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A rustle of feathers and quiet wing beats made Drift lift her head. She was tucked against the corner of the inner wall and the southeast tower and in the looming shadow of the castle it was difficult to spot Flick as he descended towards her. His eyes glinted, a bare sliver of moonlight—mischief just as quick to reflect in his beady eyes as those of his summoner—before that too disappeared into the gloom with her. Flick's claws dug into Drift's shoulder as he landed, cutting through the dark cloth of her cape.
Tonight, she'd chosen to forego much of her usual attire. Her usual green would be waiting for her back at the Academy, her glowberry crown nestled gently atop it. The last time she'd worn this cloak, she'd been running from Thornreach. It'd been buried at the bottom of her closet since then, but this mission required as much stealth and anonymity as she could afford. Drift pulled the hood tighter around herself.
"Did you see anyone patrolling?" Drift asked, voice as low as she could make it.
Flick's only feedback was a shuffling of his wings, a loosening of his claws. Without AJ's spell influencing him, his ability to reply was limited only to the typical behaviors of a crow, albeit an unnaturally intelligent one. But Drift thought she understood.
"Good. Keep watch for me, will you?" she muttered. Drift peeled herself off the wall as Flick hopped off her shoulder, fluttering softly to the ground.
She turned to face the stone bricks, braced and took a deep breath. The spell was already finicky and new. She needed to settle her nerves or this wouldn't work. It was a trick Megii had inspired her to try. But while Megii used roots to commune with surrounding plants, Drift's method was a little cruder. Calling on her mana, she concentrated on the ground underneath of her. Instead of trying to move the earth like she usually would, Drift tried to imagine herself dissipating into the rock and packed soil. Immediately, anxiety clamped around her stomach like a vice. The first few times she had attempted this, she had nearly entombed herself. She had only recently figured out how to relax her grip on her magic enough to avoid being buried, but the threat of it still weighed down on her. Drift gritted her teeth, banishing the fear and refocusing.
Through the layers of soil, clay, and stone, the dim outline of a figure under the earth began to emerge in Drift's vision, sharpening the further she pushed her mana. Messy hair, the hint of a pair goggles pushed into it, blasé posture but busy, tinkering hands—it was a silhouette she knew well.
AJ.
Drift released her hold on the spell and immediately the tension snapped. She heaved a sigh of relief. Flick stared at her quizzically.
"It looks like she's in the seventh cell. We'll have to sneak through the castle," Drift said, shaking the twinge of pain out of her hands. Using her magic like this always left an ache in them. "We could get in through the servants' quarters, but I think our chances are better going through the turret at the top of the tower." She remembered back in Thornreach how the servants were always up much later than she expected, and she would rather hedge her bets slipping past the guards than sneaking through a busy servants quarters.
Flick only clacked his beak at her noncommittally.
She shook her head. "Honestly, why am I explaining this to you? Let's just go."
Drift turned her attention back to the the tower wall, tilting her head up to look at it. She grimaced. It was easily forty feet tall, potentially more. It wasn't an impossible climb, but it was certainly daunting, especially without any proper equipment. There was no denying that a fall from that height would mean her death. She thought of Fern back in her dorm room where she would be safe. Drift's stomach churned with guilt. Still, she unslung the satchel draped over her shoulder, setting it down on the ground. From it, she pulled out a coil of rope and handed the loose end of it to Flick who took it in his beak and began the ascend to the top of the tower.
Here's hoping he remembers how to tie that correctly, Drift thought ruefully. She'd always enjoyed the burn of climbing back home, progressing overtime to scaling the tallest cliff faces of the mountains surrounding her kingdom. She was hardly helpless, but she'd done that with knots she'd tied herself. Experienced ones; ones she could trust. Hell—ones made by opposable thumbs. Suffice to say, putting her faith into Flick for this was hardly a comforting feeling.
It took a long while before Flick returned to the base of the tower with her, longer than she expected it too. Drift wasn't sure whether to be reassured by that, if he had taken his time, or more nerve-wracked, if he had forgotten.
"If I die doing this, tell AJ it's her fault," Drift whispered to the crow. Then she grabbed the slack of the rope, and began to haul herself up, pushing her feet into the stone bricks to brace herself.
