Page 78 of Lies That Bleed
“Badshah! Everhart!” Ashendell shouted. “You can chat later, we have a package to drop off!” We snapped to attention, stepping away from each other. I walked up to Tetra, who was limping, wincing with each step. Kohen widened his eyes as if telling me to say something.
“Hey, T,” I whispered to her. “Have you ever thought about riding Ariyel?”
Tetra looked at me like I was insane. “She’s not a horse. I would never disrespect her like that.”
But the second I said it, Ariyel looked up at her, nudging her bad leg with her nose.
Tetra scowled at her. “No. I can walk,” she ground out.
My gaze flicked to Kohen and I shrugged. My bestie was hardheaded sometimes, and it was important to me that she had her dignity. I didn’t agree with the choice. I would think taking the weight off my painful leg in any way possible was a great idea, but I wasn’t about to force her to do anything she didn’t feel comfortable with.
“You’re right,” I agreed. “Your cane would probably get lonely.”
She grinned at the joke and reached out to softly punch my arm. “My crystal cane is badass, I can’t wait to get it back,” she told me.
“Sobadass. I want to get you one with a top that pops off and reveals a hidden knife inside,” I shared with her.
She laughed. “That would be awesome.”
I glanced at Kohen. He looked disappointed that Tetra hadn’t jumped all over his idea. It made me wonder if he really should be messing with the future. Like suggesting something before it was time. Who knew what kind of consequences that had. On the other hand, something like an attack on the school I would love to know more about and get every detail so that we could stop it.
We reached the train, where everyone else was waiting. It was over ten cars long.
Liana and Onyx landed, bowing low so that we could climb onto their backs. I slipped my leg into the stirrup and peered at Kohen. He did the same, and then we waited for all of our teammates to get into the back three cars. As the side door slid open, I saw the payload. It was a steel box about the size of a large boulder that could be carried by two men. The cadets filed in around it, their creatures climbing in with them. The train cars had a bunch of drilled holes in the upper half for airflow, and there seemed to be open hatches at the top, because Jace’s security team beganto climb out onto the roof, along with the rest of our battle team. Sans Tetra and Meera.
I was hoping that someone had talked some sense into her and told her to stay inside. Probably Anika; she seemed to have a soft spot for my bestie.
“What is the cargo?” Kohen asked Ashendell casually, indicating the steel crate inside.
“Assume that your clearance level doesn’t allow you to know,” she shot back.
Kohen pursed his lips but nodded.
Summer’s team, who were in charge of navigation, pulled out their maps. “We will be traveling for roughly eleven hours, so get comfortable,” Summer said.
I peered deeper into the backmost train car and noticed Tetra had pulled out her thin bedroll and elevated her foot on it as she sat on the floor with Ariyel on her lap. That wasn’t a good sign. She must really be hurting.
They were pretty packed in there, especially with their creatures, but with the security and most of the battle team perched on the top of the cars with their swords at the ready, it made enough room.
I felt slightly antsy, mostly because I was worried about my best friend. This was a simulation. We knew at some point we would be “attacked” to test our readiness for war, we just didn’t know when.
Our instructors all wished us good luck, then the train doors rolled shut and it took off, slowly at firstand then faster. Kohen and I both held on as our creatures took to the skies, the cold wind biting at my skin, causing my fingers to sting.
After several hours of flying with no events, I scanned the landscape, noticing the way the tracks curved westward to the mountains of Golden Hills. One of our possible attack points was coming up just ahead.
“I should fly ahead and see if I notice anything suspicious,” I yelled to Kohen over the wind.
He shook his head. “We stick together.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine, you can come with if you want.”
He gave me a look. “I meant we stick with the train, with our fellow cadets.”
“But—”
“No, Aisling,” he said, like it was final.
I growled, digging my fingers into Liana’s feathers.
