Chapter 24: Abandoned
Five days. That’s how long my city has left.
Ravel thinks the barrier will hold that long, maybe a little longer, if Cadence keeps up the same pace. But she and Maryam aren’t the only ones we have to worry about. Ravel left his little flock of refugees in Nine Peaks to bring me a warning: the council has finally decided to treat our situation as the threat it is—by wiping out the city before the Mara can be unleashed on the world.
“Can they do that? What happened to ‘we’re not warriors’ and ‘we don’t have an army’? They won’t risk people on a rescue mission, but they’re fine with helping out when it comes to a m******e?” I’m not yelling—but only by the barest margin.
Fluffy shivers. Ash is leaning away, wincing. Ravel rubs his forehead.
“It’s bad timing as much a
