to win this war together. We’re going to make up for everything we’ve lost.”
His mouth leaned down to mine, and a heavy feeling coated my stomach. I held still as he kissed me, pouring into me all his desires and dreams, his hands caressing my body in a way I thought I’d desperately longed for.
On paper, things were better between us than they’d ever been. We’d worked past our issues, and we’d recommitted to each other. I had once struggled with what our future might look like, whether our goals for our lives could align, and now, we had a perfect solution. A plan to do something meaningful—together.
I should have been grateful.
I should have been happy.
And yet I’d never felt worse.
“Someone’s coming,” Vance whispered. Henri pulled back abruptly. I swallowed a lump in my throat at the quick flash of relief I felt as his hands dropped from my side.
Vance scurried out of the boat to dim his lantern and join us in the alcove. We held our breath as the shuffle of approaching footsteps grew louder, the soft blue light of Descended magic dancing along the walls.
“It’s the guards,” I hissed.
Vance’s hand moved to the blade on his hip. “I’ll take care of it.”
I seized his arm. “No!”
Both men whipped their heads toward me. “You’d let us die to protect the lives of a few Descended guards?” Vance snarled.
“No one is dying,” I snarled right back. “Not every problem has to be solved with murder.”
I led them further down the canal to a nondescript wooden door with a black stone disc affixed to the handle. I unsheathed a small knife strapped to my forearm, then dragged the edge of the blade along the pad of my thumb.
“This lock only opens for me,” I said, swiping the blood onto the disc, “so don’t get any ideas about coming back here alone.” The onyx plaque glowed bright, and the door popped open.
The three of us piled into the stone staircase on the other side just in time for the guards to round the corner. I kept the door slightly ajar to watch them turn to the boat and inspect it for any sign of interference.
One guard’s attention turned our way, and I hurriedly yanked the door closed. We froze in heart-thumping silence as he walked up and jiggled the handle, but mercifully, the lock held firm.
I pressed my ear to the wood and heard their footsteps move deeper into the canal. “We should go,” I whispered. “If we run, we can get out before they see us.”
Vance grunted. “I’m not done with the boat.”
“I can’t take you through the palace, and we might not be able to distract the guards again. We have to go now.”
I cracked the door open and confirmed my suspicion—the guards had followed a turn in the canal that put them out of sight. I threw the door open and shoved Vance and Henri ahead of me, and the three of us took off at breakneck speed.
In our haste, we abandoned our lantern, and with only the faint light from my Crown to guide us, the walkway was nearly pitch black. One wrong step would send us tumbling to the ground or into the water. Both would cost us dearly.
“Is someone there?” a guard shouted behind us.
The sound of running grew louder. Orbs of magic-made light shot through the tunnel, lighting our way but putting us on clear display if the guards got close enough to spot us.
“Keep going,” I hissed. All my survival instincts roared in protest as I slowed my steps to distance myself from the two men. Getting caught alone, I could talk my way out of. Getting caught showing a secret palace entrance to two mortals was a death sentence—for me or for the guards, and that was a choice I had no desire to make.
Neither man looked back as they sprinted ahead and disappeared through the leafy curtain of weeping willow branches that disguised the canal’s entrance.
“You there, stop!” a guard barked.
I picked up my pace and darted through the thick drape of vines, then shot toward a patch of brush that was still shaking with movement.
As my eyes adjusted to the dim moonlight, I caught sight of Vance and Henri running ahead. I followed in their path until the sounds of pursuit faded and my racing pulse soothed with the relief of a successful escape.
“Henri! Vance!” I whisper-shouted. “Come back, we lost them!”
But they didn’t slow.
“Stop running!” I called out, louder.
Vance threw me a look over his shoulder, and I saw it in his eyes. He was no longer running from them, but from me.
Because now, he knew my plan. He knew I would blindfold them again, take them on another winding path to disorient them, then drop them off somewhere far away so they couldn’t find their way back to the canal without me.
Vance had seen an opportunity to get more information from me than I was willing to give—and he was taking it.
“Stop,” I bellowed. “We had a deal!”
Vance sped up and vanished into a tangle of foliage, leaving me panting out a colorful string of swears. Henri followed fast behind him.