Page 347 of Alchemised
Kaine rocked back. “No chance. If she goes missing, they’ll hunt her across the continent. She’s not worth it.”
Helena stood. “I’m not asking. I have to take her. If she’s not with me, I won’t leave. I promised Luc I’d take care of her. She’s been under quarantine at the top of the Alchemy Tower. They might not have found her yet. The sooner we go, the better our chances are of getting her without being noticed. We could—we can find a body and I’ll use vivimancy, disguise it, so it looks like her. No one will know she’s gone.”
Something about Kaine suddenly shifted, a tension around his mouth.
“You can take me as a prisoner, use that as an excuse to go inside. It’s only been a few hours—”
“Helena …”
He said her name slowly, a note of warning but also a plea in the way he said it. His eyes flicked around the room, pausing briefly on the curtains. Her voice died. Half in a daze, she stood up and walked forward, pushing the curtain back. It was dark outside.
It was night.
But how could it be night? It had been dawn; the sun was just rising when Luc died.
“How … how long did you keep me unconscious?” Her voice shook. “How—how long has it been?”
He gave no reply.
She turned and lunged for the door, but he caught her, dragging her back. “I can explain—”
She struggled, trying to rip herself free. “What did you do?” Her voice rose. “How long have I been unconscious?”
“Listen.” He shook her, and there was a wildness to his eyes. “After the bomb went off, when the Resistance began to attack, Morrough had everyone remaining fall back. They knew your numbers, how many combatants you had left. It was obvious that Headquarters would be vulnerable. They expected an attack before Hevgoss arrived—they were waiting for it. They had someone on the inside. Once your forces had been lured onto the West Island, they sent us to infiltrate. When I got there, you were missing. No one knew where you’d gone. I abandoned my post to find you. Once I had you safe, I had to go back.”
“So you—left me here for how long? A day?” Her voice was raw with betrayal.
“I came back as soon as I could.”
She started to tremble, her body going into shock. “I was going to get Lila. That’s where I was headed, but I kept getting cut off—and—” She flinched. “That was you, wasn’t it? You knocked me out. You didn’t even—”
All those necrothralls tailing her. He’d killed those soldiers, set them up, all watching and waiting for her. There was so much blood on his hands.
He cradled her face with them. “What did you expect me to do? Let you walk back into that massacre? The orders were to kill anyone who tried to resist.”
“Are they all—?” She couldn’t even finish the question. It didn’t matter. “I won’t leave without Lila. You can help me or I’ll go alone, but I’m going back for her.”
Kaine was unmoved. “If you want Morrough defeated, there’s no rescuing anyone.”
“We won’t defeat him if we don’t rescue Lila. She’s pregnant. Morrough needs another Holdfast, and Lila’s the one carrying it. I promised Luc I’d get her out—it was the last thing I told him before he died. It was all that mattered to him.”
“Why should I care about what Holdfast wanted?” he said, his voice implacable.
He was not going to do this. Not even for her.
Her chest tightened. She could feel her ribs curved around her heart like a cage.
You always lose.
Everyone you love dies.
“Because if you do, I’ll stop—everything,” she said. “I’ll leave, and I won’t come back. Just like you want, if you’ll help me get Lila Bayard. Whatever you want. Anything you ask. I’ll do it, I swear.”
Her fingers shook as she reached out for him.
“Please.”
He’d gone very still. “Will you?”