The ascent was smooth enough. It was almost nostalgic, in a strange way, to climb like this again. Nighttime in the heart of a foreign kingdom she had only just begun to call home, she found a sense of familiarity in the sting of climbing. This was something the Academy didn't care to teach any of its students; the grit of real muscles and power. And Drift couldn't help but feel proud of how easy it was for her to succeed in it.
Once she was about 30 feet up, Flick flew past her, disappearing into the turret above them. She waited until she saw his bone mask peeking over the edge of the parapet to signal it was safe before pulling herself up the rest of the way.
Thankfully it was empty, but she spotted the shadow of a guard in the neighboring turret as well as several others along the wall-walk. Drift glanced at where the rope was tied to the metal ring of a trap door which she suspected led down to the staircase inside the tower. As hastily as she could, she pulled the slack of the rope back up, coiling it and tucking it against the parapet wall where it would be harder to spot.
Now came sneaking to the bottom of the tower. In this at least, the Corruption was her friend. It had thinned the capital's guard so significantly, that even the castle was missing much of its usual protection, the remaining guard assigned primarily to protecting either the royal family or the Academy's students and their dragons. By a stroke of luck, Drift crept through the tower with little incident. It wasn't until she reached the ground floor that she heard footsteps and she hesitated on the staircase.
The sound was coming from the other side of the wall. Carefully, Drift climbed down the last few steps, keeping her footfalls quiet as a pair of muffled voices sounded behind the door separating the tower from the keep. With a shock, Drift realized she recognized one of the voices.
Scott.
Drift bit down on a swear. What was he doing here?
She crept towards the door, listening intently, though it was difficult to make out the words through the wood. Scott was asking something, but Drift couldn't hear what it was, nor exactly what the tower guard's response was. But after a couple minutes, Scott's voice began to fade away and the guard's grew quiet once more. Drift inched away from the door once she was confident guard wasn't about to open the door, continuing her descent to the jail. Her head buzzed with questions, but she shoved them aside.
The tower staircase opened up into the beginning of the jail. Torches perched in sconces lined the walls, but they were dim and most of the cells were still drenched in shadows. Flick didn't hesitate before shooting off into the murk, abandoning Drift at the staircase.
"Wait for me!" Drift hissed in vain. She groaned, scanning the area as quickly as she could for guards. She didn't trust how empty it was, how silent and still it all seemed. It felt like one wrong move could bring it all crumbling down under the boots of a hundred guards.
"Flick?" Drift froze at the sound of AJ's voice coming from further down the hall of cells. "You're back; finally found your loyalty again?"
Drift was moving before she realized it, slipping through the jail and dashing past the empty cells until she reached the seventh. Like the others, it was shrouded in darkness. But she saw two eyes watch her as she neared the cell, bright with a familiar mischief. "AJ?"
AJ stood, approaching the cell door. A flash of iron—a knife, pulled instinctively from a hidden sheath in a boot. It rested in AJ's hand as she narrowed her eyes at Drift through the bars, just in case. "Open book?"
Reaching up, Drift pulled the hood of her cloak down and smirked. "Hey, jailbird. Looks like you could use some help, huh?"
"What are you doing here?" AJ asked and Drift decided not to take the surprise in her voice to heart. "How did you get into the castle?"
"I climbed up the side of the tower and came down the stairs."
For one delicious moment, AJ's jaw went slack with shock. Then her expression broke into a puckish grin. "You what? The tower's like forty feet tall."
Drift chuckled as she crouched to work on picking the cell door lock. It felt good to surprise AJ for once, rather than the other way around. "It's closer to fifty actually. Flick helped."
"Flick, you legend," AJ praised and Flick fluttered to her shoulder, clacking his beak happily. "I almost didn't recognize you, open book. You looked like another shadow figure."
The lock clicked and the door swung freely when AJ pressed her hand against it. She tilted her head, watching Drift as she rose to her feet again. "Maybe you wouldn't make a terrible rebel."
Drift scoffed at that, her breath just close enough to rustle the jagged edge of AJ's fringe. "Of course. I wouldn't get caught framing another student for poisoning the whole school."
"Ouch, I'm hurt," AJ exclaimed, though the curve of her lips gave her away. "You were supposed to be my alibi. Too bad you couldn't do that right."
