The cement walls of the wall's guard tower held in the cold. I huddled against them despite their freezing touch. Staying still helped conserve my body heat and ease the strain on my ribs. Besides, if I pressed my face to the corner, I could still smell the faded scent of canine and pine. Howens hadn't lied, Cerberus had been here.

  I heard the door open and shut, but didn't bother looking up. I was too busy being overwhelmed with a longing for my albino guardian to care who came to gawk at me. That was, until they spoke.

  "Finally."

  My body screamed in protest as I flipped it over, staring in the direction of the familiar feminine voice. Shirah grinned as she trotted to my cell. From one of her many pockets she produced a series of thin metal tools which she inserted in the lock.

  "It would've been so much easier if I could've asked someone," she muttered as she worked. "I spent two days looking for you."

  I blinked. It was difficult to tell, being there were no windows to see night and day, but I did know Balazza brought me two raw steaks as meals, both of which rotted where she dropped them. "You'd have to have come when I did," I said. "How’d you know I needed you?"

  She paused in her work to send me a sheepish smile. "This is going to sound stupid, but I knew you'd trade yourself because it's what I'd do."

  I snorted. The terrorist and assassin thinking alike, imagine that. "How did you get in here with all the guards?"

  This time, Shirah dropped one of her tools. She fell to one knee, fumbling with it on the floor. "Look, I know how bad this is going to sound." She paused, then shook her head. "No, not sound, how bad it is. I'm not going to make excuses or ask for forgiveness. I can't even ask you to hear me out. "

  It was hard to ignore the sudden chill sinking to my core. "Do I have a choice?"

  "Suppose not." The woman gave a half-hearted laugh, finally retrieving her tool. She avoided my gaze as she pushed it back in the lock. "When we met, Howens had already hired me to spy on the border towns. Once I learned you were the Lady of the Lycan Mountains, I thought I'd earn my weight in gold."

  No. My mind instantly rebelled against the idea. Shirah couldn't be working for Howens. She stood up for me. I defended her. I trusted her.

  "Why didn't you disappear then?" I tried to hide the hurt from my voice. I failed.

  "I knew you'd track me down..." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "So I tipped off some villagers there were lycans in the area. I thought they'd send for Howens, not..." There was no mistaking the silent plea swimming in her black irises. They cried out for understanding, if not forgiveness. Her voice echoed that plea. "I was trying to get you to trust me. But after we ran into Balazza, when you challenged Cerberus, when you believed in me when he knew I was lying... I..I couldn't..." She dropped her head, staring at the floor as tears fell from her cheekbones. "I've always been disposable. So I couldn't..." Her eyes met mine. “I've never mattered..."

  How could I believe anything she said? Yet, how could I not? She just admitted everything, when she could have easily invented a much less incriminating excuse. Then again, was that proof of her honesty?

  Could I blame her for working for Howens before she met me, when the consequences of refusal were likely severe? Yet, knowing she once worked for my enemies and had been prepared to betray me, could I afford to trust her?

  "Desire, you have every right to be furious. I swear on anything sacred in this damned world you can sentence me any fate you see fit, but please, just for now, let me get you out of here. That's all I ask."

  I considered my current options. "I can't exactly refuse."

  Shirah pursed her lips, giving a slight shake of her head. The lock clicked. The door swung open, allowing me to step from the confines of my cell. I held out my bound hands. Shirah pulled out a small knife and sliced through the rope, careful not to cut my gloves. That taken care of, I pulled a glove off. My bare fingers hovered just above the woman's forehead.

  "I should touch you, to ensure you're not going to betray me later."

  The woman swallowed, staring at my outstretched hand, then nodded. She closed her eyes as she braced herself to receive my poison.

  I breathed out a sigh, dropping my hand. "But, I don't think I need to."

  Shirah blinked, staring at the floor a moment before she dared look up. I sent her a small smile. She mirrored the expression. "Thank you." Her voice reflected the relief I felt. "Now, about those lessons you wanted?"

