“Count to ten.” Without looking at her, Jacin turned and walked away.
Everything in her screamed to shove that door open and race down the pathway to find Winter, but she refrained. Her fingers twitched. He had given her a weapon and an escape. She didn’t know what was going on, but something told her that not reacting for ten measly seconds wasn’t going to kill her.
On the count of four, she shoved the small cylinder into her hoodie’s pocket. On five, she tucked the knife into the back of her torn and disgusting jeans. On six, she neared the bars again and pressed her face against them. On seven, she screamed, “Winter! Are you—”
On eight, the lights went out, plunging her into blackness.
Scarlet froze. That jerk. Was this supposed to make it easier? Was this supposed to be helpful? Was this—
Oh. The cameras.
Huffing, Scarlet checked that the knife was secure and pushed open the cage door. She scrambled through it and used the bars to pull herself to her feet. Her legs wobbled from lack of use. She steadied herself and stepped out onto the moss.
First, see if the princess was dead.
Second, find out where the h.e.l.l Port E was.
“Winter?” she hissed, shuffling across the path. The enclosure wall seemed farther than she remembered, her own muddled senses playing tricks on her. Finally her hand found the railing and she used it to guide her way down the path. “Ryu?”
The wolf didn’t answer. Another oddity.
Above the artificial jungle canopy and the gla.s.s wall, stars could be seen twinkling in abundance, and Scarlet’s eyes adjusted to the dim light they provided. As she rounded a corner, she could make out only the shadows of tree boughs overhead and her own hand in front of her face.
She squinted. There was something white in the pathway, which could have been any number of albino animals that had their run of the place, but Scarlet’s instincts told her exactly what it was. Who it was.
“Winter!” She jogged the rest of the way, her hand skimming the rail. The princess’s shape took form, slumped across the bars. Something dark pooled beneath her. “Oh, no—oh, no—Princess!” She collapsed to her knees, tilting Winter back and feeling around her throat.
“The walls are bleeding.”
The faint, near-delirious words sent a wave of relief over Scarlet. Winter’s heartbeat was strong when she found it. “Where are you hurt?”
“The blood … everywhere … so much blood.”
“Winter. I need you to talk to me. Where did he hurt you?” She ran her hands over the princess’s arms, shoulders, throat, but the blood was all beneath her. Her back then?
“He killed Ryu.”
Scarlet froze.
The princess sobbed and fell forward, pressing her forehead into the crook of Scarlet’s neck. “He was trying to protect me.”
Scarlet didn’t know if she meant the wolf or the guard. “You’re all right,” she said, more confirmation for herself. She glanced around. The menagerie disappeared in blackness, but she could hear the gurgle of a waterfall, the prowling of small paws, the leaves of a tree shaking as some creature scurried through it. She caught sight of the bundle of white fur behind Winter and her heart twinged, but she quickly smothered the feeling.
Like with her grandmother, there would be time to mourn later. Right now, she was getting them out of here.
Her brain clicked into overdrive.
Guards were always posted at the menagerie doors, and they would no doubt become suspicious when Princess Winter didn’t return. Unless Jacin had something up his sleeve for them, but either way, Scarlet wasn’t about to traipse out into the middle of the queen’s palace.
She looked past Ryu. On the far wall she could make out the vague outline of the door that led into the gamekeepers’ hallways, corridors used to feed the animals and maintain their cages. Jacin had suggested this route, and much as he got under her skin, she had no reason to question him.
“Come on.” She hauled Winter to her feet.
The princess peered down at her hands and started to shake. “The blood…”
“Yes, yes, the walls are bleeding, I get it. Look. Over there. Focus.” Scarlet grabbed Winter’s elbow and spun her around. “See that door? That’s where we’re heading. Here, I’ll give you a boost.” She knitted her fingers together, but Winter didn’t move. “Winter. I am giving you five seconds to get your act together and decide to help me out, or else I am leaving you behind with your dead wolf and your bleeding walls. Got it?”
Winter’s lips were parted and her expression dazed, but after three seconds she nodded. Or, her head dipped and Scarlet thought her eyelashes may have fluttered a little, which she was going to count.
“Good. Now step into my hands and get over that rail.”
The princess did as she was told. The act was clumsy, which was at odds with every movement Scarlet had ever seen her make. As Winter collapsed into the wolf’s enclosure, the reality of the situation crashed down around Scarlet.
That guard had given them a chance to escape. They were making a run for it.
Adrenaline rushed through her veins. Scarlet checked the knife one more time, then grasped the rail and hauled herself over.
She landed with a grunt and sprang back up, running for the door. It swung open, and to her relief, no alarms sounded. She glanced back to see the princess stooped over Ryu’s body, but before Scarlet could yell for her, the princess lifted her chin, swiped her bloodied palms on her skirt, and followed.