Incendiary (Hollow Crown #1)(18)

“They can rip out our power,” Sayida says breathlessly. “But how?”

We look to Dez. Each of us sits around the fire, the way we might have when we were children telling stories. Now our monsters are real and we don’t know if we can defeat them. Dez takes the parchment last and reads, then looks to the canopy of trees, the white light of the moon just visible between gaps. He’s worried, yes, but he doesn’t share the surprise the rest of us feel.

“You knew,” I say.

Dez meets my stare. “Yes.”

Margo and Esteban curse under their breath. Sayida presses her lips together, nose flaring. I feel something cold settle into my heart.

“I couldn’t tell you,” he says. “The order came from the elders themselves.”

Margo stands and kicks at the closest pack. Mine, naturally. “You owe us an explanation, Dez. I believed Celeste and Rodrigue had information that could help us. Instead all we know is that our enemies have figured out a way to end us.”

“Yes, the Arm of Justice has created a weapon to rip out our power,” Dez says. “My father learned this four months ago.”

“Four months?” I repeat.

Dez stands and stomps around the fire, unable to keep his nerves hidden. “He heard it from a spy called the Magpie. I don’t know who they are, or if they’re Moria at all. My father never reveals his spies to anyone, not even other elders, for fear of endangering them.”

“How did this Magpie learn of the weapon?” I ask.

“That’s what Lucia was sent to discover,” Dez says, rubbing his hands over his face. His golden stare is distant, and he pulls away from us in a way he’s never done before. “She was caught. Rodrigue left on his own to find her, but we now know what happened. We had hoped to uncover what the weapon was and destroy it. But the fact that it can do more than steal magics . . .” He trails off, almost breathless. “We couldn’t dream up such a cruelty.”

“Where did it come from?” Margo demands, as I ask, “What else can it do?”

“We don’t know how they forged it.” Dez stops pacing, arms crossed over his chest. “That man told Rodrigue that they can find us anywhere we go. It can detect our power. It won’t be safe to travel in numbers.”

“What about the rest of the families we’re to help smuggle across Luzou?” Sayida asks.

“We have to get them there sooner,” he says, slowly regaining his resolve. He meets our eyes again. “We’ve always had to be one step ahead of the justice. That can’t change now.”

Margo faces the fire, flames dancing in her blue stare. “They can rip out our powers. The way you rip out memories.”

We’re all silent. I didn’t want to make the connection, but Margo has done it for me. It’s not enough that she already sees me as a danger; she wants to align me with something so monstrous? My hands ball into fists. “You didn’t see what became of Lucia. She was standing. She was lucid. But her eyes held no life. When I made a Hollow—”

“Ren, you don’t have to—”

“I do,” I say. “When I made a Hollow, it emptied the mind of all memories. The body was left alive, but the damage done to the mind was permanent. They fell into a deep sleep. I never saw them again. So no, it’s not the same thing, Margo.”

“But you live with those memories,” Sayida says. “Where did Lucia’s power go after it was taken? What does the king do with it?”

“Forget the ship to Luzou,” Margo says. “I say we go to the palace at first light. Let’s end this. Break in. Kill the king. Kill the Príncipe Dorado. The palace burned once—we can do it again. I’m sure you remember, Renata.”

I think of my room in the palace filling with smoke, watching from the window as the capital burned. Sayida reaches for my knee and squeezes. Everything in my body wants to run away, to scream, to leave this place and never come back. But I made a promise to myself that I would do everything in my power to right the wrongs I committed. I shut my eyes and see the man who threatened Rodrigue. I knew him well once. I knew the palace.

Rodrigue escaped the bowels of that place and got a message to us. He died for it. Celeste died for it. An entire village burned. I remember what the guard said in the boy’s memory.

“Margo is right,” I say, surprising everyone, but especially Margo. She frowns, as if I’m playing a trick on her. “We should go as soon as possible. When I took the memory from the boy, Francis, one of the guards said that no one could know they were there. Why not parade Celeste in front of everyone in Esmeraldas? Why not use the weapon on her?”

“They’re protecting it,” Sayida says. “The Bloodied Prince likes a spectacle. I say they’re waiting for the right time.”

“All the more reason to head them off at the pass,” Margo says.

“We’re outnumbered,” Dez says.

“We’re always outnumbered!” Esteban throws up his hands. “You once charged the Matahermano himself in Riomar with no one behind you.”

“And I lost,” Dez snaps. “We all lost that day. I won’t make that mistake again. The mission was to get the alman stone and discover what was so urgent Celeste was willing to risk exposing herself. Now we know this weapon can detect Moria magics. Destroying this weapon is our first priority, but we have to be smarter than the king and the justice. We won’t get a second chance. Believe me—going back to ángeles is difficult for me, too, but we can’t afford to fail. This is too important. Do you trust me?”