Page 46 of A Kingdom of Monsters

“I’d rather not discuss it now,” Ambrose said flatly. “We haven’t traveled very far. We need to keep moving.”

I got to my feet, my nausea finally subsiding enough to move. “You want us to run, you mean?” I barked angrily. “We don’t run. Other people run from us.”

“Which is exactly the problem,” Ambrose said, his tone maddeningly calm and cryptic.

“So you’re just expecting us to let that fucker go?” Scion yelled.

“For now, yes.” Ambrose turned his back on us, walking a few paces down the road as if he could somehow trick us into following him. “Believe me, I know far better than you how this will all work out.”

“Enlighten us, then” Scion yelled after him. “Your powers are working again? Fine. But we’re not going to just follow blindly. You’re not Celia, we don’t take orders from you without even knowing why.”

Lonnie got to her feet. “Perhaps we should wait to have this discussion until we’re not in the middle of the damn road.”

All three of us stopped and turned to look at her. Guilt washed over me. She was supposed to be our first priority always, andyet Ambrose’s sheer presence had shoved such a deep wedge in the dynamic Scion and I had spent years cultivating that we were all but ignoring her.

“Are you alright, little monster?” I asked automatically, darting forward to steady her. I clasped her face in both palms and scanned my gaze over her, checking for injuries.

“Not particularly.” She smiled weakly. “But I’m not hurt, if that’s what you mean.”

I nodded. Indeed, she looked shaken, but unhurt. Her face seemed pale, and her hair was a tangled nest, though that could hardly be considered unusual. I let her go, and she took a few steps in the same direction that Ambrose had gone.

Within seconds, she stopped and bent down. Her hands shaking, she tore several feet off the bottom of her long flowing skirt, tying the excess fabric around her waist like a belt.

“Where are you going?” Scion demanded, jogging after her. “We don’t even know where the fuck we are.”

“We’re barely a mile from the castle,” she said, the surety clear in her tone. “I used to walk this road nearly everyday. Look:” She turned around and pointed over our heads.

Behind us, the tall dark spires of the obsidian castle rose against the dark sky, only illuminated by the reflection of the moon on the mirrored stone. From here, I couldn’t hear any sounds of battle, or see any obvious signs of unrest. We were barely a mile away, and yet it felt almost as if we were in another world entirely.

“Come on,” Lonnie said again. “We should keep moving. You’re all loud enough to wake the dead, and the last thing we wantis for anyone in this neighborhood to recognize us. Believe me, they won’t be welcoming. We may as well have stuck with that mob in the clearing for all the difference it will make.”

If anyone but her had suggested it, I was sure we’d all stand here arguing indefinitely. Instead, we followed her lead.

As we walked, I too recognized our surroundings. I’d never spent much time in Cheapside–the human village on the outskirts of the capital–but I’d been here enough that it was familiar.

“Why would you bring us here,” Lonnie asked, turning her head to address Ambrose.

“I’m not entirely sure,” he told her. “It was the first place that appeared in my mind, and past experience has taught me that the first place I can think of is usually where I’m supposed to be.”

Scion coughed, muttering something under his breath. “Fucking condescending prick.”

Ambrose ignored him, and we were silent for a beat, darting toward the center of the village. In a way, moving felt good. Like we had a purpose, even if we weren’t going anywhere except away from whence we’d come.

Our feet echoed against the worn cobblestone streets as we made our way deeper into the heart of the city. The grand buildings that once lined the main roads were now replaced with smaller, shabbier homes crowded together. Each building's exterior was marked with years of wear and tear, giving them a weathered and neglected appearance. Some were even abandoned, their broken windows and doors hanging off their hinges.

“Before when you said we needed to find a healer, were you serious?” Lonnie asked Ambrose.

He cocked his head at her. “Very.”

“Good. Then I know where to look.”

I watched them in confusion, clearly having missed something. “What healer?” I hissed, leaning toward Scion. “What did he see?”

Scion just shook his head looking mutinous.

We carried on, deeper and deeper into the city. As we walked, my head began to pound in time with my footsteps. I squeezed my eyes shut, willing the pain to subside.

The first time one of these short stabbing headaches had hit me was in Inbetwixt, after I left the battle at the pier and found Lonnie and Scion still alive.

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