Page 191 of City of Snakes
“We need to find Wyeth. Asterie, Fen, can you run ahead? I don’t want to jostle her by moving too fast.”
Asterie nodded. “Yes, my King.” She grabbed Fenris’ arm and ushered Hurley away. They ran south toward my home to find the healer. The city around me looked like Luz the day after the attack—upturned and charred.
As marble crumbled from the highest parts of the amphitheater, heavy footfall rounded the corner. Mattock approached us. I shielded Sybilla away from him, fighting back a growl. His mouth fell open upon seeing her in my arms. He was uncuffed, but his eyes shone a warm brown.
“Please, Darvanda.” The young King’s voice wavered. “I just want to see her. Is she alright? Please.”
My knees shook. Nothing would ever be the same for any of us. “You’ll see her when she’s well,” I barked.
The ground rumbled again. We were still too close to the likely fall of the building. City blocks would be destroyed.
Emmerick braced, his fists clenching, and El stopped him with a hand to his chest. “We don’t have time for this. Down, puppy—we need to get her back to the house quickly. Follow us.” She began to guide him by the shoulders, pushing him toward the street parallel to the main canal.
I followed El and Emmerick. The faint feeling of Sybilla’s breath on my tunic sparked a sense of hope. “You don’t get to die on me,” I whispered to her.
We traversed streets of turned-over tents, discarded carts and busted windows. So damned depleted of energy, I grunted, straining to not stumble or lose my footing.
“There was enough time to evacuate—just barely,” Elsedora called out. “We sent everyone to the Plateau.”
The destruction was thankfully isolated to the northern portions of the city, far away from where my people had fled to the south. Relief and guilt were at war within me.
We reached the courtyard. Should the amphitheater fall, we would be out of harm’s way.
Moments later, the crash of the dome crumbling shook the city. A cloud of white dust blasted through the streets, coating every surface.
We rushed into Umber House and closed the door behind us.
Chapter 66
Emmerick
Crumbling marble. Firose stared at me from within the amphitheater.
“Come on!” I yelled.
But instead of following me out the gates, she stood still with her brow furrowed.
“What are you doing?”
She closed the metal gate in front of me and worked a charm to lock it. “Go,” she commanded.
I shook my head. “You’ll be crushed—won’t that kill you?”
“Maybe,” she answered with a weak smile.
My throat closed. She stepped away from the gate and met my gaze. “Go, Emmerick.”
Tears welled, but I understood.
There would be no living with the sort of guilt she held. The darkness that had leaked into my mind the past months left me feeling like I, too, would truly never be the same. She had lived with that weight for four centuries.
The walls began to cave, marble falling into the pit. “You don’t have to do this—we can leave here now, go somewhere quiet, live a peaceful life.”
Firose smiled wider. “It is nice to imagine that someone will live on to think well of me,” she said. Then she stepped back into the dust.
Clutching the metal gate, I swallowed hard before feeling the vibration of the impending fall of the walls.
I turned away from her and ran.
