Book 5: Running Out

Amval

With my sister’s hand in mine, betrayal ringing in my ears, I scoot away from the crack in the floor. I don’t want to keep watching. Seeing Cirocco smooth out his expression into pleasantness and Ingrid struggling to do the same as they went to his room was enough for me.

I want to go back to the moment before Kaloni’s announcement, when my whole world made sense.

Joli recovers better than I do, tearing through the dark and dragging me after her. Somehow, she’s still dancer-light on her feet. I sound like a stampede.

The wind I’ve been able to count on all my life leaps to my command almost before I call it. Thank the Goddess. My thoughts alone are heavy enough to drag me through the floor, onto the heads of the revelers downstairs.

Kaloni did this. All of it.

Joli shoots through the door and lets the tapestry swing back into place. “Your bag—what’s in it?”

“Essentials,” I mumble. “For if I had to run.”

“Why didn