Free Stolen by Melissa de La Cruz Page A

MacArthur.
    She had flown upon the back of the drakon, but this simple step, this leap of faith, was an even greater hurdle. Faix had taught countless pupils like her, and each one had been able to accomplish this step.
    So what am I so afraid of?
    The air? The gap? Falling? Oblivion?
    She stared across the void, trying to sort out the chaos in her mind.
    No. She did not fear the air or the gap. The risk of falling from the sky, of sudden death, those possibilities were with her always. Those were familiar fears, almost comforting ones. At least, consistent.
    What is it, then?
    She stared across the void until she knew the answer.
    She feared Vallonis itself, feared that she was not worthy to join a world she had spent her whole life searching for. She was anxious about finally meeting the great Queen Nineveh. She was afraid of disappointing her.
    What if the city did not allow her admittance? What if she was left outside forever?
    What if her search had been meaningless, after all?
    Nat looked at the void, tried to will the ether into some shape—a bridge, or a wooden plank—but nothing happened. She tried again. And again. And again. Sweat glistened on her brow. Her legs felt heavy, her fingers tingled, then became numb, her eyes twitched. She tried again. Nothing happened. Long minutes passed. Faix reached out to her mind but she pushed him away, silenced him. She had to do this on her own.
    She had to clear her thoughts, to take control, but her head throbbed with resentment and confusion. With dark memories of her past, and an aching sadness at parting from Wes. With endless anxiety, even guilt, about her drakon.
    I am made of shadow and unsettled darkness.
    There is nothing so steady as a bridge inside of me.
    Nat looked across the gap at the warm light, the people, the city beyond, everything so close and yet so very far away. The beautiful queen she had never met, but only glimpsed in Faix’s memories and thoughts. She belonged in Apis, she only had to believe it to make it true, but she couldn’t.
    The fear was too great.

Chapter 10
    I N THE BACK SEAT OF THE WHITE limousine, Wes had changed into a cheap black suit with fake heat buttons; Shakes wore a similar getup. He tossed Shakes a pair of mirrored sunglasses like his own and peered anxiously at the narrow one-laned bridges as the gold domes loomed in the windshield. The pair of bridges extended from the mainland to the domes and back, like a pair of tendrils floating above the water. They were the only way into and out of the floating city of El Dorado.
    Shakes turned to him. “You all right, boss? You’re pale.”
    Wes grunted. “It’s cold. What do you want?”
    Shakes studied him. “Screw you ‘it’s cold.’ Like I don’t see your face every day you freeze your ass off back home. You paid the data hacks, right? Manifests are good? What, you think we might’ve been ripped off?”
    Wes could never keep anything from Shakes. His friend knew something was up. “Maybe,” he finally admitted.
Maybe we’ll get out of this alive, or maybe we won’t, because maybe we’re not on any manifest and maybe I haven’t paid anyone off.
    â€œMaybe, huh.” Shakes sighed, knowing that Wes’s “maybe” meant he hadn’t been able to bribe anyone and they were headed toward disaster. “And maybe you’re a bigger idiot than I thought.”
    â€œI find that hard to believe, after all this time.” Wes raised a finger to his lips. He didn’t want to have this conversation with Farouk, not yet. He glanced up front. “Slow it down, Farouk. Let’s not look too eager.”
    Farouk hit the brakes and the limo skidded to a stop.
    Wes grabbed the side of the car. “Easy, man, try not to look scared, either. Take it slow. Cool. You’ve done this a hundred times, right?”
    â€œYeah, yeah, no sweat,” Farouk said, picking up the speed, trying