There, perfectly positioned over Oran’s heart, was the hilt of her blade. Around it, blood blossomed like a tiny red flower. Caledonia gritted her teeth, hoping the anger in her expression would be interpreted as disgust at the traitor and not herself.

She felt a hand grip her wrist and tug, and she let Pine pull her back into the crowd as Sister’s voice asked sweetly, “Next?”

Chapter Twenty

CHAPTER TWENTY

By the time they left the square, Caledonia was certain that she would not leave Slipmark unscathed.

It wasn’t enough that she’d had to participate in Sister’s cruel theatrics, but she’d been forced to stay there and watch until the last dagger was thrown. In the end, Oran was so thoroughly sliced that he was more blood than boy. Still, his eyes were open, his chin high, and the entire show had done little to dim the crowd’s fear of him, but Caledonia recalled Sister’s words, Tonight is only the beginning, and knew there was more to come.

If this was what they did to their leaders, she couldn’t imagine what was happening to her sisters. Somewhere in this city, they were trapped and suffering and Caledonia couldn’t do a single thing about it. She had been in Slipmark for nearly twelve hours, and she hadn’t had a chance to determine which prison held them. After tonight, the thought of freeing them, or getting anyone out of here, was beginning to feel laughably foolish.

She was so consumed by her own failures that she didn’t realize Sledge was angry until they reached Barrack D. He barged through the doors ahead of her and stalked to the center of the room in silence, where he stopped and waited for her.

“What was that about?” he demanded, voice laced with a venom that took Caledonia by surprise.

“What do you mean?”

“What do I mean?!” Though it was dark, she could see the flush in his cheeks. He wasn’t just angry, he was furious.

There was a scatter of disbelieving laughter. Caledonia turned to see that the rest of the Blades had filled in behind her, their scowls and rigid postures loud echoes of Sledge’s anger. All of it directed at her.

“We need to know, Caledonia,” Triple said, stepping forward. The betrayal on her face was softer, but no less cutting.

“Know what?” she demanded, looking from Triple to Pine, who alone among all the Blades looked unsurprised by what was unfolding here.

Before she could turn back to Sledge, he was at her side. He gripped her arm and with a sound that was very like a growl, he directed their steps toward the far corner of the room. The second they stopped moving, Caledonia ripped her arm away and squared her shoulders.

“Sledge, if you don’t—”