Drift rolled her eyes. "Name another alibi who would break you out of jail." Raising her hand to AJ's cheek, she cupped her jaw. Her thumb brushed the skin just beside the edge of AJ's mouth. She felt AJ's hand snake around her waist, the touch more thrilling than the climb. "I'll wait."
AJ relented, pressing her lips into Drift's and holding the other woman tightly as she sunk into the kiss with a little gasp. "Fine, open book, you win," she said once they pulled apart, a drawling admission which won her another pleased kiss. "There's nobody else obsessed enough to come save me."
Again, Drift felt as though her eyes might just roll right out of her skull. "Yes, I'm just so obsessed with you. I just couldn't stand to be away," she murmured, unwilling to analyze if the confession could be genuine or not, especially not while AJ was pressed flush against her, freshly kissed. "But we really need to get out of here." It hurt to say it, but it was true.
"You're right," AJ agreed, releasing Drift so she could step away from her. "As fun as it is to kiss you in the dark, open book, we're sitting ducks like this. Come on."
With AJ in the lead, they retrieved the last of her confiscated supplies from the locked chest they'd been unceremoniously dumped in, and crept through the hall of cells again and back up the stairs to the first floor.
"Do you still have the rope from the climb?" AJ asked, lowering the trapdoor to the jail gently so it didn't make a sound.
"It's back up at the top of the tower. We should be able to just throw it over the edge and jump down."
"Perfect, let's—"
Just then, a heavy thud echoed down the tower from a floor higher up, cutting AJ off. Drift's head snapped up. The metallic clank of footsteps sounded above, quickly growing nearer. "That was the trapdoor to the turret. Someone is coming down the stairs." She gasped. "They must have found the rope I left. I didn't realize they would rotate their patrol."
Before Drift had even finished her sentence, AJ had another dagger in hand, a twin to the one she'd pulled on Drift in the cell. "Then we'll have to go through the keep, at least until we can get to the servants quarters on the other side of the castle."
"There's probably guards all over the castle," Drift protested, attention torn between the tower and the door. "There's definitely one on the other side of the door at least. I heard them speaking with Scott."
"Scott? What's Scott doing here?" AJ asked, taken off guard by that. Drift only shrugged in response, just as clueless as she was. "Whatever. We'll figure that out later. For now just put your hood back on so your face is covered. If you get caught with me—they're not above throwing us both in a cell, princess or not." She inched towards the door, daggers at the ready. Black sparks of magic wove between her fingers, warping the edges of her hands. "When I tell you, open the door. Then just follow my lead."
Drift nodded, tugging the hem of her cloak hood back over her head. At AJ's signal, she pulled open the door. She barely got a look at the guard behind the door before AJ lunged at them, eschewing her knives for her mana. Immediately, the guard sunk through the floor, disappearing under the floorboards in a single beat. Drift gulped but the sound was lost between the strangled choking of the buried guard as they struggled in vain, instinctively gasping for air they wouldn't reach.
A hand fell on Drift's, startling her. "Let's go, open book," AJ urged, squeezing her wrist, careful not to cut her.
Drift tore her eyes away from the guard who had quickly grown quiet. "Let's go," she repeated, ducking out of the tower with AJ, stepping over the spot where the guard had just been standing, and letting the door fall slowly shut behind them.
A few torches were lit, their warm glow mixing with the cool light of the moon where it peeked from behind long and elegant curtains. But like the jail, most of the castle was draped in shadows. A balcony that wrapped around the edge of the second floor looked out over the center first floor, which was set lower than the walkway around the perimeter and lined with columns. A grand staircase connected the first and second floors. A couple guards were patrolling the edge of the first floor, their armor glinting as they dipped in and out of the light, but they were on the other side of the floor and seemed to be primarily engaged in their own hushed conversation. Yet more guards circled the balcony on the floor above, but their view of the first floor was largely limited to the center of the room.
Move with me, AJ mouthed to her, stepping carefully around Drift and ducking into the darkest shadow where she practically disappeared. Drift did her best to keep up as they slunk from one thicket of gloom to another, dodging the torchlight and windows, moving as fast as they could.
