I brace myself; part of me believes that despite his answer, he’ll crush me under his shadows. But when his chains fall free, Grim steps slowly out of the cell. He frowns toward the sunlight streaming through the open doorway at the end of the hall.
“I have one condition,” he tells me, as we walk toward it.
I scowl. “And you waited until now?”
“Do you want my help or not?”
Of course I do. “What is it?”
“I work alone. I don’t want any of your ridiculous warriors or friends weighing me down.”
I consider Egan. He only let me secure the Nightshade’s support because I insisted he’d be accompanied, to guarantee he doesn’t simply flee to Nightshade.
“I won’t send them,” I agree. “But I’m coming with you.”
Grim sighs. “Great. More time together. I’d rather be back in that cell.” Still, he keeps walking. The dungeon entrance leads to an external stairway that curls around the mountain from which the prison was built. He blocks the sun with a hand, grimacing. His eyes narrow. “Don’t slow me down,” he says. And then he shoots off the cliff, in a stream of shadows.
I sigh.What the fuck have I gotten myself into?Then I leap into the air, flying after him.
His shadows don’t work as well as my ability to fly. We soar only to the edge of the Mainland. Then, we hurry toward Star Isle on foot. Grim races down the bridge without a moment’s hesitation.
We’re not the only ones on the path. As we approach a group of Starling nobles, dread pierces my stomach. There’s no time to explain why the prisoner is walking free, or what I’m doing next to him. I brace myself for their horror or questions—
They say nothing. They nod at me, then pass us by on their way to the Mainland. I glance at the glowering heir. He’s leaking shadows everywhere, staining the island with his presence.
“Are you masking yourself?”
“Of course I am,” he says, like I’m an idiot. “I don’t need people gawking at me.”
Right.
We race through Star Isle quickly. He moves assuredly. He seems irritated, more than anything, to be doing this. There is no benefit to him in it ... he claimed he wouldn’t use this as a chance to escape.
My flair has never failed me. If he doesn’t plan to betray us ... why help? The villain I fought against for years across the battlefield is heartless. He doesn’t care about a child he’s never met—not when he’s taken so many other lives with ease. So why is he here, risking himself to save just one?
I decide to come right out with it. “Why are you doing this?”
He snorts. “Are you trying to talk me out of helping your people?”
“No. I’m trying to understand why my coldhearted enemy cares about a Starling child.”
He turns. “You think I don’t care about a child, just because she’s from Lightlark?”
I shrug a shoulder. “You didn’t care about thousands of Lightlark soldiers.”
He bares his teeth. “When we first invaded, we made our terms clear. Anyone who didn’t want to die could surrender unharmed. Themoment they set foot on that battlefield, they accepted the risk of death.”
We’re past the Starling castle now. Then, past the woods behind it. “Do you think doing this will help you get out of the prisons? Free you?”
He sighs in a long-suffering way. “I’m just trying to save a child. Though now I’m hoping the Midnight Woods will killyou, so I can be rid of your infernal presence.”
Truth. Both statements.
Bastard.
The trees are silver. Glowing. The dirt looks like ground-up stars. Star Isle is beautiful. As far as I know, Grim has never been here. I’d have expected him to study everything, to memorize it all in case of a future invasion, but he runs quickly, eyes straight ahead. Focused on our mission.
“I would expect a prisoner to revel more in his freedom, as temporary as it is,” I remark, as we near the Midnight Woods. We both slow.
