Page 26 of Wings of Ebony
What do I say… thanks? I really don’t have time for this. Words flood my mind, but I press my lips tight. My attention forthese few seconds is all I have right now; the best I can give.
“Rue, this won’t work. The Chancellor is too powerful. Too—”
“I’d prefer to die trying than not try at all.”
With guards several paces away, he whispers. “There’s so much I want to tell you. So much you don’t know. I-I might even have a way to help.” He looks over his shoulder. “What happens if you go out there and lose? What happens to her if you get in trouble or hurt?”
I can’t think like that.Moms raised a diamond.My sister needs me.
My watch face warms to my thumb.
“Rue, please. Stay, let me help you.”
Three…
“When you were born I promised your mother I’d keep you both safe.”
Two…
I meet his eyes. “You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep.”
One…
I turn, and in a blip, I’m gone.
CHAPTER 9
TASHA LOVES THE CARAMELjava at Joe’s Joe, a coffee shop and bookstore that’s about a twenty-minute bus ride from where she lives. I hate that it’s so far, but it is what it is: You gotta leave the hood to find a library or bookstore.
Metal industrial-style tables fill the space in neat rows. Matching chairs cluster around them like people have been in and out all day. A velvet plum sofa sits on the far end of the shop against an exposed brick wall, near the ordering counter. Just past that is a doorway that leads to the book area. A barista with full lips and a long, dark ponytail taps her phone, smacking on a piece of gum. Customer line’s empty, but the tables are practically full.
No Ghizonis on my tail.
Yet.
I had $3.84 in my pocket when I left this place a year ago. Dollars are no use in Ghizon, so I dig it out to grab T her favorite drink from her favorite spot while I tell her thesecondworst news she’ll ever hear: People from Ghizon—people she doesn’t even know—want her dead.
I shift in my seat and I check my watch.
3:17 p.m.
She should be here any second. My phone still works on Wi-Fi and thankfully had a bit of juice left even though it hasn’t been turned on in a minute. I told Tash to come here straight after school. She was so happy to hear from me so soon that she didn’t even ask any questions.
I don’t have a plan besides running. I didn’t learn any spells back in Ghizon that could help us stay hidden. And then there’s the problem of her grandma ’nem finding out. We can’t have them thinking she disappeared. I don’t want them to worry. I just wanna keep us safe.
Chatter buzzes above me like a cloud. Every close of the register or chair sliding across the floor makes my heart jump in my chest.
3:18 p.m.
I drum my fingers on the table. Somehow I’ll find a way out of this. It’s not even a choice, really. If we have to, we’ll run. No one is touching her. She has her dad’s people and grandma, but they can’t protect her from the Chancellor. At least I have magic. They have… the police? That’s a joke.
I thumb the glassy ball fused to my wrist. As awful as Ghizon was, I did get magic out of it, which will come in handy. But shoot, if I use it, they can trace it.Hmm.Maybe Bri can help. She has a tech solution to everything.
3:19 p.m.
News headlines roll across a TV screen mounted to the wall overhead. Images of yellow police tape and red and blue lights flash next to some news lady talking. Green letters in the corner spellMUTE. I don’t need sound to know someone’s been shot up.
A bell chimes and the door swishes open. Tasha steps inside,peering in every direction. Somehow, laying my eyes on her again makes me feel a little better. I hate that we couldn’t talk after everything went down. I couldn’t explain more about Ghizon. I’m not even sure what she’s thinking.