A commotion behind them made Drift pause and look over her shoulder. The guards who were patrolling had stopped at the door to the tower where another third guard speaking hurriedly with them.
"That must be the guard who followed me down the tower," Drift whispered to AJ who had stopped with her.
"Look!" AJ pointed to the center of the room where one of the guards had split from the group and was busy signaling something to the guards on the second floor. "They're alerting the other guards. Soon the whole castle'll know there's intruders." She grabbed Drift's forearm, pulling her back into motion. "We gotta go. Now."
They were just over halfway across the castle and the sounds of many footsteps above them were growing louder as guards hastened to spread out. Out of her periphery, Drift saw some of them descending the grand stairs to join those in investigating the first floor. Sweat began to bead and trickle down her neck and back as they continued, suddenly very thankful for the dark color of her cloak which blended in so well.
"Flick," AJ said, turning her attention briefly to her crow familiar. "Go cause a distraction for us, yeah?" With a soft caw, Flick took flight, darting into the center of the room into the guards' clear vision. Maybe Drift imagined it, but she thought AJ's smile was a little softer than usual as he flew away.
"The entrance to the servants quarters should be somewhere along this wall," Drift said once the heat of the guards' immediate attention had been pulled away from them. She ran her hand along the wall, feeling for any imperfections in the wood panelling. Finally she found a divot in the surface, dug her fingers into it and pulled. The door gave way, exposing a hidden entrance which was tucked seamlessly into the panelling.
"Nice trick," AJ complimented, crossing the threshold ahead of her.
Drift followed, sliding the door carefully closed behind them. The hallway on the other side was completely dark and just narrow enough to begin feeling a little claustrophobic. She could barely see five feet in front of her and she felt AJ reach a hand back to take hers. Drift held it, more grateful than she expected for the contact. "It should open up a little further on, but be careful. There's probably more stairs if this leads to a basement floor."
"You seem to know an awful lot about sneaking through the staff's quarters, open book," AJ observed wryly. "Especially for a princess."
Drift only shrugged, the gesture lost in the dark.
It wasn't long before they stumbled across stairs heading down like Drift had theorized. They led into what appeared to be a utility room, the exact purpose of Drift couldn't guess, but it connected to the kitchen. It was unhelpfully dark in here as well and it was a struggle to navigate the room quietly. It seemed like everyone had left the kitchen in a rush, perhaps upon hearing the warning from the guards, and had hidden themselves away to stay safe. Clutter piled on the surfaces and AJ swore as she accidentally knocked a thin steel pot off a countertop and it clattered loudly to the floor. Drift froze while AJ took her hand back to replace the pot. No footsteps followed and Drift sighed with relief.
"Keep an eye out for the door to the larder. There might be an exit to a passage that will take us outside from there. The servants would use it to bring food into the castle pantry," Drift advised, brushing past AJ. Even in spite of the danger of the night, or perhaps because of it, moving this close to her made the air between them feel electric. She could feel AJ's eyes boring into her as she took the lead and her face warmed. She fought back the urge to turn around. "There. I see it."
From the larder, it was easy enough to find the passage Drift had predicted and soon enough they were back outside. It had grown chilly outside in the time since Drift had been hidden in the shadow of the tower and she shivered slightly.
"I don't suppose you have any more rope, do you?" AJ asked, glancing up at the last wall which separated them from the freedom of the capital on the other side.
"No, I left it all up at the top of the tower. Besides, I didn't need it for the exterior wall," Drift said, waving her hand dismissively. "There's enough little spots to find hand and footholds."
AJ grimaced, her disapproval a poor mask for the anxiety Drift was getting better and better at uncovering in her face. "You're sure?"
"You can do it, I'm sure it'll be no trouble. And I can go up after you, if you want. I'll be right behind you," she suggested, mindful to how she balanced the care in her voice. The rest of the words went unspoken between them, but she was sure it was no use. They were obvious.
If you fall, I'll catch you.
AJ's lips pressed into a thin line as she assessed the wall. "Yeah, let's do that. And we should do it now before I lose my nerve," she said. Without another word she was digging her fingers into the highest gaps she could reach between the stones and began to climb.
