Broken Veil (Harbinger #5)(72)

She blinked rapidly, trying not to weep. “So I heard. I’m proud of you, Adam Creigh. Lord Fitzroy would be too.” She gripped the edge of the bed, trying to steady herself. “Were you with him, when he was shot?”

“No, I was still at the palace,” he said. “Sera asked me to wait there. She’d had a strong impression from the Mysteries. I tended to his wounds.”

Cettie’s brow furrowed. “He wasn’t killed at once?”

Adam shook his head. “No. He would have survived the gunshot. He asked me to give him a Gifting. Sera was part of it. We knew then that he was going to die, only we didn’t understand how.” His expression clouded with sadness. “When the Espion came, we were all injured. He ordered me to go, to save myself. I almost couldn’t do it.”

Cettie felt the tears running down her cheeks. She couldn’t stop them now. The situation had come to life in her imagination. The two men she loved most, facing death together.

“But I did. Lady Corinne killed him in the end. She said something to him. I recognized the tone of her voice, but I couldn’t make out the words. I was outside on the balcony, trying to get away. I saw them throw his body out the window.” He frowned and rubbed his chin. “I don’t know why I told you this just now. I should have waited.”

It was her fault. She’d thought so all along, and he’d just confirmed it—she’d brought Fitzroy’s assassins to Kingfountain with her. Adam had almost been killed too. Her heart felt like a stone. She didn’t think she would ever forgive herself.

She wiped tears on her wrist. “I’m grateful you did,” she said thickly. “And I’m sorry you had to endure that. It’s my fault.”

He gave her a compassionate look. One she didn’t deserve. “You take too much on yourself, Cettie.”

She pressed her lips firmly together, but rather than dispute his words, she continued to dry her eyes. Rising from the small bed, she smoothed the blanket she’d rumpled and fluffed the pillow. She turned, seeing Adam still standing in the doorway, waiting for her.

I don’t deserve your kindness, she thought. But I am grateful for it.

Maybe you do.

Her heart leaped into her throat, and she looked into his eyes in shock. Had she heard his thought? It had been so faint, just a little feathery brush against her mind.

“Shall we?” he asked, gesturing to the door.

Cettie nodded. He let her pass out of the room first. The quarters were so close that her sleeve brushed against him as she passed, sending a jolt through her.

We cannot be together, Adam Creigh, she thought in consternation as she walked to the small stairs leading up to the deck. Not after all I’ve done. You deserve someone who hasn’t made these mistakes. Someone more like you.

Whether or not he heard her, she didn’t know. His expression revealed nothing.

When they reached the deck, she could see the prism cloud looming in the sky, a black void that showed some winking stars in the night sky beyond. A weave of brilliant colors separated the two skies. She spied Trevon gazing at it in wonderment. The other passengers, the slaves they’d freed from the poisoner school, had all gathered around too. Cettie didn’t think she would ever tire of seeing such a display.

On the other side, she saw Lockhaven poised in the night sky, massive and foreboding, its walls illuminated by a thousand Leerings.

She glanced at Aunt Juliana at the helm. Her aunt met her gaze.

“Still no word,” she said with concern. “They cannot hear us coming.”

Then a hurricane sky ship lumbered into view, crossing through the prism cloud in front of them, blocking their view of the floating city. Its hulking size dwarfed them. Cettie felt a throb of warning in her mind, an instinct from the Mysteries.

“It will try to stop us!” Cettie shouted to Juliana. “Evade it!”





CHAPTER TWENTY?SIX

INSURRECTION



Juliana responded swiftly, and the tempest lurched to the left, banking sharply. The zephyrs followed them, copying their maneuver. Cettie grabbed the nearest railing to steady herself, and Adam collided with her before he, too, could grab the bar. Cries from the other passengers caused a commotion on deck.

“Caulton!” Juliana shouted. “Get them belowdecks!”

A voice came from the Leering at the helm of the tempest.

“This is Lord Welles, admiral of the hurricane Farragut. You will yield Serpentine upon my orders. Dragoons—escort them to the landing yard on Farragut at once.”

Cettie and Juliana looked at each other in concern. The Control Leering had been used to address both them and their escorts, and from the way Juliana was wrestling with the helm, Cettie could tell other minds were attempting to take control of the ship.

“We are under orders from Prime Minister Durrant,” Juliana said in reply.

“You will obey my orders or suffer the consequences,” Welles said.

“Get them below, now!” Juliana said. Caulton nodded and began leading the rescued prisoners belowdecks.

“Come along. Come along,” he said, his voice revealing his concern.

The leviathan-sized hurricane came closer. Cettie grimaced, feeling the wrongness of the situation. Something had happened after they’d departed Lockhaven. She was not sure what Welles was about, but felt certain he was not acting on the prime minister’s orders.