“What?” Olivia sat up and took a discreet look around. It was midmorning, judging by the sun, and the Ruined around her were still lounging about, or napping, or huddled together eating some berries they’d picked. They were in the middle of the jungle, beneath the shade of thick trees. Jovita sat tied to one, bloodied but still alive. Most likely alive. Her eyes were closed, but Olivia was pretty sure she was just sleeping.
Olivia only had twenty-five Ruined with her. There should have been more, but she’d woken the first morning after Em left to find about ten of them had disappeared. None of the remaining Ruined had a clue where they’d gone. Or they just weren’t saying.
“I told you we had to take feed for the horses. I told you we couldn’t ride them constantly,” Ester snapped.
“Is there something wrong with them?”
“Two of them collapsed,” Ester said. “And two more are dead, including yours.”
She let out an annoyed breath. “We’ll have to get more horses, then.”
Ester gestured around wildly, as if to point out that they were in the middle of the jungle. It wasn’t like there was a barn full of horses waiting around the corner.
“It’s not my fault they couldn’t keep up,” Olivia snapped. Ester just turned and walked away. She said something to Carmen, who looked at Olivia and then quickly averted her eyes.
The Ruined hadn’t looked at her the same since Em left. Olivia had decimated Jovita’s hunters—she would have killed the Olso army too if those cowards hadn’t run—but it was like they’d decided Olivia had lost somehow. She’d won. She wanted to scream it at them.
It was all Em’s fault. Olivia wished their mother were still alive. She would have been on Olivia’s side. She would have rather seen Em dead than partnering with humans.
Or maybe their mother could have talked some sense into Em, and Olivia wouldn’t have to kill her at all. The thought made her insides twist painfully.
Olivia got to her feet, folded her blanket, and stuffed it in her pack. She stomped to Jovita and knelt down in front of her, snapping her fingers in her face.
Jovita sucked in a breath as she woke. Her gaze fell on Olivia, and Olivia was pleased to see a spark of fear in her eyes. Jovita had only anger at first. But Ester had been in her mind a few times, making her see terrible things, and she had the good sense to be afraid now. Or perhaps her grasp on reality was slipping.
“Do you have anything useful to tell me yet?” Olivia asked.
Jovita just stared at her.
“I don’t understand why you’re protecting Casimir. If you can tell me the best way to get into the castle, I’ll kill him and my sister. It’s a win-win for you.”
Jovita turned her face away.
Olivia stood and waved at Ester. “Work harder on her, will you? I think you’ll need to break her mind before she tells me anything.”
“I’m trying. It turns out her mind is pretty tough.” But Ester walked over and sat down across from Jovita.
“I’m going to go check on the Olso army. They didn’t move, did they?” Olivia looked up at a tree, where a Ruined had been keeping watch, but there was no one there. She let out an annoyed sigh.
“Calm down,” Priscila said in a tone Olivia didn’t appreciate. “Someone just climbed up there an hour ago. They’re not moving.”
Olivia shot her a venomous look and stomped to the tree herself. She grunted as she climbed, her feet and back sore from the endless days of travel.
She reached a high branch, carefully balancing against the trunk. Priscila was right. The army was still there, hiding in the jungle. There were hundreds of them, and they were surrounded by horses and wagons and carts of weapons. The weapons scared Olivia the most. A human didn’t even have to be close to kill them with some of those weapons. That was terrifying, for a Ruined.
She climbed back down the tree.
“We’re still waiting?” Ester asked, without turning around to look at her.
“Yes. I think the army is plotting the best way to attack Royal City, and I want to see what they do.” They’d been following the army for days. When Olivia had first tracked them down, she’d been excited, ready to jump in and kill them all. But then she’d looked around and considered the powers of the Ruined with her. She didn’t have Aren. She didn’t have Jacobo. She had twenty-five Ruined, which was no small number, but none with enough power to help her take down an army of that size.
And to be honest, she wasn’t sure they would even obey an order from her right now.
So she was waiting. She told herself it was the smart decision. With any luck, the humans would kill each other and she could swoop in and take down the rest.
Jovita screamed, then went silent, her eyes wide. Ester turned away from her to face Olivia.
“If you really want to get into the castle to kill Em, maybe you should help them.” She pointed in the direction of the army.
Olivia recoiled and gave Ester a disgusted look.
Ester lifted her eyebrows. “What? Your mother did it. Do you think she entertained Olso warriors at the castle because she liked humans? She needed them. You’ve failed because you could never be strategic in the way your mother and Emelina are.”
The word failed hung in the air. The Ruined around them were silent, watching.
“I haven’t failed at anything,” Olivia spat out. “That army ran in fear from me.”
“I suppose,” Ester said quietly. “But working with humans keeps turning out well for Em, wouldn’t you say?”
Olivia balled her fingers into fists. She refused to admit this to Ester, but she had been wondering what would have happened if she’d gone behind Em’s back to work with Olso. August would have been happy to kill Casimir. They could have taken care of him in Sacred Rock, and then moved on to Royal City. She’d be ruler of Lera by now.
Instead, she’d attacked the Olso castle, and then run all the warriors out of Lera. She’d helped Casimir, in the end.
And now it was too late. She wasn’t dumb enough to waltz up to August and ask for a deal now, not when she’d killed every member of the Olso royal family.
“I don’t work with humans,” she said. “We don’t need them.”
Ester turned back to Jovita. “If you say so.”
Olivia bit back the urge to scream. “We just have to wait. Lera will fall after I kill Em. I just need to get to Em.”
TWENTY-EIGHT
BETHANIA OFFERED TO let Galo and Aren stay the night (begrudgingly, muttering that they were going to get caught wandering the streets of Olso), and they slept on blankets and pillows in the sitting room. Galo tossed and turned most of the night, listening to the sounds of the busy street outside and thinking of what Mateo was doing.
Bethania left in the morning, handing them two hot mugs before rushing out the door. Galo sat on the floor with his back against the couch as he lifted the cup to his lips. Bitter liquid rushed over his tongue. He grimaced as he swallowed.
“Oh, that’s disgusting. What is that?”
Aren sniffed his, then took a sip. He wrinkled his nose and put the cup back on the table. “I don’t know. Maybe she heated up some dishwater to torture us.” He cocked an eyebrow as he looked at Galo. “Maybe to torture you. I think when faced with the choice of Ruined or Leran, I win by a large margin.”