It was easy for Drift to keep pace with AJ, but still she worried her lip between her teeth until they were both safely over the other side. Flick rejoined them outside as well, somehow having managed to escape the guards, and they raced away from the castle, their sights set on the nearest copse of wildlands they could reach out of the capital. Only once they were both hidden again beyond the tree-line did Drift finally let her shoulders sag with relief.
"I can't believe we made it out of there," Drift muttered after she'd caught her breath. "The Corruption had lowered the numbers of the castle guard more than the Professor had us believe."
"Honestly, I can't believe you, open book." AJ rolled her shoulders back and stretched her arms up over her head and Drift pretended not to stare. "Sneaking out of the Academy at night? Trespassing through the castle? Breaking me out of prison? I'm really rubbing off on you, aren't I?" Her eyes glittered, her expression roguish. It wasn't a question.
Drift spluttered, unable to look away even though she probably should. "No, I don't think that's necessarily true," she started to protest, though even she struggled to find any conviction in it. She crossed her arms over her chest. "I would have done any of that for any of my friends."
"Any of your friends, huh?" AJ asked, calling the question over her shoulder as she started to delve deeper into the woods.
Drift couldn't help but follow, squeezing between the trees and pushing low-hanging branches out of her face as she mirrored AJ's path through the underbrush. "What about it? You're not jealous are you?" she taunted but even she could hear the levity in it. "Did you think you were so special?"
"No. I just think you have quite an interesting definition of friends," AJ replied flippantly. She slowed down once they were in deep enough that no moonlight could reach them through the canopy. She turned to face Drift once more, her voice suddenly pitched low and conspiratorial, her body bent subtly towards Drift's—as if they were sharing a secret. "Am I one of your friends, Drift?"
This deep in the gloaming, without the light, she looked painted out of layers of shadows. Like a wraith surfaced from the wildlands, the curve of that damn smirk her blade. When they'd met, Drift had found her smirk so sharp and aggravating. Now she was so close and Drift was beginning to see delicacy in it.
All the tension from the castle came rushing back, the distance between them too short and too charged to be safe. Drift felt her face grow impossibly warm, the heat cupping the back of her neck and burning through her cheeks. "You know the answer to that."
"Yeah, but I want to hear you say it," AJ teased, her hands finding their usual way around her and settling on either side of her waist in spaces Drift was beginning to fear were just for her—for this. "Admit that you're obsessed with me."
AJ's fingers wound into the loose fabric of her shirt, pinching and pulling at it. Not so far as slipping under it, but just a suggestion she might. Drift felt herself stop breathing. "Since you're such an open book, is all."
"No, no, I'm not obsessed but I—" Drift swallowed hard, her arms dropping from her chest. One fell to AJ's hip, the other cradled her face. She took a deep, steadying breath. "You're not my enemy, you're not my friend. But I care about you, AJ. I really do," she confessed, barely above a whisper. "A lot."
Drift wasn't sure what reaction she desired from the admission. She supposed she anticipated mockery, she feared rejection. But she never could have known to hope for the way AJ's face truly softened, her grin dropping and her eyebrows knit together ever so slightly. It was the most unguarded expression she'd ever looked at Drift with.
"You don't really mean that," AJ said, relaxing her hold on Drift and beginning to withdraw.
Drift felt dizzy, like the ground was spinning underneath of her. "I do! I do mean it," she promised, tilting AJ's face up to push her lips to hers. It was less like the gentle press Drift had planned and more of a crush as AJ responded with more ardour than Drift had expected. Her hand found its way into Drift's hair, tangling in it, pulling her down like she was afraid Drift would pull away.
This wasn't the kisses in the jail. Those had been light, casual, comforting. This was different. It was deep, equal parts desperation and relief, and it was terrifying.
AJ had never thanked Drift for saving her. She rarely said thank you for anything. But Drift thought she could feel it in the kiss, in lips licking and sucking on lips. The words she couldn't express out loud, the gratitude and disbelief that someone had cared enough to find her, to be there for her.
And Drift had never told her how scary it was to find out she cared for someone so much, to discover a different kind of attraction on such precarious ground. She had friends back at the Academy, she had friends she liked and friends she liked more than a "friend" probably should. But with AJ it was inexplicably different. She only hoped AJ could feel the difference, in her back against the rough bark of a tree and Drift's hands under her thighs. In the kisses under her ear and on her throat that had them both breathing hard.