  I stretched, flinching at the strain on my ribs. "No better time than the present."

  "Wait here," she instructed as she strode to the door. "I need to dispose of the guards."

  "How many?"

  "Two."

  I trotted behind her. "Just distract them. I'll take care of it."

  The woman shot me a questioning look, but nevertheless gave a quick nod. She opened the door only slightly, slipping through. A moment later I heard her muffled voice.

  "Quite the character you got there. You ever talk to her?"

  "We're forbidden from entering," came a man's voice.

  "That's too bad."

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  I slipped off my other glove. My hand rested on the metal handle. Gathering my courage, I flung open the door, stepping through and throwing my hands out to grab the faces turned in my direction.

  One was slight, barely older than a boy, and fainted within seconds. I spun to face the older man, placing both hands on his cheeks.

  "You've been missing all the fun."

  I leaned in, ready to deal a dizzying kiss. My lips stopped a hare's breath from his. I could have growled at the thoughts of Cyrus which invaded my mind.

  It hardly mattered though, I could already see the dullness of unconsciousness growing in his eyes.

  "Goodnight," I purred, then let him fall to the floor. My footsteps gave an unbearably loud echo as I started toward the door I had come down through. A hand grabbed my arm.

  "Can't use the main entrance," Shirah muttered, peering through the small plastic window, "too heavily guarded. This way."

  She led me down the corridor opposite, back to a rusted metal door that appeared to have infrequent use at best. The hinges screeched in protest as we worked together to pull it open. Its heavy weight scraped across the floor. I internally cringed at the echoing sound. We could only hope it wouldn't draw attention.

  The door was considerably easier to close, shutting us into darkness. Shirah lit a candle she produced from one of her many pockets. I examined the rock walls of the tunnel we had entered.

  "This isn't a subway," I murmured, running a hand along the rough surface. "What is it?"

  "Don't know." Shirah had already started down the tunnel. I hurriedly followed after her, noting the absence of rails. "All I know is this way leads to Obria Palace. The other supposedly goes under the mountains."

  I glanced over my shoulder, as if I could see the fires of Preene's underground from here. "Why not take that way out then?"

  "Most of it’s sealed. The next opening is miles away. Besides, Howens has architects fixing the flooded sections. We'd definitely be caught." She looked back to me. "I know it seems unlikely, but through the city is our best option."

  It did seem unlikely, and also painfully reminded me of my inability to judge character. However, I was quickly distracted by the mass of metal that took up most of the space in front of us.

  "What's that?"

  Shirah turned, her candle illuminating a greater portion of the massive structure. Large plates of painted metal rose to the ceiling. Where sections had broken off I could see a network of pipes and wires.

  An old world machine.

  A sense of awe settled over me as we squeezed through the little space the towering technology afforded for passage. The other side was considerably smaller, we needed to bow our heads as we inched by the rusted blades of a monstrous drill attached to the front of the machine.

  "They were building a new tunnel," I whispered, the realization dawning on me. "This part must have been dug later on..."

  "Now it's used by Howens spies," Shirah said. She placed the candle in her mouth to better grip the metal bars in front of her. I followed as she pushed up a round opening above us and crawled through, then turned back to offer her hand. I took it. She heaved me up, looking around as she did. "How the world has fallen..."

  The room we entered had both the floor and walls tiled in a golden marble, now dull from neglect. Edging and matching pillars framing a steel cage still bore some of their once shining polish. However, it was the animal within the cage which caught my attention.

  Balazza's bear sat hunched in what I assumed would have been a vault. The metal walls were clearly too small for the massive animal; it barely had room to turn around. I stepped closer. The bear turned its disproportionate head to face me. Sitting as it was, I could clearly see all of the bear's stomach.

  "The Gici Awas is female?"

  Shirah glanced to me, then went back to surveying the room. "Suppose so. I never looked that closely."

