Raven Girl

Chapter 9

Nadine woke up wincing. Those brutes had turned merciless as soon as she'd gone round the corner of the ally, and she had bruises everywhere. She'd been more scared than she'd liked to admit, too. She wriggled into a different position so she wasn't lying on any tender spots. Lifting an arm, she examined a particularly nasty bloom of blue.

Then she realised that Elias was watching her from across the room. He perched on the sofa back like an eagle, his eyes dark and unreadable. Nadine used her lifted arm to wave.

"Hello. You look concerned. I'm alive, so..."

He'd been strangely angry once he returned and realised what had happened. "Not concerned," he grunted. "You look terrible."

"Thanks." Nadine knew she probably had a bruised cheekbone: it was throbbing like crazy. And her head was spinning from the beer she'd drank.

"Please tell me your alcoholism was an act."

"It was an act." She put her head back on the pillow. "So what's the plan?"

"We leave as soon as possible. Word will have reached those guards of a young brown-haired girl staying at the inn. They'll come searching for her."

"Can we at least have breakfast?" Nadine stood and walked gingerly to the window. She peered between the drapes. A tiny amount of the sun's light still peeked over the horizon, but she could see shapes stirring on the street below.

"Pressure points, Sadovsky?"

She smiled smugly. "Yes. I had an uncle – related by marriage – from the San Myaku Mountains. He was a samurai, or once had been. That's how they fought, and he decided to teach us while we were growing up."

"Us?"

"My... brother and I." She clamped her jaw shut, trying to force the tears back. Gavriil. She couldn't think about him without a spike jabbing at her heart. To her relief, Elias made no further comment.

They met the other two on the landing. Regina was about to take her first step down the stairs when Elias hissed in a breath and shoved her backwards.

"What –?"

"Guards. Listen." He jerked his head. They fell silent, and caught the low rumble of voices. Nadine spotted a flash of dark blue and felt sick. "We need to sneak out another way. Now." It sounded like the guards were interrogating the landlord.

Elias led them past rooms and down hallways, after they'd all retrieved their bags, until they found a back door. Thankfully, it led to the stables. They crept to their horses, saddling them up as swiftly as possible. Nadine's fingers shook. If they decided to check the stables... Most of the guards were armed with guns. They'd be shot on sight.

"We're going to have to bolt for it," Elias ordered. He spoke like a captain addressing his battalion. "Ready?"

"So no breakfast, then," Nadine found herself saying. He glared in response.

Gylfi unbolted the stable doors. They vaulted into the saddles and, Regina leading the way, kicked their steeds into a gallop. Bursting out of the doors, they sped along streets, kicking up mud. Confused shouts echoed behind them but they were as fast as the wind. They soon left the Blue Lantern and the little town far behind, cantering through valleys adorned with frost.

Nadine grinned as a breeze chilled her scalp, slicing through her hair. This was better than breakfast. There was something satisfying about riding fast – the way the horse's hooves ate up the ground, the way everything flashed past in a blur. She felt untouchable. She was a step away from flying.

As her exhilaration began to fade, Elias swore. It was an Easfallian word: unfamiliar, the syllables flowing over one another. She whipped around in the saddle.