The climb up the tower had been familiar, the kisses in the jail exciting and grounding. This was plummeting off the tower, hurtling towards the earth and being scared not of the fall, but of hitting the ground after.
"I do care about you," Drift repeated, breath harsh and stuttered as they found a pause, suspended together what was turning into a whirlwind. "I do care. Which is why when we find Pyro, you can't be there."
"What?" AJ stopped her ministrations, drawing her mouth away from where she'd been kissing the pulse under Drift's jaw.
"The rebels," Drift said, fighting to clear her head. "Scott, Shelby, and I still need to find him and Maddy. To rescue them from the rebels that kidnapped them." Carefully she relaxed her hold on AJ and let her slide down until they were both standing. "You can't be there. I can't fight you."
"You're going back to the Academy?" AJ asked, seemingly ignoring the primary point of Drift's statement.
Drift's brow furrowed. "Of course. I can't leave them to find Pyro without me, and I can't leave Elaina or Megii behind. I already left them once without saying anything." She retreated half a step. The night air felt exceptionally cold as she inhaled and it stung against the warmth in her face.
"You left me once without saying anything too, you know," AJ said pointedly, folding her arms over her chest. Immediately, Drift felt something rise between them. A wall, like a door had suddenly snapped shut.
"Which is why I'm saying something now," she argued, tamping down her frustration. "I'm not leaving you without a warning. This is the warning."
AJ scoffed, redirecting her glare elsewhere. "I can't lie, open book. It's kind of a shit warning."
"Listen to me, please," Drift implored. All of a sudden she felt herself missing the way they'd held hands in the castle and her hand fell on AJ's arm, but she didn't oblige. "When we find the rebel camp, or wherever they're keeping Pyro and Maddy, you cannot be there. I can't fight you, AJ."
"And after you rescue your friends? What then?" AJ demanded, whipping her gaze back to Drift's. "They found out I poisoned the Academy; they found out I framed Scott. They put me in jail and you broke me out—now I'm a fugitive. They'd never let me back into the Academy."
"Couldn't you just use the same method you did to become a student in the first place?" Drift asked after a long moment, slightly at a loss for any other clear solution.
"You mean the rebels that you just told me not to go to? The ones I have to return to and admit to that I failed?" AJ shook her head and unfolded her arms, tossing Drift's off unceremoniously. She sidestepped her, giving her a wide berth and Flick—where had he been all this time?—fluttered down to the ground by her feet. "I'll stay out of your way while you go rescue Pyro and Maddy. Consider it a favor in return for breaking me out, and our business is done, yeah?"
"AJ—"
"No, it's my fault for thinking that caring for meant staying with," AJ muttered, running a hand through her short hair though it didn't do much good. It was tousled and pulled beyond fixing. "I hope you find your friends, open book. If you ever feel like having another dalliance with a rebel traitor, you know who to call. But until then, I guess, this is goodbye."
Drift didn't even have time to reply, to protest or argue or, hell, to plead for the conversation not to end like this. AJ was gone in a mere moment, in a dark dusting of crows feathers and Flick took to the air, disappearing into the shadows of the sky.
Drift groaned, covering her face with her hands. It was going so well, they were happy enough, she was finally getting somewhere with AJ—and it all fell apart. She rubbed her eyes with her knuckles and took one deep, ragged breath. Then another, this one smoother than the last. Until she felt her heart rate slow and the stinging sensation in her eyes lessened. She straightened her cloak around her shoulders again from where AJ had all but ripped it off and pulled the hood up over her head once more.
She crouched down near the spot where AJ had vanished and picked out of the soil and loose leaves the largest of the feathers left behind; jet black, glossy, and iridescent as she carried it out of the woods into the moonlight.
The walk back to the Academy was quiet, the air still and empty, and though Drift's mind raced, she refused to linger on any one thought. She preferred the anxious buzz of it over the prospect of sitting with any feeling other than resignation at the moment.
But she wasn't the only one from the Academy out late. As she neared the Academy's front steps, Drift spotted not only Scott but Shelby outside, heads bent together in hushed tones. She stopped short at the sight and for a brief moment, she thought about just sleeping under the stars for the rest of tonight, like they had on their travels together.
