Page 77 of Ashes of Gold
“Yep, no magic.” He holds up his hands. But it’s not until his sleeves slide down, revealing his bare wrists, that Taavi’s curiosity appears satisfied.
“Bri, can you give him a Defense Boost potion to help in case he gets caught up?”
“I can handle mine, shawty,” he says, but I flash him a look that says I wasn’t asking.
Bri hands him the potion and he guzzles it down, grimacing at the taste.
“Well, now that everyone knows everyone, we can get going.” I turn to Jue. “Stick at my side at all times.” I don’t think anyone would try to hurt him, but just in case.
“Aight, fam,” he says. “Just… I’m here to look out for you. So, whatever you need.” He reaches to throw an arm around my shoulder, but I think of Jhamal and pull away before he can. Don’t want to give him the wrong impression. He’s my best friend.Friend.And I need him here as that right now. For counsel, to vent, keep eyes out. Zora’s stare burns my back as I head to the front of the store with Julius in tow.
“Neat rows, please,” I say. “The frailer travelers on the inside.”
Bodies shuffle, metal clanging, as people tuck in tight, canisters bumping against weapons. Chatter sprinkles throughout the place, andI spot the girl with the shaved head. Her cheekbones sit high, dark eyes perched on soft cheeks. She’s too young to have even been designated. She must be one of the ones Taavi mentioned who was born here.
The girl clenches her jaw and I feel her fire. A familiar one. The world outside the bubble she’s lived in is completely unknown to her. The way it works, the dangers that lurk, are all things she’s been taught. But now she’s marching into it. The difference between reading about war in my history textbook in Ms. Apple’s class and actually facing the General head-on. I have half a mind to tell her to stay here, but if she’s anything like me, those words will fall on deaf ears.
“Keep a close eye on that one for me,” I tell Julius, pointing. “I want her protected at all costs.”
“She young, ain’t she?”
“Sometimes it’s the ones we underestimate who are the most dangerous. She’s a fire hungry to burn, but we need to control her fury, or she could hurt herself or others in the process.”
“Yo, who are you?” He holds his chin with a pinch, all dramatic like. “This glow up is real, fam. I can already see the crown—”
I elbow. “Shut it with that. It’s not a joke to them, really.”
“Okay, okay, sorry.” He rubs the spot I nabbed.
“I don’t want to be insensitive or offend anyone, you know?”
“I feel that. You a whole boss, though.” He reaches for my hand and I let him. “Respect.” He squeezes, and I hold there a second without thinking. I snap to my senses and pull away.
The route we used to get to Totsi’s would require us to go back through that fallen building and that’s not going to work. Even if we don’t run into a trap, going through that hole one by one wouldtake forever. So we venture around the District, which will make the route much longer, but hopefully safer.
We dip out of Totsi’s, our footsteps echoing like a drumbeat on the pavement. I cringe at every step, because it feels like we’re super loud, like someone-going-through-the-kitchen-cabinets-while-you-sleep loud. Running into any traps out here would be detrimental. With this many people, we’re an easy target. Maybe we can make camp in one of the underground tunnel access points around the City. Zora’s got them mapped from the time the Yakanna spent trying to find which led to the Capital. It’s not a perfect plan. But it’s the one I got.
The road T-bones into an intersection, and all eyes are on me to decide which way we go.
“We could go that way,” Grag says as if he can hear my mind tinkering. Taavi insisted he come along. “There’s a passageway behind Boul Street, near Cresus Circle, where all the…”
“Jewelry shops, yeah, I know the way. And you’re sure it’s safer?”
“Sure as I can be. I missed the last briefing meetup since I just hooked back up with Taavi and the group.”
Do I trust him? Not entirely. But his life is on the line out here too. “Thanks.”
I brief Zora and Bri on the plan, and they both seem good with it. Taavi defers to Grag, and we set in that direction. Bri, Jue, and I walk near the front. He’s taken another dose of Defense Boost just in case. I also gave him one of Bri’s gadgets that works like a stun gun.
Taavi is a few steps behind us and her mother’s on a cart with wheels being pushed by a Macazi. She can walk, but she’s very weak and very slow. So after Taavi had argued me down that her motherhad no business going with us—and me not budging at all on the topic (becausewholeaves their mother living like that!?)—Taavi came up with the cart as a solution. It’s how they move around large amounts of goods underground. And the Seer is so petite, she fits right in. I don’t like that it’ll slow us down immensely. But I wasn’t leaving her behind. She has some sort of magic, she knows things, and I want her by my side.
“Give her some water,” Taavi says to someone as if she can read my thoughts. I slow up to walk beside her.
“There’s food, too, if she’s hungry.”
Taavi cuts a glance at me. “She eats at sunrise and dusk.”
I mean, there were definitely days back home a syrup sammich for dinner was about all I ate, but that wasn’t because wehadfood. “Uhhh… because?”
