Crown of Cinders (Imdalind #7)(78)

How did it go? I didn’t want to ask.

His magic pressed against me, the sound of his steps hollow as they moved across our connection, from his ears to mine. He wasn’t far. I didn’t know if that made it better or worse that he was running in my direction.

That bad, huh? I tried to put a joke into the words, but it didn’t stick. It melted away like the emotional bomb we were surrounded by.

It wasn’t good, he finally answered, his voice tense in my head as the door opened with a smack, and everyone turned at the sound, looking at Ilyan as he strode into the room.

“How not good was it?” I asked before anyone else had a chance to speak.

The look of joy they’d all had at the sight of Ilyan vanished with my question, their heads bouncing back and forth in confusion that slowly slipped into fear. They all knew where he had been, what he had been doing.

Ilyan walked toward us, his lips pulled into a tight line as flashes of images from the council began to filter into my mind through our connection. The yelling faces and hurled rocks smacked me right in the chest.

“You’re not giving me much confidence for what we’re going into,” I gasped as I pushed the memories away. My voice was broken and strained, so much so that it barely made it past my throat.

“If you don’t have much, then I don’t have any,” Wyn said, her voice hard as she held onto Thom, taking a protective stance in front of the emaciated man. “I was at that bloodbath we tried to pass off as a council. I highly doubt this one could have gone any better.”

Ilyan reached us then, his hand firm on Thom’s shoulder. The touch was meant to be comforting, but the look he fixed me with fell short of that.

I didn’t want any more bad news.

“They aren’t giving me much hope for what is coming,” he said with a sigh, and my shoulders tensed as the bands of his memory began to loosen, letting the misery that was plain on his face fill me. “Many of them wish to leave.”

I could have never expected that.

Neither could anyone else.

Ryland finally took that step back while Wyn took one forward, forgetting about poor Thom who struggled a bit to hold his own weight. Luckily, Ryland was paying enough attention to at least notice and catch him.

It all happened in a matter of a second, a shuffle of movement that fluttered around me while I stood in place, thinking if anything else were to happen today, the barrier would fall, and then we would all be screwed.

Hell, we were already screwed.

Sain really had won. All of his planning, all of his deceiving, had worked. I had never been more ashamed to be his daughter.

The emotion swam toward Ilyan, and he moved his hand to my shoulder, pulling me toward him as if he were afraid I would suddenly take off and try to kill that vexing man. Not that it would be a bad thing.

“How many?” Wyn asked, her question awakening the memory in Ilyan’s mind, pushing it back into mine.

My magic flared at the invasion, a sight glistening around me as my magic showed me the same moment.

Beyond the empty hospital, I could see the council in shadows, see the wide majority of people step forward in the hall, their hands raised above their heads. A solitary vote for dissension. For leaving.

“More than half,” I answered for him, watching the scene continue as more and more joined them. Only a handful were left on the outskirts, sheepishly standing their ground, although many of them looked unsure of their choice. They wouldn’t last long. “No more than two-thirds.”

Thom groaned, Wyn swore, and Ryland looked like he was about to throw up. His jaw worked wildly as he tried to find words, his skin turning pale as he twitched a bit, looking at something far over my head with enough anger that I could have sworn the ceiling had offended him somehow.

“I guess it’s better for them to leave than to fight,” he said to the ceiling, his voice strong despite everything about him looking weak. “We couldn’t trust them … We can’t save them anymore.”

“Where are they even going to go?” I asked, the sudden ridiculousness of their request hitting me in the gut. My pride bristled at the treachery I was enfolded within.

“Some payback for saving them—walking away. Where are they going to go? Into the infested city with no escape? Dumb,” Wyn asked, putting all of my irritation into words. “They’ll be lucky if they survive.”

“It is their choice,” Ilyan said, his voice strong as he straightened himself up to his full height, his anger and frustration clear. “We can’t save everyone. If they choose to die, so be it. All we can do is save ourselves and do our best when the time comes to enter Imdalind.”

“You mean, kick some trash,” Wyn spat, anger radiating off her. She smashed her fists together before stepping back to Thom, though she didn’t offer to take his weight from Ryland. She stared at Ilyan and me so intently I could feel my magic prickle in expectation.

Breathing deeply in an attempt to control my magic, I pushed it away. I really didn’t need to bring down the hospital, too.

“I can take down Sain on my own, anyway,” Wyn continued, the same anger pulsing within her. “You just need to get me there.”

I really didn’t need to remind her again that it was my job.

“I’ll get you there.” As far as I was concerned, she could have it. Although I didn’t see many complications with killing my own estranged father, I knew it was wishful thinking.