Page 101 of Ashes of Gold
“I… I… I sent hundreds of our people to their death. I…”
“You said you knew how to handle her,” the voice says again, and I turn for a glimpse of the man he’s talking to. Tall. Gray skin. A Patrol guard?
“I do! She trusts me. Just… I’m almost…”
I look from Jhamal to the guard and try to claw my way away from them both. “Wh-who…?”
Jhamal looks like he’s seen a ghost.
BANG! The door bursts off its hinges.
His eyes bulge, crippled with fear.
I blink, but the world disappears.
The hair is longer on Jhamal’s face than I’ve ever seen it. His cheeks sink in more than they once did. He switches on the lights in the lab. My eyes dart to the door, but there’s no guard with him this time.
“Wh-what are you… a-and that man w-with you… l-last time.” My tongue is heavy in my mouth, not having spoken in so long.
“Ssssh. They will hear you.” He takes me by the shoulders and pulls me into him; his chest is warm against my cheek. He undoes the straps on my arms and turns a vial in his hands, cutting a glance over his shoulder. “Take this.” He hands me a tiny glass with silver liquid. “I’m going to get you out of here this time.”
“How long have I been in here?”
“Many weeks.” He presses the vial into my hand.
Weeks?! The lab is quiet. Bloody shears and a spider-looking contraption is covered in specks of red. Next to it is a collection of metal instruments and bloodstained gauze. “Wh-what did they do to me? What happened?”
“What happened when?” He flinches.
I close my eyes and I can still smell the smoky air, hear the chaotic screams. “We were going to fight a-and… something… the world went black. What happened after?” I force myself upright despite it feeling like I’m breaking my bones in half and reach for my magic. A flame coils inmy hand. “Jhamal, I… everyone… and Yiyo!” Panic wells up inside me and the magic in my hand glows in Jhamal’s eyes.
“Take it.” He nods at the vial in my hand.
I try to sit up, but I am woozy. “What is it?”
“It’ll help.” He unstraps my knees, cutting another glance at the door. “We have to hurry. Please.”
I open the vial and smell it. “How many made it into Yiyo, how many did I… I…” But the thoughts choke me. I sent them to their death. “I… I… I.”
“Most fled to the mountain as you’d said to. But the Chancellor expected that. They walked right into his trap. Our numbers are less than half. If that.” His jaw clenches.
I gasp. He tips the potion into my open mouth and I can’t help but swallow. I reach for him, but he steps back and I swat only air. My insides boil.
“Jhamal…,” I choke out, but everything burns and the world spins. His fingers let go of mine. I reach for him, but he is staring, worry written in lines on his face. The pain subsides and I try to pull myself up, but my knees don’t work. My head is foggy… my body, weak. What did he have me drink? But the thought disappears and a million others with it. “Jhamal? What are we doing in here?
He reaches for me and the warm expression I know is finally there. “Now, let’s get out of here.”
I gasp.
Jhamal poisoned me.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
RAGE BURNS THROUGH MEand the long journey back through the City isn’t helping. Julius and I’d transported as close as we could to the City. But we still had a few blocks to go to the alleyway with the barbed wire. Julius hustles to keep up, glancing at me every few moments.
They were poking and prodding, trying to strip my magic from me, and Jhamal was helping them?His eyes bulged when he realized I saw he was colluding with Patrol. That’s why he gave me that potion. That’s what he wanted me to forget. But I see him now. I see him fully.
It’s his fault we were kept away in that cell for so long. Not mine! Is that why Breakfast Lady was so friendly? Did they all know he was really ontheirside? Was that the plan the entire time? Gain my trust? Use me?
