the side. They crept forward, their flamethrowers scorching the underbrush. I murmured curse words under my breath, and a weak fog rose from the ground. It only brought them faster. My fingers twitched, dark spells darkened my tongue, but I was too drained to raise more resistance. I couldn’t even pull a femur toward me.
The flames burned through the mist and a Savak kicked through the splotchy fog. She stood over me, her arched metal wings pointing to the sky. She grabbed my arm and yanked me so close I could smell blood on her breath, sharp as a mouth full of coppers.
“You are now the property of the Savak queen. Your life is hers to take or tailor. Congratulations on being used for her glorious vision.”
Aw bollocks.
21
DAGNEY
When our laughter faded, every unspoken thing echoed in the silence between us. I didn’t look at him. I couldn’t.
So I just looked at my hands clasped in his cravat and waited for the world to stop spinning.
That kiss. I drew a deep breath. Maybe it was the connection to the game or the thrill from traveling, or maybe it was Ryo himself, but this felt different from all the times I’d kissed people before. Kissing Ryo was better than a brownie Blizzard sundae, and screw everything I wanted another bite.
But. Like. Priorities.
What were my priorities again?
Finally I met his eyes. His perfect hair was ruffled, his lips swollen, and his eyes, oh no, his eyes were as hungry as mine. He looked well kissed.
And like he wouldn’t mind if it happened again.
Infuriatingly kissable boy.
I’d read thousands of books, written essays on interesting topics, and said swear words when I really meant it, but my favorite words I’d ever thought were those—infuriatingly kissable boy.
Get a hold of yourself, Dagney.
“We should probably…,” I said.
“Right.” He released my waist and I let go of him.
He ran his fingers through his hair, throwing glances back at me, like he was checking to make sure I was still there. It’d be embarrassing if it wasn’t so ridiculously adorable. I pressed my warm cheeks with my hot palms. There was nothing to be embarrassed about.
Except that … um, his mom was probably watching. Oh gosh, I forgot we were on camera.
“So … where exactly did we end up?” Ryo asked.
I glanced around. We’d traveled someplace damp, someplace that smelled like dirt and blood, and somehow familiar, lit by a still-burning lantern. Somehow I’d walked us to the King’s Executioner’s tunnel under our own city. The walls empty of the maps in my inventory, his blood-soaked bandages still on the bed.
I had no idea how these Traveling Boots worked. After the battle and during the kiss, I’d just moved out of desperation, by instinct and desire, but now I had these metal things strapped to my legs that could rocket me hundreds of miles away, through walls and distance, and I didn’t dare move my feet.
Okay, game vision. Give me your magic.
When I gained the Traveling Boots, a vertical column appeared on the left side view. Percentages were marked in lines up the column, like a ruler but marked in tens. 10 percent, 20 percent, and so on. I lifted my foot, and a pink line filled the column, and then lowered, up and down, up and down again. I’d have to time my distance like I was timing a swing. I gathered that at 100 percent it would send me the farthest distance away, and lower would send me a shorter distance.
There had to be some sort of calculation I could use to make my steps less chaotic.
I glanced at Ryo. I needed all the control I could get.
His shoulder bobbed. “Hey, um, so … should we talk about—”
“Nope.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Oh.”
Shoot I didn’t mean … “Maybe. But let’s go find Grig first. I don’t like that we left him on his own.”
“Right. Okay.” He took a loping step toward me. “How do we do that?”
“Um, well, you moved with me before. I’m guessing it was because we were touching so…” He grinned. I made a face. “Do not look so eager.”
He put his hand in mine. “You don’t tell me what to do.”
I fought a grin, but then stopped myself. Why was I fighting this so hard?
“How far should we jump, do you think?” Maybe my maps could help. I checked in my bag and pulled out a map. “Okay, the King’s Crypt is here, and we are here, so…”
Find the King’s Crypt.