Page 98 of The Verdant Cage
I’m relieved to find the two-panel door is unlocked. I slip inside, allowing myself half a breath to get my bearings.
I hear a scratching sound.
I gulp, cold skittering down my spine.
My gaze travels to the animal pens that line the opposite side of the building. Ugly-looking hooks hang from the ceiling, but the stalls are empty.
Where did the noise come from?
“Hello?” I whisper. I wait a beat. When I hear nothing in response, I decide I imagined it. I’ve already wasted precious seconds. I drop to my knees before the weapons horde, shoveling a handful of explosives into the gap of my cloak’s inner lining. It’s weighted as I rise, a leaden mantle. I race toward the exit and back into the silvery moonlight, closing the door behind me. Now I only have to hurry to the rendezvous spot, and Sal, Eero, and I can destroy Jarek’s stockpile once and for all.
“Took you long enough.”
I whip around. Marina Seingalt is staring at me, wearing an expression somewhere between disgust and curiosity. She stands next to Misia, Jarek, and four fully armed Guardians, including Leo and his father. Nero Carter, Farmer and Council member, is also there, appearing unsettled. Oscar, Eero, and Meryl are off to the side, on their knees.
My hand flies to my mouth to cover an involuntary cry.
Lozen stands behind them, her sword drawn, poised in line with their necks.
“It looks like we’ve captured our traitor,” Jarek says. “I can’t wait to tell the villagers.”
“How stupid do you think they are?” I demand, pulse thudding. “No one’ll believe I’ve been sneaking weapons into Noah’s Valley and storing them in the Guardians’ training barn!”
“We’ll work out the details later.” Jarek’s eyes are gleaming.
“Why areyouhere?” I look at Marina, for the first time not even trying to mask the revulsion I feel. “And where’s your father?” I can’t tell if Oscar, Eero, and Meryl are injured, not with the shadows from the moonlight playing tricks on me. I refuse to look at Lozen.
“Sleeping off a bender, I assume,” Jarek says, answering for her. “He won’t be happy to hear what you’ve been up to. I can soften the blow if you tell me where Salvatora is.”
Far away, I hope.Run, Sal.“Last I saw, she was in the chapel’s undercroft.”
“Enough,” Jarek says. “Lozen, bring those three to the stocks. I’ve got something special in mind for Rose.”
My heart plummets. This is my fault. I chose to deviate from the plan, and now I’m the reason it failed. Meryl, Eero, and Oscar won’t make eye contact with me. I imagine how furious they must be, and I can’t blame them. Our one chance, and I blew it. I should save everyone some time and run through Lozen’s sword myself.
She tries to catch my eye, and when she does, she shakes her head.I have to go along with this. Trust me, her expression says.
Too bad I’m done trusting people. I wish I could kill her with my eyes.
Marina laughs shrilly, pulling me from my thoughts. “Something special in mind for Rose? Why don’t you call it what it is? We’re going to Harvest her, right?” There’s a sick glint in her eye.
Even amidst these dire circumstances, I enjoy the burst of satisfaction her words bring me. Marina doesn’t know Jarek means to keep me because I remind him of my mother. He’s been manipulating all of us, even those who think they’re on his side.
“How nice for you to be able to join your brother in Heaven, Rose,” Marina continues. She’s taunting, her beautiful face twisted like a rope of fabric. “Since you’re not going to be with us much longer, I should probably confess something.” She bats her eyelashes. “I’m afraid that I’m the reason Jonas was Harvested. I couldn’t marry a clown like him. Always laughing and joking, like he was better than the rest of us. And thetoymaking? Gross.” Her grin turns ugly. “When I caught him in the vault, I went straight to Jarek. Someone had to take the fall for your mom’s murder once she found out about the Beast, so…” She waves in the direction of Eden’s Gate. “Bye-bye, Jonas.”
I lunge at her. Leo is on me, but he underestimates my fury. I twist beneath him and jab upward, finding the gap just beneath his deltoid. With a great growl of rage, I wrench his arm back and up. The wet popping sound as it dislocates is music to my ears. My dark pleasure lasts until the other Guardians pounce on me, holding me down until Jarek’s strong, cold fingers can slide beneath the cloak at my neck and press into my nerve points.
I drop to the ground, temporarily paralyzed. A Guardian steps forward and shackles my arms and legs. When did the Blacksmith House construct these restraints?
Jarek wipes his hands on his pants, like it disgusted him to touch me. “Rose isn’t going to be Harvested, you fool,” he tells Marina in a cool voice. “We’ll keep her somewhere private. Her skills are needed.”
Marina has no response. She’s staring at me, unblinking, her eyes consuming her face. Whatever she saw in me just now terrified her.
Jarek prods me with his foot. “I would have preferred you join us willingly. Unfortunately, you’ve been fighting me the whole way. That’s fine. I’m patient.” He smiles, revealing two sharp canines. “You’re precious to me, Rose.”
The rage that had overtaken me is ebbing, along with the effects of Jarek’s double nerve lock. I can wiggle my fingers and toes, and I can speak. “You can’t expose our people to the world Beyond. It’s too dangerous.”
“You are not privy to the same information I am,” Jarek says, looking at something past me. “Albert, would you mind joining us?”