"Drift!" Shelby noticed her before Drift could make a getaway. She waved enthusiastically at her, beckoning her over to them.
Steeling herself, Drift went to them, lowering her hood as she approached. She imagined that the ground stuck to her heels, that it pulled at her feet like it was trying to slow her down. "Hey, guys. Whatcha doing out here so late?"
"We could ask the same of you," Scott pointed out, his eyes narrowed, but with less scrutiny than inquisition.
Shelby, bless her, was much more willing to provide a straight answer. "We were just talking about AJ, actually."
Drift felt all of the blood drain out of her face. She thought about sinking into the ground, about the earth swallowing her like she'd feared. "You were? What about her?"
"Scott went to the jail in the capital to try to talk to her and ask her some questions, you know, after she framed him," explained Shelby blithely. "But the guard turned him away. And then there was an alarm at the castle. They said there was a commotion from the tower where the jail is, that someone might be escaping and—" She cut herself off, taking Drift's hand and resting her other hand on her upper arm. "Hey, are you alright?"
"What? Yeah, I'm fine," Drift lied, forcing herself not to avoid Shelby's worried gaze. Underground it would be dark; she thought about soil covering her face and burying her alive. She prayed she could school her expression well enough to fool them. "What? Do I not look alright?"
"You're very pale and your eyes are puffy," Scott said. He had moved to stand behind Shelby, as though he were her giant white and blue silhouette. "And your neck, what is that—" Realization struck him as Drift's hand immediately flew to her neck, just under her jaw. "Drift!"
"Oh my gosh, Drift, is that a hickey?" Shelby exclaimed, straining her neck as though she could peer around, underneath of Drift's hand. "Drift, where have you been? What happened?"
Drift opened her mouth to respond but all she could manage was a small, choked sound before she threw her arms around Shelby and hid her face into her friend's neck. Her eyes stung hot with tears and Shelby's arms immediately tightened around her. In a second, Scott was bending down to hug them both as well and Drift cried freely, the sound muffled entirely by the reassurance of her friends.
They knew.
Without saying, they knew what had happened. Who had sounded the alarm at the castle, who had escaped, who had left that mark on her. Drift wasn't sure if they would hate her for this or forgive her, but they knew.
"I'm sorry," Drift heaved once she'd caught her breath, though she couldn't help but feel she was saying it to the wrong audience. "I didn't want to go behind your backs, but I couldn't leave her there. And we talked and I realized—"
Drift stopped, unsure exactly what the words were that she was looking for. Or that she could say them.
"Realized what?" Shelby asked, using the pad of her thumb to wipe at the tears under Drift's eyes.
"It doesn't matter." Drift shook her head as though she could banish whatever thoughts or feelings she might have admitted aloud. "I told AJ she needed to stay away from the rebel camp where Pyro and Maddy are being kept. We had an argument and now she's gone."
"Did she agree to stay away?" Scott urged, his tone gentle and wary, like walking on a lake you weren't sure was frozen all the way. If you step wrong, it could crack.
Drift wasn't sure she appreciated the prudence, but she did at least appreciate the care. She nodded. "She said she wouldn't be there, just before she left." Scott's only response was a thoughtful hum.
"Hey, it's been a long night," Shelby said, breaking the silence that had followed. "Let's all go inside and get some rest. We can talk about it in the morning, I think, when everyone's feeling fresh."
"Good idea. We'll make a plan in the morning," Scott added, leading the way back up the Academy steps. "Some of the other students think they've figured out the coordinates for the rebel camp, based on the message Pyro sent with Cindy."
Shelby brightened, squeezing Drift's hand reassuringly. "Fern will be happy to see you again. She came into my room earlier to snuggle with Firefly. She must have been a little lonely."
That made Drift smile. "Thanks for letting her into your dorm. I'm glad they have each other."
"Exactly. And you have us," Shelby beamed. "Once we find Pyro and Maddy, I think we'll all feel a little more balanced again."
Drift's fingers ran along the edge of the feather she'd nicked, the bristles of it smooth on the pad of her thumb. She shot Scott a smile where he stood further ahead and nodded to Shelby beside her. "We'll go find Pyro and Maddy and it'll all work out again," she agreed and wondered if she could teach herself to believe it.