And I find myself doing exactly as he says.

6

RED

From our vantage point on the cliff over looking the city walls, the train yard is already active in the early hours before dawn. Adena looks on with me, while beside her, Jeran finishes sheathing his blades. Tomm and Pira are checking their weapons too.

“They’re already in position,” Pira mutters. “Earlier than we thought.”

“If the Premier himself is going to be on that train, then we haven’t even seen how crowded it’s going to get,” I reply. “Talin may already be out there, overseeing the train’s inspection.”

“Any Ghosts out?” Jeran asks.

Adena shakes her head. “Not yet. I’ll be surprised if they don’t make an appearance though.”

“We’ll wait for your move,” Tomm says.

Adena looks at me. “You sure you can act alone?”

“Yes,” I reply. “As long as the rest of you can handle the station and the train cars.” If Talin really is going to be near the train, then it’s better she run into me than anyone else.

Adena does not look convinced, but we have little choice, so she just nods and hands me a small object covered in makeshift plates of joined steel, an armored explosive she had made out of the scrap metal we had salvaged. “This isn’t exactly a perfect product,” she tells me, turning it gingerly in her hands. “But it should work. See here?” She touches a small length of rope at one end. “It’s linked to an interior of gunpowder. If you pull the string, it lights a flint inside that will give you a brief flame. It’s quick. Release it right away and toss it. It’ll explode on contact.”

I nod. “Pull and release immediately. I can handle it.”

“Make sure it doesn’t get wet.” Adena takes a deep breath. “It won’t work if it does, and I’ve only been able to make a handful of these. And don’t blow it up in your face. You may be a Skyhunter, but as far as I can tell, you’re not immortal.”

It is my turn to give her a wry smile. “Close enough.” I rise and stretch my wings slightly. The pain lances through me again, but noticeably duller.

Adena just rolls her eyes as she hops to her feet and rests her hands on her blade hilts. “No reason to keep waiting around, then. Let’s go.”

Below my bold façade, my fears are a living, slithering thing in my bones. The sky is clear, everything in place, and we have a plan. But it doesn’t matter. The other voice shifts in my mind, stirring awake.

Somehow, you can still feel at your core that it’s all about to go horribly wrong.

Talin will be down at the train yard today with the Premier. I shake my head, trying not to let thoughts of her take over my mind. There had even been an instant last night when I thought I had sensed her watching my back, looking at me from some faraway place. But I can’t be sure. When you’ve been an experiment most of your life, it always feels like someone’s watching you.