a guarantee of your return.”
Fire burned in Bastian’s eyes. “Don’t hurt her. Or I swear I’ll—”
“You’ll what?” Elinor asked. She waved a hand in the air. “No matter. If we all do exactly as we promise, no one will get hurt. I’m so sorry it had to come to this, Bastian.”
He nodded, left with nothing more to say. Bastian trudged toward Connor, wondering how he'd get himself, and his daughter, out of this situation alive.
Chapter Forty
As night settled on the Charred Barrens, moonlight bathed the broken branches of the skeleton forest in an eerie glow. Tressa glided on the scant breeze, descending into one of the many hidden holes in the ground, entering the underground city.
Though the Black didn't receive sunlight underground, they observed the same day to night sleep cycle as those aboveground. Without cues from nature, the people underground had come up with their own method to keep time. The Black marked time in candles, burning four candles of exact height and girth each day. Timewatchers marked the changing of the candle with a loud gong.
The courtyard was silent as she landed during the fourth candle—the time when everyone slept. Tressa paused for a moment in her dragon form, taking in the city. The buildings didn't feel as tall as they had when she'd first arrived. Experiencing the city as a dragon for the first time, Tressa's snout stood even to the halfway mark of the palace’s height.
Within the space of a quick breath, Tressa stood, her hands on her hips. Yes, the buildings had grown again, reaching up to the top of the soaring cave's ceiling. It was amazing how perspective could change so quickly.
She strode into the building where Granna resided, making her way to the chambers where her great-grandmother slept. Tressa burst in the doors, without so much as a knock.
"Tressa?" Granna sat up in her bed, her gray hair rumpled around her face. She rubbed her eyes. “You’re safe! Oh my dear sweet child, you’re safe!”
"Yes, Granna, it's me."
"Come." Granna scooted over and patted the bed.
Tressa sat, reluctantly, and let Granna clasp her hands.
“Fi told us everything. How you were pulled away from the battle to the Isle of Repose. We are all grateful she followed you or we would have lost you.”
Tressa nodded, relieved no one was angry at her.
"You've come to ask me something," Granna said.
Tressa swallowed the lump in her throat. "Bastian's daughter, Farah, swears she saw you when she was being held captive by the Red."
Granna gasped, her veiny hand covering her mouth. She took a few deep breaths, then let her hand drop. "It wasn't me. Tressa, you must know that. I have nothing to do with the Red."
"Farah is young," Tressa said, "but she's a smart little girl. Perhaps I would have assumed it was nothing more than a child's fancy, but there's more. Other sightings of a woman like you."
"I don't know how to explain it," Granna said. "I wish I did.”
Tressa only knew Granna's heart, and she had to believe in the woman who'd given her everything. Tressa placed a hand on her lower stomach. Well, almost everything. "She's been sighted elsewhere over the years," Tressa continued. "A woman in the Meadowlands told the story of a young girl wandering in the fog. Her description matched you so closely and they gave your name. I don't know what to make of it."
"It's not me, Tressa." Granna sat up straight in her bed, arranging her nightgown to sit perfectly on her shoulders. "Did I venture into the fog? Yes. Did I meet someone? Yes. But it was Mestifito. Not anyone else. And I am not secretly fighting with the Red. What I do know is that something beyond our understanding is happening. War is upon us and we must fight back. Perhaps we will run into this woman again. If so, I would like to be the one to confront her."
"I would like to be there with you," Tressa said. She sprang up from the bed, pacing her great-grandmother's bedchamber.
"What else is there?" Granna asked. "I can see there is more than this troubling you."
"I did something last night..." Tressa had no worries about confiding about something so personal. Granna had been her closest confidant growing up. They’d shared everything when it came to Tressa's relationships. "I betrayed Jarrett."
Granna clicked her tongue. "I don't have to ask with whom. Bastian."
Tressa looked at the wooden floor. "It just happened. I didn't plan for it. I'm sure Bastian didn't