Allied (Ruined #3)(31)

“Me,” Aren said. “I’ll leave for a couple of days. I’ll go with Galo to Royal City, to talk to Cas. Olivia won’t think it’s strange if I just disappear. She already knows I hate her. I’ll come back saying I heard the plan from someone.”

“Will she buy that?” Galo asked.

“She might be suspicious, but she’s not going to turn down the chance to head off an army. Killing humans is Olivia’s favorite pastime.”

Em took in a shaky breath. “We may need help from the Lera army, to get away at the right moment once the battle starts. Will Cas provide assistance?”

“We can ask,” Aren said softly.

She nodded and turned away before her eyes filled with tears again. “Do it.”





FOURTEEN


“SO WE’D BE sending them to their deaths.”

Aren looked at Patricio, who was looking at Em with a horrified expression on his face. Em stared at the floor.

“It’s the best idea we have,” Aren said. A group of about twenty Ruined were gathered in Mariana’s sitting room, squeezed onto couches and spread out on the floor, and they all gawked at him. He sat next to Em on the floor, their backs to the wall.

“If you have any other suggestions, please speak now,” Em said quietly.

Patricio pushed two hands through his dark hair. Beside him, Gisela put a hand on his knee. “I think it’s a good plan,” she said, her tone more gentle than usual.

“There are already so few of us,” Selena protested. She was next to Ivanna on the couch. “The Ruined are going to be completely extinct if we keep dying.”

“We’re going to be extinct if we let Olivia continue,” Aren said. “The Olso and Vallos armies are coming, either way. And Cas will be forced to turn on us eventually, if we let Olivia run wild.”

“It’s only a matter of time,” Ivanna said quietly. “Before Olivia is killed, I mean.” She cast a sympathetic look in Em’s direction.

Aren swung his arm over Em’s shoulders and she leaned against him. She’d stopped talking about Olivia to him, besides their conversation with Galo last night. He couldn’t blame her. He didn’t know what to say either.

“I’m leaving with Galo tonight,” Aren said. “We’re going to present the plan to Cas and see if he’ll provide Lera troops. Our plan is for them to hang back, to help us escape after we leave Olivia and her supporters to fight the army on their own.”

“So we flee,” Selena said.

“Yes. We’ll go back to Royal City with the troops. We’re hoping to get word as soon as they cross the border, so we’ll have to travel into the Lera jungle to head them off.” They’d probably be almost halfway to Olso by the time they caught up with the troops, if everything went to plan.

Halfway to Iria.

Was he really going to turn around and go back to Royal City, if he was already so close to her?

Em started talking about logistics, and he leaned back against the wall and looked up at the ceiling. Could he leave the Ruined after they defeated Olivia? Maybe she would be weak enough (or dead, he thought with a shudder) for him to go to Olso, just for a few days.

The meeting was coming to a close, and Aren stood. A few Ruined surrounded Em to ask more questions about Olivia, and he lifted a hand in good-bye as he stepped away.

Be careful, she mouthed.

He nodded and slipped out the door before any Ruined could corner him. The sun had just completely set, and he and Galo needed to go.

He stopped by his house to grab the bag he’d never unpacked. It was the same bag he’d carried since before all this had started—it was filled with medicine, food, clothes, and extra water. Even as a guard in the Lera castle, he’d never unpacked that bag. It was always ready to go. He couldn’t really imagine life without being constantly prepared to run.

He swung the bag onto his back and headed outside. He went quickly, checking over his shoulder to see if he was being followed. He didn’t see anyone, but it was dark. He probably should have gone earlier, but it had been hard to get all the Ruined together without Olivia noticing. They’d had to wait until she retreated inside her house.

He ducked under a low branch, headed to the spot where he could sense Galo hiding. He felt the familiar burst of relief when he found Galo in front of him, unharmed. The agreement with Lera was shaky at best, and it certainly wouldn’t be helped by the king’s best friend getting his head removed by Olivia.

Galo was on his feet, sword drawn, and he let out a sigh as he squinted in the darkness. “Hi, Aren.” He sheathed his sword.

“Expecting someone else?”

“I couldn’t tell for sure who it was in the dark.”

Galo had packed up his bag and pushed his blankets and books beneath a shrub. “We’re good to go?” he asked.

“Yes. The Ruined are on board.” He turned and started walking east, Galo falling into step beside him. It was too risky to take horses from the barn, so they had to go on foot until they reached the point where soldiers were permanently stationed to transport Galo back to the castle. It would only take a few hours to walk there.

They didn’t talk as they left Westhaven behind. Aren was on constant alert, searching the area around him for Jacobo or Olivia.