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move.”
    I shook my head, still in disbelief. “You do realize, out of all the people I imagined you’d turn into, I would be the last. You know, being the prisoner and all.”
    She ignored me, turning to face the door as she pulled something out from under her shirt. It didn’t take me long to see it resembled a grenade. Wires with different colored liquids wrapped around it, held together by what looked like a piece of clockwork. “That’s the point, idiot,” she hissed. She looked over her shoulder, meeting my shocked stare. “Get against that wall, take cover.”
    I backed into the wall, dropped to the floor and pressed my palms tight over my ears. Ursula twisted the the clockwork, counted to three and tossed the grenade through the small window on the door, running for me. She had just reached my feet when the explosion rocked the hall. Chunks of destroyed concrete and torn metal flung around the room, dust spiraling like a inside-born storm from the bowels of the Dust Bowl.
    Ursula wasted no time, rising to her feet and making for the gap in the wall the explosion had created. “I’m sorry for what I did to-” She paused, turning back for a split second. In that last look, I read more in her stare than I ever had. It spoke of fear, the kind that submerged you under ice water and told you to breathe. The words that tumbled off her lips seemed choked as she grabbed at the fabric near the base of her throat. “Tell Ari we’re even.”
     

 
    CHAPTER TWO
    BODY CRUMBLING
     
     
    For what felt like forever, I stared at the gaping hole in my cell wall.
    Like the beginning of a dramatic melody, my heartbeat picked up speed, turning from the soft pitter-patter to helicopter blades smashing against my ribcage. Sounds of explosions and screams, distant but strong, floated through the air in the mess of dust that lingered. Screams, both male and female, filled the silence between explosions, a mystical symphony of death and ferocious fight.
    What did she mean, that her and Ari were even? How could she possibly know Ari, given her stance with the Queen? My head swirled, adrenaline rushing hard enough to make me lightheaded. Back pressed against a wall, I slid down, hugging my knees to my chest in a weak, minimal attempt to find comfort in this freaking mess.
    Another explosion, this one much farther, gently upset the mess of rubble scattered to the floor. I wondered just how many grenades Ursula had stashed in her outfit. More importantly, I wondered if the Queen would kill her when she found out who she really was.
    Something smacked against the outside of my cell, scraping rock making me flinch. For a moment, I figured it was probably a dead bird, until I heard the beeping. Fear and fire coiled in my stomach, flames instinctively sparking on my skin. I was a lighter, primed for igniting.
    The left wall of the cell shattered, rubble flinging in every direction. Dust exploded into the room and clouded my view, but that didn't stop me from calling fire to my fingers, lighting up the room in a beaten blue hue.
    "Easy Essallie," came a soft, gentle voice. A hand flung out from the cloud of dust, grabbing my wrist with strong, calloused fingers. Through the dust came the glimmer of something white, burning and pure.
    I paused, the intensity of my fire dimming to a low glow. I knew those hands, remembered them well. It seemed forever ago those hands had guided me across an open floor, dancing while I lingered under the guise of Lilix.
    "Ari," my voice broke, and I coughed. Speaking was like scraping an open wound against sandpaper, and adding vinegar for extra effect. "How did you find me?"
    He stared at me. "You're kidding, right? This place doesn't exactly need directions."
    Swallowing, I tried to make my voice less like the remnants of a rocky road. "You can't stay here, go before they grab you, too!"
    "New living quarters, eh?" He ignored my plea, giving one of the rocks strewn across the ground a good kick. "Funny,