“We wouldn’t actually fight. I think I could get at least half the Ruined to abandon her right when the battle starts. We make a run for it, leaving Olivia and her supporters to fight the army on their own.”
“Could you actually make it out?” Galo asked. “Once the battle starts, it might be too intense. You may have no choice but to fight.”
“It could happen, but if we position ourselves right, we could make it out. Especially with Aren on our side. And Olivia is always at her most deadly when a battle begins. She’s at full strength, and we’ll hopefully be surprising the army. It should be possible to slip away if we plan it right.”
“But if we left them . . .” Aren let his voice trail off.
“They would all die,” Em whispered. Olivia would die.
It was quiet for a moment before Galo spoke. “It would take care of two problems at once. Olivia might kill so many Olso and Vallos soldiers that they simply give up and go home. And Olivia might not make it out alive.”
“There’s a very good chance Olivia wouldn’t make it,” Em said. Her throat was starting to close up, and it was hard to talk. “She’s powerful, but she can’t take on an entire army with only a handful of Ruined. She’d barely be able to do it with all of us.” She looked at Aren. “It’s horrible, right?”
“It’s horrible,” he said quietly. “But there’s no way this ends without Olivia’s death.”
Tears burned her eyes, and she tried to blink them away. They fell anyway. Galo looked at the ground.
“Is it a stupid idea?” she asked. “Maybe I should just kill her tonight and save us all the trouble.”
“Em, no one would ever ask you to do that,” Aren said. “I would never do that.”
“How is it different? If we do this, we’re going to lead her—and dozens of other Ruined—to their deaths. It will be our fault.”
“She’ll fight them sooner or later,” Aren said. “It’s a good plan, Em. We have to deal with the army eventually, it might as well be now, when they can help us take care of Olivia.”
Em roughly wiped the tears off her cheeks.
“You could present her with an option,” Galo said after a few moments of silence. “Tell her the army is coming, and let her decide between going back to Ruina, or fighting them. Maybe the threat of another attack this soon will finally scare her.”
She let out a long breath and shook her head. “Never. She’ll be delighted to fight them.”
“Then . . .” Aren winced. “I hate to say it, but we gave her plenty of chances. We’ve pleaded with her to go back to Ruina. It’ll be her decision, Em.”
It would be Olivia’s decision, but she’d make it thinking Em would help. Olivia would be devastated by that kind of betrayal from Em. Even if her sister somehow made it out alive, she would never speak to Em again. It would be the end of their relationship.
“This is it, then?” she asked hollowly. “Is this the plan Galo takes back to Cas?”
“I think it is,” Aren said.
“Well, there’s one more option,” Galo said. “You can come back to Royal City with me tonight, and let Olivia do whatever she wants. Jovita is definitely coming for her anyway, regardless of whether Olso decides to help. Cas won’t mind if you and some of the other Ruined just want to leave her now. I think he’d be relieved, actually.”
Em closed her eyes briefly. It was tempting. But she knew Olivia—as soon as Em was gone, she’d round up the remaining Ruined and head to the next city. And she’d kill everyone. She’d start with the nearby cities, like she said, then head up north. Galo had just said his parents lived north. He didn’t understand what he’d just suggested to Em.
Or maybe he did, but he didn’t think Em cared to save a bunch of humans she didn’t know. She wouldn’t blame him for thinking that. It seemed unlikely that any Ruined would want to save a Leran.
“Too many people will die,” she said. Galo didn’t look surprised by her answer. Maybe he’d never expected her to take that offer at all.
“Then . . . ?” Aren prompted.
She swallowed and took a step back. She needed this conversation to be over. She needed a few minutes to scream and cry. “How are we going to say we got this information when Olivia asks?” Em asked.
“Me,” Aren said. “I’ll leave for a couple of days. I’ll go with Galo to Royal City, to talk to Cas. Olivia won’t think it’s strange if I just disappear. She already knows I hate her. I’ll come back saying I heard the plan from someone.”
“Will she buy that?” Galo asked.
“She might be suspicious, but she’s not going to turn down the chance to head off an army. Killing humans is Olivia’s favorite pastime.”
Em took in a shaky breath. “We may need help from the Lera army, to get away at the right moment once the battle starts. Will Cas provide assistance?”
“We can ask,” Aren said softly.
She nodded and turned away before her eyes filled with tears again. “Do it.”
FOURTEEN
“SO WE’D BE sending them to their deaths.”
Aren looked at Patricio, who was looking at Em with a horrified expression on his face. Em stared at the floor.
“It’s the best idea we have,” Aren said. A group of about twenty Ruined were gathered in Mariana’s sitting room, squeezed onto couches and spread out on the floor, and they all gawked at him. He sat next to Em on the floor, their backs to the wall.
“If you have any other suggestions, please speak now,” Em said quietly.
Patricio pushed two hands through his dark hair. Beside him, Gisela put a hand on his knee. “I think it’s a good plan,” she said, her tone more gentle than usual.
“There are already so few of us,” Selena protested. She was next to Ivanna on the couch. “The Ruined are going to be completely extinct if we keep dying.”
“We’re going to be extinct if we let Olivia continue,” Aren said. “The Olso and Vallos armies are coming, either way. And Cas will be forced to turn on us eventually, if we let Olivia run wild.”
“It’s only a matter of time,” Ivanna said quietly. “Before Olivia is killed, I mean.” She cast a sympathetic look in Em’s direction.
Aren swung his arm over Em’s shoulders and she leaned against him. She’d stopped talking about Olivia to him, besides their conversation with Galo last night. He couldn’t blame her. He didn’t know what to say either.
“I’m leaving with Galo tonight,” Aren said. “We’re going to present the plan to Cas and see if he’ll provide Lera troops. Our plan is for them to hang back, to help us escape after we leave Olivia and her supporters to fight the army on their own.”
“So we flee,” Selena said.
“Yes. We’ll go back to Royal City with the troops. We’re hoping to get word as soon as they cross the border, so we’ll have to travel into the Lera jungle to head them off.” They’d probably be almost halfway to Olso by the time they caught up with the troops, if everything went to plan.