A dark anger simmers low in my belly. If Verene hadn’t stolen from our underground well, this wouldn’t have happened. We could have lasted three days while I found an answer for us.
I was right to destroy her city the way I did. I won’t feel bad about it.
“Murderer!”
The voice comes from somewhere over my head. I crane my neck to see a woman leaning out the top window of the nearest manor.
“Murderer!” she says again.
And I realize she’s talking to me.
“You’ve killed us all!”
This voice comes from the other side of the street.
“Push her off the top of the tower! It’s what she deserves.”
That’s from a man in the nearest doorway.
The guard picks up the pace, but the yelling only gets louder. It’s coming from everywhere. It’s a little terrifying, but it’s also, somehow, a little exhilarating. My people never protested what the watercrea did. They always just stood by and let it happen. It’s nice to see them finally getting angry about how bad things are.
We turn a corner, and my blood runs cold. We’re in front of the House of Morandi. The watercrea’s red silk gown is still lying in the street, right where she died. It’s surrounded by roses and flickering prayer candles.
They’re mourning her like she was special.
She wasn’t special.
Then we pass my family’s house, and I wish we hadn’t. The door is barely hanging on by a single hinge. The windows are all shattered.
“Where are they?” I ask the guard.
“Why do you care?” he says.
Because they’re my family. I have to save them. I have to show them that I’m the best of us.
We reach the cathedral, and the guard starts to pull me around the side, along a path that’s entirely too familiar.
No. We’re not supposed to be going this way.
“Oh good,” I say. “I was afraid you were going to put me in a jail cell. But we’re going back to the tower. That makes things easier for me.”
He ignores me.
“Because I already know how to break out of it,” I add.
Nothing.
The silent black tower is getting closer and closer.
He can’t put me back in there. There’s no point. There’s no watercrea.
“Well, good luck explaining this to the lords in Parliament,” I say. “You finally caught the dastardly Emanuela Ragno, and in your most brilliant move ever, you… put her in the exact same place, and she escaped. Again.”
“You’re not going to escape this time,” the guard says without looking back. “And half the lords in Parliament are gone, so don’t expect an old-fashioned trial. More likely than not, they’re going to assemble what’s left of the city in the cathedral, drop you at the front, and let the mob have its way with you. We’ll see how mouthy you are then.”
Half of Parliament is gone after just three days. That’s more than I expected. That’s too many.
We reach the door of the watercrea’s tower. It’s hanging open. The guard tries to drag me inside, and I dig in my heels without even really deciding to. He yanks, and I tumble over the threshold. As soon as the sickly smell of blood hits me, I retch all down my front.
“Oh, don’t try and make me feel sorry for you,” he says.
I can’t be in here. I’d rather be in the jail. I’d rather be thrown to a mob. This tower is where I die.
Two more guards appear from the staircase. They’re carrying chains. Lots of chains. They wrap my arms and my legs until I’m so useless that I can’t even walk. One of them throws me over his shoulder and carries me up the stairs. They open one of the small, round cell doors and stuff me inside. It slams shut.
I lie there with my face pressed into the cold floor. The guards mutter to one another and thump back down the stairs, and the tower door shuts, and the minutes stretch on, but I can’t seem to move.
I have this under control, I remind myself. I just have to wait until Ale is better. Ale will get me out of here. And then I’ll bring our water back. I can still bring our water back.
And then they’ll see. They’ll all see.
SEVENTEEN
“EMANUELA. EMANUELA.”
There’s a soft voice calling my name. I scramble up, awkward in my chains.
“Ale?” I say. “Are you—”
There’s a shadowy figure peering through the bars of my cell. It’s not Ale. It’s a man in a crisp black suit. His eyes are sharp, glinting even in the darkness of the tower.
“Papá?” I whisper.
He moves in closer. His face is gaunt, and his mustache has grown unkempt. For a moment, we just stare at each other, like we’re trying to make sure the other is really alive.
“The family,” I say. “Is everyone—”
“They’re alive,” he says.
“What about Paola?” I say.
“Who?” he says.
“My nursemaid,” I say.
“The nursemaid who was helping you hide your omen, you mean?” he says. “I don’t know. We dismissed her right after you went to the tower.”
My skin gets very cold. When I saw Paola, she didn’t mention that. She acted like she was fine.
“Have you—have you heard anything about Ale?” I say. “Is he—”
“I’ve heard that he has a giant hole in his face,” he says slowly. “And the guards are saying it was you. He’s not saying a word to anyone.”
Ale is awake. All of a sudden, I can breathe again.
“I’ll explain it later,” I say. “But first—I know how to save the city.”
He gives me a sideways look. “You do?”
“There’s something else out there, Papá,” I say. “There are other cities under the veil.”
“There are?” he says, and his disbelief is plain.
“Yes,” I say. “And one of them was stealing our water. So we can steal it back.”
“How?” he says.
“I can do it,” I say. “You just have to let me out.”
“And what are you going to do?” he says.
“I’ll show you when I get out,” I say.
“You can’t get out, little spider,” he says, like the mere thought is ridiculous. “You can’t leave the tower.”
My heart drops to my feet. “What?”
“Not yet,” he says. “This situation is very delicate. The people are clamoring for your head. It won’t be safe for you to come out until the water is back.”
“So you just want me to tell you how to save the city?” I say. “That’s why you’re here?”
“Isn’t the important thing that the city is saved?” he says.
I don’t understand. We’re a team. We can save the city together.
“So?” he says.
“So?” I echo.
“What do we need to do to get the water?” he says.
I draw back. “Why don’t you figure it out yourself?”
“Don’t be unreasonable,” he says.
“I’m being very reasonable,” I say. “I’m the one who found the answers. I fought for them. Why should you be the one who gets to—”