Shame made my skin crawl. All I could think of was that horrible night I’d spent searching the city rooftops for her when we’d been separated on an outing, only to find her curled up and sobbing less than a block from our bakery home. My sister needed me, and all I could do was betray—
“That idiot mage girl should be locked up.” Eugene’s sour voice this time. “Unless attached healers don’t have to follow the rules like the rest of us.”
“But no one saw her leave,” Cole said slowly. “And it seems like she would be more likely to stick with the group for safety. If she was planning to run, you should have said something, Bri.”
“I’m sorry, Cole. You’re right. But Alba’s not a Sentinel,” the curse answered, scrounging for words in my thoughts and memories. “She’s terrified of the Badlands, of anything new and dangerous. She always has been. She should never have been sent out here. She’ll do what she always does when she’s scared—find the last place she felt safe, then stay there until someone comes to get her.”
“Fine.” Cole’s deep voice was resigned. “We’ll go on and clear a little more territory, then turn back and find her at the fomewagon tonight. And tomorrow, we’ll assign someone to stay with her while the rest of us continue the mission.”
The curse cackled and my stomach roiled as we hiked up the slope, leaving my twin sister there in the rocks.
We cleared the rest of the first section in silence. Everyone had been shaken by the strangely fruitless excitement. No doubt, they all thought we’d reacted poorly to the empty camp and movement in the woods. Only I knew that Alba had been kidnapped, after all.
The curse kept a ruthless clamp on my voice, forcing my legs forward along the path, every step taking me further away from my sister.
Mother had been counting on me. You’ll look out for her, won’t you? I thought of my mother’s bloodshot eyes, her desperate grip on the coffee mug, and wanted to sob—not that the curse would ever allow such emotion.
“We’ll head back now.” Cole wiped his brow and gestured down the slope. “Go find Alba.”
The curse hissed its anger at his words. It wouldn’t allow me to miss the deadline—I had to be at the crater the next day, to be inside the palace before eternal sleep claimed me. There was no time to turn back.
“I can scout up ahead, to save time,” I found myself saying. Beside me, I sensed Tavar shift warily. “That way we can skip the second section, or maybe even second and third sections, when we meet up again tomorrow.”
Cole scowled. “I don’t like splitting, but we can’t leave Alba alone, and I don’t want to get any further behind our schedule or we’ll be delayed getting back.” He muttered something dark under his breath. “Marco, go with her. Clear as much as you can tonight and tomorrow morning. The rest of us will go right to section four in the morning, and then we can all meet up in section five before the end of the day.”
“I’ll go with them,” Tavar said, his voice gruff.
My stomach sank as the curse crowed with delight. He will be a good messenger. He will not rest until a rescue team comes for you, creature, and your mother will certainly be on it. I hiked up the slope with Tavar and Marco without speaking, an acid taste in my mouth as I counted the trees we passed to keep the curse quiet.
At least the team had split. There was still a chance I could lose Tavar and Marco, too. At least, I might be alone when the Masters came for me.
A good messenger, indeed, the curse whispered quietly to itself, already lulled into boredom by my repetitive tallying.
I started my count of the trees back at one as we worked our way up the mountain toward the crater, intensely aware of Tavar’s every movement behind me. There was still a chance I could save him. Still a chance I could be redeemed.
Chapter 14
“Almost done.” Marco glanced out at the valley as he walked the narrow, icy path. Frigid rain streamed down around us. The ice was melting, but the slick, wet rocks were still dangerously slippery. “I’ll be out by fall, winter at the latest. Just a few missions left.”
“What’s next? After the Sentinels?”
I was surprised Tavar and Marco were conversing. I almost never heard