up on people. If I kept a low profile, I could get home. I had no doubt the moment Caden and Istvan heard I was alive, they would turn the world upside down to get me back.
“You are returning, right?” Rosie’s expression tightened, as though she suddenly realized maybe there was more to my plans than I’d let on. Rosie had no idea who I really was, and I wanted to keep it that way—keep her innocent of my true plan.
“Of course.” The false smile I pinned on my face hurt deeper than I thought. I liked Rosie, and the idea of never seeing her again upset me more than I imagined it would after such a short time.
I clutched her to me, hugging her tight. “Thank you for everything.”
“Why do I feel I should have hogtied you?” She pulled back, searching my eyes for truth. “That I’m never going to see you again?”
“You will,” I lied again.
“Be careful out there. Savage Lands is not safe, day or night. And if you are hiding here, people are certainly looking for you out there.” She stared at me, her brows furrowing. “Why do I feel so devastated? I don’t even know your name.”
“Better that way.”
She chuckled sardonically, her head dipping. “Now I know I should have tied you up. Guess he knows you better than I thought.”
“I will miss you.” I dropped the pretense, squeezing her arm. “I better go.” I didn’t want him to return before I escaped.
She pinned her lips together and brought me in for a quick hug before looking out into the alley again. “Go.”
I touched her arm one last time before I slipped out the door and into the passage, going out the way she suggested to the main road.
Caden. I will see you soon. A butterfly of excitement fluttered in my chest at the thought. I missed him so much.
I slunk out to a heady mix of stale alcohol, vomit, and burned coffee thick in the passage. Half the world was already up and working, the other half sleeping until the night brought their world to life.
As excited as I was to get home, to see Caden again, I couldn’t deny the twist in my stomach at just walking out on Warwick. He had saved my life, but he of all people would understand. In this dog-eat-dog world, I had to look out for me.
Making it to the end of the corridor, I peered out into the daylight and saw people milling in the streets, urging my defenses up. When we arrived, it was in the dark, and I had been less than coherent, so I had no real idea where we were in the city. That changed the moment I stepped out.
My eyes locked on a structure in the distance, a choked sob hiccupping in my throat.
I could see a six-story wall about a mile from me, and behind it, the great dome of HDF. Like an old friend greeting me with shimmering brilliance.
A symbol of wealth and strength to some, but to me, it was home.
Chapter 31
From what I could tell from maps of the past, Budapest had been a much different city. The once famous districts had crumbled away in a quick slaughter after the fae wall fell. Reformed in shape and use, Leopold was half of what it used to be, a thick wall separating it from the rest of Pest. It was its own walled city.
Twenty years was a blip in history books, but for those of us living now, the decision to distance ourselves from the Western monarchy, having no personal connection to what was best for our country, turned quickly to devastation. The fae nobles in charge then hadn’t cared about humans, only power, slicing our city in a constant tug of war between human and fae control, similar to a dictatorship. Civil battles between the two sides have been going on in Budapest my whole life. Since the devastating fight when my father was killed, the two sides had gone quiet. But you could feel the rumbling under your feet, the unrest growing louder, ready to break through again.
People do not respond or act when things are satisfactory or good. They react to fear and danger. The magic that filled the world after the fall plunged a country already deeply seeded in communism into chaos. Hungary hadn’t been free of communism all that long, and many of the older generation still remembered the time far too well,