Page 39 of Fortress of Ambrose
“Where to?”
“Park Hot—”
“Logan International!”They needed to get to Begonia Terrace, home to House of Oralia. “Our flight, remember?”
Yagrin’s brows dented, but he sat back in his seat. “I’d almost forgotten.”
The car zoomed off, but the dead followed. At least the car was moving faster. They’d saidsoon. Was her mother dying? Nore’s nails carved moons into her arms. They would get inside the huge airport and hopefully lose the ancestors that way. The dead didn’t cross thresholds that weren’t their own. She tried to sit back, but her grip dug into the driver’s leather.
“Did your cousin say yes?” she asked.
Yagrin’s posture sagged. She braced herself, unsure how much more bad news she could take at the moment. Everything was going wrong.
“Your brother was with my aunt.”
Nore’s nails sank deeper in the seat.
“We’re too late. He got what we needed from her.”
“No.”Her eyes burned with tears. Ellery, too, had figured out that there was a piece of the Scroll in each House. He already had half of the Ambrose piece. Now he had another. Suddenly their progress at Chateau Soleil felt like nothing. They were tied. Which meant she and Yagrin were behind.
They rode in silence the rest of the way. She had more questions, but she wanted to get down to specifics, and speaking in code was only infuriating her further.
Once they were at the airport, Yagrin tried to shift their tickets out of a scrap of paper, but the paper only rippled, his magic malfunctioning.Everything truly is falling apart.
They hustled to the counter to buy tickets the old-fashioned way. She presented her identification, but when the counter attendant grabbed it, Nore couldn’t let go. All this, the dead showing up at the library, traveling with her real name, her brother being ahead of them, set her teeth on edge.
“Ma’am, is there a problem?”
Nore released her ID. “No, sorry. Here you go.”
Once they were through security, waiting for the plane, she noticed the sky outside wasn’t as dim. Maybe they’d managed to lose them. Yet her shoulders wouldn’t uncinch.
“What else did your cousin say? Any rumors about my mother’s health?” She had to be alive, the more Nore thought about it.
Nore’s brother wouldn’t let that happen. If he was going to steal Headship, he had to have Nore in place before their mother died. So that her heart could be handed over to the ancestors right away. Had he sent the ancestors tocaptureher? They never got too close, but their presence was enough to make her flee.
“I didn’t get into that with her,” Yagrin said.
“Well, I need you toget into that. Getting my mother from my brother is the second half of our agreement, unless you’ve forgotten.”
“I’ve forgotten nothing, alright?” Yagrin smoothed his pants with his hands. “Look, all I know is that your brother practically skipped out of my home. Adola doesn’t trust you or any Ambroser.”
Nore huffed, frustrated.
“We were going to face him eventually. I’d hoped when we did we would have more of an upper hand. But nothing’s changed. We’re doing fine.”
Her stomach twisted. How was she going to out-clever the most brilliant magical person she knew? Her jaw ticked. She’d avoided thinking about it, but the time was growing close.
“Do you know if he’s on his way to Begonia Terrace as well?”
“We’re about to find out.”
“I don’t like this.”
“No kidding.”
“Have you been there before? Do you have a relationship with Headmistress Oralia?”