  She looked so sad. Something about those big, shining eyes. Somehow, staring in that sorrowful expression was like staring in a mirror. It drew me in. At first she leaned back, cowering at my approach and baring her teeth. I reached out, gloved fingers tracing the vault's bars.

  The Gici Awas charged. I stumbled as she collided with the steel, falling backwards to the floor. Her roar rattled my bones.

  Shirah swore under her breath, grabbing me by the arm and hauling me to my feet. "No wonder you were caught," she hissed. "That got the whole city's attention." She glanced back at me. "Congratulations."

  I let out a huff as she dragged me to a door beside the Gici Awas's cage. She flung it open, kicking the soldier on the other side. A crash sounded behind us, along with a dozen voices shouting over one another. The bear's angered roars echoed in the stone room.

  "What do we do now?" I asked as we jumped down the short set of stairs into a dark tunnel where it was revealed the vault opened to the cart's cage. A team of drafts skittered in their stalls at our sudden appearance. Shirah started up the steep slope of the tunnel towards a light. I struggled to keep up.

  "Keep to the plan, just faster."

  "What's the plan?" I panted.

  The woman jumped on a gate, climbing over the iron bars to squeeze through the narrow space on top. I followed her with much difficulty. After a brief struggle, she managed to help me through, then dropped down beside me. "No time. Explain later."

  I sucked in a deep breath, and we ran.

  Several guards appeared from around the corner. Shirah immediately tagged one with a throwing star. The other two faced a barrage of well-aimed kicks and stings from her miniature daggers. Within a matter of seconds, all three were on the ground.

  She turned to me, drawing a full sized blade from her hip. The weapon was offered hilt first. "I'd appreciate the help."

  I took the offered dagger, immediately slicing across my palm. "Poison," I said in reply to her stare.

  Shirah smiled. She held up her throwing stars, coated in a blue paste. "The compliment to every blade."

  My eyes scanned the surrounding area. I had only visited the city twice previously, but I was fairly certain I hadn't been in this area before. I glanced back to the building we came from.

  "I thought that was the palace."

  She shrugged, looking around. "It's connected underground." Her gaze fixed on a narrow alley. "This way."

  We jogged down the path, emerging between abandoned shops. From there we wove through Obira's streets, running as fast as I could manage and avoiding any voices we heard.

  Eventually, the outer wall came in clear view. This place I recognized as the main street, a path directly from the main gate to Obria Palace. There was a shout, then a trumpet. Immediately, we were surrounded by guards.

  We charged their ranks before they had time to close on us, focusing on those between us and the gate. My bloody dagger bit at my opponents. The poison's shock sent them reeling. Beside me, Shirah had a similar effect with her tainted weapons.

  A spearhead caught my arm. I wouldn't be captured again. My bleeding palm made contact with bare skin. Shirah grabbed my sleeve, pulling me through the temporary opening created.

  I ran faster than I believed I could. My lungs burned and my ribs were on fire, but with the troop of soldiers on our heels, I had no intention of stopping.

  "The gates are closed," I managed to wheeze through my aching chest.

  "We're not going there." She yanked me to the left so suddenly I nearly tripped. We were now almost to the wall. The street sloped steeply downward toward a rusted drainage grate. Snowmelt flowed over a layer of ice out of the city. "Trust me, and hope this works."

  She threw us into the ditch, sliding down. Her heels hit the grate first. The metal gave way, allowing us to slip over it and under the wall. We dropped into a freezing stream.

  Shirah was on her feet in an instant. However, the exertion and sudden impact made it hard to breath. I rolled to the side, gasping for air.

  "Can you run?" was her brisk inquiry.

  I couldn't speak. I shook my head. My ribs already screamed in agony.

  The woman reached down, hooking her shoulder under my arm and taking most of my weight as she lifted me up. "Well, you're going to have to."

  She supported me as we ran, away from the city and up into the forest.