Page 31 of The Rebel and the Rose
The others were at the gate, calling for her.
‘I don’t know how to do that,’ said Sera, desperately.
‘Think less. Look to the future, not the past. Otherwise, you’ll be lost in the fog for ever.’ Madame Fontaine made a shooing motion with her hands. ‘Now run. Before it’s too late.’
Sera caught up with the others out on the street. They broke into a jog, forgoing the cloaks they kept tucked under their arms.
‘I don’t know why we’re running so hard,’ said Val, between gasps. ‘Mercure isn’t going to chase us. She’s too dignified for that kind of thing.’
‘And she doesn’t have the right kind of shoes,’ added Bibi.
Even so, Sera quickened her pace. She was eager to get back to the Rose and Crown so they could pick through Fontaine’s words, and look more closely at the cards Theo had swiped. She was so focused on getting out of the Hollows that she barely registered the carriage trundling towards them.
It screeched to a halt.
Bibi lunged, grabbing her arm. ‘Something’s wrong.’
They spun around, looking for Val and Theo, several steps behind. ‘Put your cloaks on,’ said Sera, urgently.
Too late. Footsteps pounded through the dark.
Theo yelled, ‘RUN!’
Sera turned back a heartbeat too late. Something hard slammed into the side of her head. The world turned sidewaysas the ground rose to meet her. Someone caught her before she fell, a breathy chuckle raking down her spine. Somewhere nearby, Bibi screamed. Theo’s shouts grew more distant.
Bucking blindly, Sera kicked her legs and swung her fists. Her captor hissed as she connected with his jaw. ‘You little bitch.’
She reared up just as he slammed his head down, cracking her nose. Pain spiderwebbed across her face, making her eyes stream.
‘Nnngh. Get. Off.’ She bucked again, but a broad hand closed around her throat, choking the air from her. Her thoughts swam, the stars in the faraway sky slowly winking out.
Blackness rose like a wave, until there was only the dying shouts of her best friends and the cruel laughter of their captors rippling over her.
In those final moments of flickering awareness, Sera realized she’d been kidnapped. Amidst her panic and confusion, she couldn’t tell whether the enemy who had moved against her was a Cloak or a Dagger.
She hoped she lived long enough to find out.
Part II
‘Those who move against the House of Rayere
Will die for their designs.
For there is no master greater than the king,
No power stronger than the Crown.’
BY ORDER OF KING BERTRAND IV OF VALTERRE, HOUSE OF RAYERE
Chapter 8Seraphine
Plink.
Plink.
Pink.
First, there was darkness. Then pain, blooming like a flower in her skull. Noise filtered in, with a slow and steady dripping. And with it, the scent of seaweed and brine.
