By the time the city gates came into view, the moons were high in the sky, coating everything in a bright silver that reminded Ana of Jax’s hair. A Solgard stood guard out front, apparently stationed there to look out for them if they decided to come back to the city. He spotted Ana before she could duck into the bushes with Elara, and she quickly held up her hands.

“I’m not armed,” she told him as he pointed his sharp spear at her. The end glowed a hot white—a lightblade.

“You’re that girl—the Empress we’re looking for.”

“If I said no, would you believe me?” When the guard narrowed his eyes, she sighed. “Could you just let me into the city? I won’t make any trouble.”

“The Elder Court said to arrest you on sight.” He reached for his comm-link on the collar of his uniform. If he called to the rest of the guard, she doubted she’d be able to get into the city at all.

“Wait—”

A glowing boomerang arced into the air, narrowly missing his face. He stumbled back, eyes wide, and spun around to try to find the weapon. It arced into the air behind him and came back around with a fierce twist, slamming into the side of his head.

He fell to the ground like a rock.

Elara climbed out of the bushes behind Ana and took up her boomerang again, placing it on her waist, and then she rummaged through his pockets for some spare coppers and the keys to the gate.

“Don’t steal,” Ana hissed.

“That’s ironic coming from an outlaw,” replied the hacker, sliding the coppers into her pocket. The guard groaned. He’d have a good bruise on his head when he woke up with empty pockets. She tossed the gate key up into the air and caught it. “Okay, so if the heart’s in those ruins, then we have to get your captain out of prison and go find it—c’mon, help me pull him into the bushes.”

They each took an arm and dragged him a few feet into a shrub.

“I have to go find it,” Ana corrected, wiping her sweaty forehead with the back of her hand. “Alone.”

Elara gave a start. “What? Princess, that’s suicide.”

“We’re the only ones who know where the heart is—you, me, and Robb. I need to go now and get it before the Great Dark finds out the location. There can’t be many other shrines left before it gets to those ruins. And we don’t know how long it’s going to take to get the captain and everyone out of prison, or whether Jax even wants to leave.”

Elara hesitated.

“Trust me,” she added to try to win her over, but when she realized that Elara wasn’t going to come around she added, “You can’t stop me.”

“Ak’va,” Elara groaned, rubbing her face with her hands. “Okay, but—help me get this uniform off him.”

“Are you going to steal that, too? I don’t think you’ll be able to sell that without—”