still red and tender beneath the coat. After the doctor had left, giving her an ointment for her back, Aaros wouldn’t leave her sight until all instructions were followed. Her tattered performance dress was tossed in favor of a simple sleeping gown, which now stuck to her like a second skin from the ointment. The blood.
It would’ve been worse, the doctor had said, were it not for Demarco.
Demarco. The mention kick-started her memory, of looming monsters and the shatter of glass—before a globe of white had surrounded her, erasing the hurt.
He’d cast something over her, unlike anything she’d ever felt before. That alone might’ve been more frightening than the shadow in the mirror.
He’d protected her.
And it couldn’t happen again, from any of them. The faster she separated, the easier it would be.
Leave.
Now.
Before the worst escaped from the mirror, once and for all.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?”
She should’ve run, but the voice had her spinning around—hissing and staggering back from the pain.
“Whoa, whoa easy there.” Juno steadied her gently, shooting a concerned look over her shoulder at Canary.
“I’m fine.” Kallia tried shaking her off. “Just going for a walk.”
“Really?” Canary struck an unamused pose. “Then what’s with the bag?”
Only then did Kallia remember the weight dipping against her shoulder. There wasn’t even much inside, only her wrinkled handkerchief, a change of clothes, and a chunk of her earnings. The rest she left for Aaros in her scramble out of their suite.
“A couple of things I’m bringing to Ira,” Kallia said. “That’s all.”
“This late?” Juno looked her up and down with a start. “Zarose, Kallia, you’re shivering. You’re dressed like you stumbled out of bed.”
“Which means she needs to be in one,” Canary snapped, reaching for the other elbow. “Let’s get you back, prima donna.”
Kallia flinched away, slipping the bag back up her shoulder. “No.”
Her heart pounded viciously. Run, run, run.
The flame-eater squared her with her usual stony expression. “Act for the crowd all you want, but you don’t have to pretend with us.” Understanding, deep as the first time they’d met, thrummed in her voice. “You’re not alone. We all have bad shows, it’s the nature of the beast.”
The reassurance twisted like a knife. This beast hunted and destroyed, and he would take down anyone who got in his way.
“We don’t even have to go to the Prima,” Juno suggested brightly. “Come back to the tents with us. We’ll patch you up right there, stay the night. No one will have to know.”
More than anything, she wanted to go with them—to hole up with Conquerors, laugh and drink until the pain was a distant memory. Until the past no longer mattered. She could see it all so clearly, herself in that picture. In a picture with others.
For once, she wanted more time.
She wanted to stay.
“That’s a great idea.” Kallia masked the shakiness of her voice, her watering eyes. The longer she stayed, the easier that picture would break. “Once I’m done at Ira’s, I’ll meet you there.”
Placated, Juno nodded slowly, while Canary said nothing. Once she turned her back, Kallia felt the girl’s solemn stare follow her all the way into the shadows, far beyond the street where no one could see her, and no one could stop her.
The night air was chilled but warmer than usual. The next street over trickled with light laughter and chatter from those still milling about after the show.
Kallia ran.
She ran as fast as her feet could take her, until her legs were screaming and her lungs were on fire. Until the tears were too cold to fall, and there was no more feeling. Only movement and desperation and the need to run before somebody caught up to her.
The city center was a riddle of winding brick streets, but the main road to the gates intersected them all. A dark brush of gravel and cement amid the warm hues of rock that drew one deeper into Glorian. Kallia stuck to the main road, the same one she’d walked upon first entering the city.
Only one way out.
She slowed once the nightly bustle of the city fell behind her. The flickering lamplights dotting Glorian ended as it began, at the entry gates built into the austere wall circling the city.
Kallia paused when the path ended, no more than five steps to the wall. Her heart stopped, breath shallowed.
The gates were not at the end of the road.
She glanced down at her feet and up to the wall, down and up again until her vision