Page 24 of Fortress of Ambrose
He watched her with a wild expression, sweat slick on his brow. He worked the dagger from his pocket and nicked his arm. Red pooled at the seam of his skin.It will work.The writhing roses encircled his limb near the cut, then stilled.
Yagrin panted. “Now what?”
She dashed to him, snatching the tiny blade from her sleeve and slicing him free. His clothes were riddled with rips and red skin underneath. Shesmoothed her thumb over the long cut, where blood drenched his sleeve. He sucked in a breath at her touch.
“I’ll be alright.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to grab you like that. I couldn’t think of another way.”
“Don’t apologize to me. Don’t ever apologize to me.” He wrapped a rip of his shirt around his arm.
“It needs pressure.” She gestured to take his arm in her hands. He met her eyes, and she could see the battle behind them. The curiosity he had about her, the way he enjoyed her company, the way she made him laugh. Her hand hung there, waiting, until he gave her his arm. She held it against her body, savoring the warmth of him against her.
“How do we get in there now?” he asked.
She tried to answer but realized since she’d taken his arm, she stopped breathing. Tears welled in her eyes. Her chin slid over her shoulder to hide them as she applied more pressure to his wound.
“I can help.” A voice came from the other side of the gate. “Down the far end,” it said. “There’s a break in the foliage.”
Nore was rigid, looking for the trick of the roses again. But the blur of a body moved beyond the gate. There was an actual person talking to them this time.
“Who’s there?”
“There isn’t much time. We must get back inside. This way!” The voice trailed away from the main gate and into the landscaping surrounding the estate. Yagrin pulled his arm from her grip, and Nore felt it like a tug in her chest. She’d missed holding him. Touching him.
When the sound of footsteps over crunching leaves stopped, so did they. A hand stuck out between the gates where the shrubbery was thinnest. Through the bars she could see an older woman with gray hair, dressed in all black. Over her face was a mourning cloth embroidered with a fleur-de-lis.
“I’m Maezre Dexler.” Her voice was dry. “You are Nore Ambrose, and this is our former Ward’s brother, I assume.”
Yagrin’s brow knitted.
“The rumors in theDailyare true, then,” she went on. “About the chaos that’s happened at your House with the Sphere, Miss Ambrose. The late Headmistress sent a message, heralding your bravery. You’re wanted everywhere, you know?”
Nore blinked. She was a fugitive? They were a team of fugitives. People who knew hernameknew what she’d done!
“Quell sent you?”
Nore opened her mouth, but Yagrin set a hand on her arm. She fought the urge to move closer to him. To lay her hand on top of his. Instead she froze and savored the feel of him again. The gentleness, his comfort. His willingness to trust her. It all was more than her own mother had given her.
“Yes, she did,” Yagrin said. “Your Headmistress requires you to help us locate a particular item here on your grounds.”
Nore bit away a mischievous smile at the well-placed lie. It was more of a stretch of the truth. And judging by Dexler’s softened expression, it was working. They made a good team.
A colorless stone glowed on her ring as Dexler pulled a brush out of her pocket. She rubbed the round Retentor stone in circular motions against the gate, and the magic sealing the gate vanished. Then she swapped her ring for a beaming purple-jeweled one before shifting the gate’s spindles to a thin, bendy material. She parted them like strings.
“Please, come.”
Yagrin stepped through first. Then Nore. Something sharp grazed her skin as she slipped between the branches, and a cut appeared on her arm. Once they were both on the other side of the gate, Dexler shifted the gate to its rigid state and pulled back the black sheer draped over her face.
“We can get that mended for you inside.”
Nore covered the wound, watching Dexler closely. Her brother had friends everywhere.
“It’s fine.”
“As you wish.” Dexler’s wrinkly skin was pale, and dark circles rimmedher eyes. She held her hand to her heart. “We’d hoped the intrusion was our new Headmistress. But at least she sent someone.” She took a big breath.
“What’s wrong?” Nore asked, unsure how to read her nervousness.
