Page 133 of Fortress of Ambrose
“You don’t need to apologize for being upset.” The shirt beneath her jacket is stained. I realize she isn’t wearing any jewelry on her ears or wrists. She’s never looked more haggard. “What is going on between you and Ube? Are you okay?”
She opens her mouth but closes it several times. There is a lounge down the hall, but there are people in there.
“Come on.” I lead us to a storage closet a few doors down from Dexler’s office. Once we’re inside, I try again.
“What is it?”
Erla pulls at her clothes. “I am not comfortable with dishonesty. And so as much as I would like to answer your question, it would make me feel pressured to lie to my brother about this conversation. Silence, I find, is the best option.”
“I can’t help you if you won’t talk to me.”
“I never asked for help. Please, may I go?”
I don’t know what to say. Something is very wrong, and I suspect I’ve misjudged Ube. She leaves, and when I exit the supply closet, Dexler is there.
“Is there something that needs cleaning, Headmistress?” She is holding a letter. The handwriting on the envelope is familiar.
“Uh, no, I’ve handled it.” I reach for the envelope, studying the handwriting, which looks like the same writing on the envelope Jordan got days ago. “Didn’t we get something from him the other day?”
“That’s what I thought.” She looks down her nose through her glasses. “This one is for you, not Mr.Wexton.”
“Thank you.” I leave her there and rip it open with my heart thundering. Why is Ellery Ambrose writing tome?
Your lover stood me up. Perhaps you’re the wiser in the duo.
Wednesday at dusk. Monument Park.
Unless you’re content breaking up fights between safe house junkies,
hoping one of them is smart enough to save you.
I grow cold all over. The devil’s in the walls. Ellery has some kind of spy here? I race to my room, and to my relief Jordan is there.
“Quell.” He greets me with open arms, and I bury myself in them without thinking. He rests his chin on my head, and the world quiets for a much-needed moment. If the Dragunhead has someoneinsideour walls, what use are my defenses? I can’t breathe. I press my face harder against his chest, feeling his heart thud against me. Savoring the life that pumps through him and my magic.
I will save this man.I will save him and myself.Whatever it takes, I will have the future I want. One that ismine.I won’t choose between love and freedom. I will have both.
“We should start small.” He peels me out of the hug after a few precious minutes.
“I don’t understand.”
He plants the tenderest kiss on my forehead before establishing space again between us. “Soon you will.” When he pulls his warmth away from me, part of me feels chipped away. He gestures at the letter. “What is this?”
I hand it over and fall into a seat at the foot of my bed.
His silence sends bumps racing up my arms.
“I assumed the Dragunhead hadn’t shown up yet because he was worried about getting past the walls. But he’s been working from the inside out.”
Jordan’s expression is stone, but the way anger burns in him makes my heart tremble. He stares into the fire in my room as if there is a truth in the flames.
“Jordan, say something. Please.”
He crumples the paper, and I expect him to toss it in the fire. But he destroys it himself, turning it to ash in his fingers. The darkness follows him as he paces, like a train of death, blackening the ground beneath his steps. His burning rage beats in my chest.
It’s Yani, I want to say. But jealousy is insidious. Could that be clouding my judgment? Does Ube make more sense?
“Lock everyone in their rooms.” His glare doesn’t leave the fire. The shadows have swarmed so thick he is a floating body levitating on darkness. “Meals will be brought to them. Dexler will escort anyone helping with the extraction to the lab for ten-hour shifts. She stays with them the entire time. No breaks. No clothes with pockets.”
