Time for us to go too. I pinch Jeran slightly, forcing him to yelp and stand up again. He blinks, feigning disorientation, as I guide him away from the gate.

“I—I’m sorry,” I keep stammering over my shoulder at the guard as she guides us to the other side of the street from the wall. “Thank you. I’m sorry.”

Then we turn and walk back into the shadows. As the guard returns to her post behind us and the others settle back into the boredom of their routines, Jeran and I cut down an intersection and make our way toward the footbridge area. We emerge onto the quiet street across from the wall there, near where Adena and Aramin had gone in.

I glare accusingly at Jeran. “You can make yourself surprisingly heavy, you know,” I tell him.

He gives me an innocent look. “I wanted to make sure you seemed like you were really struggling.”

I roll my eyes at him, then turn to look toward the wall. “Now we wait?” I whisper.

“Now we wait,” Jeran confirms.

The night air cuts through my clothes, and I shiver. If they find her, they will find a way to sign to us. And then what? Even if we find her, how do we get her safely out?

Either way, the answer changes nothing for us.

I’ll find a way to rescue Talin’s mother, or die trying.

31

RED

It’s close to midnight when we finally get a message from Adena and Aramin.

Jeran sees them first. He rises slightly from our cramped crouch under the deep shadows cast by the footbridge against the adjacent buildings. Then he nudges me and gestures toward the trees nearest the prison wall that are swaying in the night breeze. The silhouette of their branches slices the sky behind them into slivers.

At first, I have no idea what I’m looking at. My vision is keener than Jeran’s, sure, but I don’t know the many subtle signs he and his Shield have developed over their years together on the warfront. But when Jeran circles a small space before us, I finally see what he does.

One of the branches of the tree isn’t moving in the breeze like the rest. It’s still, as if being held back by hands, lit from behind by the moon.

“They’re here,” Jeran whispers. He looks on as the moonlight glitters between the branches.

Now I start to see more too. Against the bright moon is a second, flickering light between the trees, so faint it’s nearly overwhelmed by moonlight. It’s Adena, flashing Danna’s dagger in a distinct pattern.

I tap my fingers against my leg restlessly as Jeran waits for her entire message. In the glow of the night, everything about his expression looks wound tight, and for an instant, I think we’ve failed. We’ve followed the wrong clues and ended up at the wrong place.

Then Jeran lets out a slow breath and looks at me. He nods once. “They’ve found her,” he whispers.