Black clouds billowed up from the elevated harbor. Gusts of rising wind cut the smoke and swirled it like a spill of ink in water. We stood at the mouth of the alley where Atar had first led me into the tunnels and out to the Valley of Rulers. She curled her hands into fists, and I felt the heat of her anger.
I wanted to make things right, to heal the wounds the truth had dealt.
“Katiz will be at the Guildhall,” she said, and stepped out into the city.
“Wait.” I caught her wrist. Her forearm went rigid at my touch. “Cinder would attack the Guildhall first. Where would Katiz go to hide?”
She pulled away from me. “There is a place in the tunnels,” she said, brushing past me on her way back into the alley.
We took a new route through the tunnels, one that led deeper into the city instea
