The small, cold sun slunk over the western horizon, as if ashamed to show its face to the weary Sentinel wardens trudging across the tundra. They’d pushed on through the night and climbed out of the Veter only minutes ago.
Klara once again led the way, this time with Irmina in her arms—Yeger carried Alarick. Klara’s hearts were as heavy as the body she carried. Surely Yefimova hadn’t organised the attack last night? Were Sentinels so cruel as to allow their wardens to die? No, don’t be stupid. The lack of sleep was leaving her delirious. The Sentinels wouldn’t send an attack force to murder their own. It was a ridiculous waste of life.
Coil train rails breached the horizon, and Klara sighed with relief, her breath hot against her face as her half-mask trapped it. They were only hours away from Borovsk. The trek had taken them much further west than Klara had hoped, so they never ran across the coil train tracks in the Veter.
The seven surviving members of 24th Squad walked in silence, nursing their injuries. They’d repelled the assault, but at a high cost.
Mikhail trudged beside Klara, his brow pinched in a frown—a frown she didn’t doubt also curved his lips beneath his half-mask.
The sun began to warm Klara’s back through her thick coat as she ran through the fight for the hundredth time. Why? The question she always returned to.
What had the white warriors hoped to gain from attacking a squad of Sentinels? Especially a squad of only wardens. Their extracts? No, they’d clearly been boosted themselves, so they had access to extracts. But how? Only members of the Warrior Guild, the Sentinels, and the Alchemists had access to Trinity. Unless, of course, they were stolen.
A snippet of conversation flickered through Klara’s mind and she turned to Mikhail. “What did you mean last night when you said it was your fight?” she asked.
Mikhail looked uncomfortable.
“You know who they were, don’t you?” she pressed.
Her brother was silent a long minute. “Yes,” he said at last. “They’re from the Alchemist Guild, part of Voronin Master’s private army.”
“You told the truth when you came to me at the Warrior Guild.”
“I had no reason to not.”
Klara shook her head, overwhelmed. Just what had Elana written in her journal that the Alchemist Guild would murder Sentinels to discover? “Do you think Elana had anything to do with the attack in the uzhas vault?” she asked.
Mikhail shot Klara a baffled look. “What attack?”
“Oh. I was talking to one of the Alchemist healers the other night. They mentioned Voronin’s army besieging the uzhas vault two months ago—around when Elana went missing.”
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The blood drained from Mikhail’s cheeks, leaving his face ashen. “You told someone else I was here? An Alchemist? Klara, what have you done?”
It was Klara’s turn to be bewildered. “I didn’t tell her you were here. Well, not exactly. But why does it matter? She doesn’t like Voronin so why would she tell him where you are?”
Panic burned in Mikhail’s eyes. “Don’t you get it? I didn’t ask you to keep quiet about me because I feared the Sentinels finding out, I asked because Voronin has spies everywhere. Including here! She”—he pointed to Irmina—“is dead because Voronin discovered my location. I haven’t told anyone but you, Klara.”
The muscles in Klara’s jaw spasmed. “This isn’t my fault.”
“Add the facts,” Mikhail said, bitterness tainting every word. “You talked to an Alchemist, then the very next time we’re outside the protective walls of Borovsk, a team of Alchemist soldiers attack. You didn’t even stop to think about the dangers of talking about me, did you? All you care about is getting to Katavsk and killing a Nishkuk for Lokteva.”
Klara clenched her teeth, trying to still the twitching muscle. “Go help Yeger with Alarick,” she ground out.
Mikhail watched her for a long moment before giving her a sharp nod. “Yes, Warden,” he said, and dropped back.
Klara strode on. Only the crunch of dirt beneath her heavy steps and the quiet murmurs of the other wardens disturbed the still morning. It couldn’t have been Idalie. The woman was too nice to be a spy. But though she was loath to admit it, the attack was too much of a coincidence. Klara cursed silently. Of course finding a friend here had been too good to be true.
She looked at Irmina and a knot wedged in her throat, threatening to suffocate her. The warden had been the first to vote for her as a leader. Little had Irmina known, the leader she chose had already sentenced her to death.
No! Klara shook her head, banishing the tears. Voronin was the real monster responsible for Irmina’s and Alarick’s deaths. She’d be cursed to the depths before she let him harm another Sentinel.
Soon the low-lying compound of Borovsk appeared in the distance. By the time the sun had peaked in its arc, Klara and her weary squad stepped into the long tunnel leading to Borovsk’s Central Circle.
All movement ceased as they walked down the tunnel. Every Sentinel watched as the weary squad of wardens passed, bearing their dead. One by one, Klara saw fists rise to collarbones in salute.
They reached the Central Circle, and Klara hesitated. Sergei stood beside Yefimova, with a squad of Sentinels in full battle gear behind them. A deep frown creased Sergei’s forehead as he watched them approach. He glanced at Irmina and Alarick and said to Yefimova, “See that the dead are honoured.”
Yefimova nodded and waved two from her squad forwards.
One tried to relieve Klara of Irmina, but she pulled back. “No! I will carry her. She was my responsibility.” She stared down the Sentinel watcher.
“And I will finish carrying Alarick,” Yeger said.
Yefimova gave a short nod, and the watchers returned to their squad.
Klara turned her attention back to Sergei. The frown hadn’t left his face.
“You…” he said, his voice low and threatening.
Klara opened her mouth to defend herself when she realised he wasn’t looking at her. Oh.
“Mikhail Koskov,” Sergei continued, “you are under arrest for impersonating a Sentinel.”
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