Chapter 19

The streets of Edinburgh sped by in a mad blur and Lily had no idea if she was being pursued. She didn't dare look around to check. She ran as fast as she could, her heart racing, her breath ragged and shallow. Every shadow seemed to hide an enemy, every turn a trap. She scrambled over piles of refuse, barely managed to avoid colliding with startled locals, and didn't stop until she'd run far, far from where she'd started.

Finally, she fetched up, leaning over with hands on her knees as she struggled to catch her breath. A worried look around revealed nobody paying her any attention and she dared to hope that she'd lost any pursuers. Still, she wasn't about to stick around to test that theory.

She turned slowly, trying to get her bearings. She had no idea where she was. How did she get to the guild house from here?

Uphill,she told herself. Just go uphill.

She turned and set off at a brisk walk, casting nervous glances behind her. The narrow streets of Edinburgh seemed to stretch on forever but finally she began to recognize parts of it that she'd passed through with Oskar when they'd first arrived. She spotted the castle on the skyline perched on its outcrop and knew the guild house must be close.

She quickened her pace, almost jogging now, and finally turned a corner into the street that housed the guild house. There, she skidded to a halt.

The door to the guild house gaped open and a large crowd was standing in a semi-circle around it, watching as people were marched out of the buildings with their hands tied.

"What's going on?" Lily asked a large-boned woman standing nearby.

"A raid," the woman replied. "The Order of the Osprey are all being arrested."

Lily went cold. "Why? What did they do?"

The woman shrugged. "A gaolbreak by all accounts. Freed a traitor. Someone by the name of Brewer."

Lily reeled, suddenly dizzy. Brewer? Alfred Brewer? What?

"Are ye well, lass?" the woman asked. "Ye look a wee bit peaky."

Lily sucked in deep breaths, fighting the sudden waves of dizziness that threatened to send her to her knees. "Have they got them all?" she asked in a strangled voice.

"Most of them, by all accounts," the woman replied. "But the guards have put out a warrant for one that got away. Oskar Galbraith. The ringer leader, apparently. They've offered a decent reward as well. They must want him pretty badly. That Brewer fellow got away as well."

Nausea suddenly roiled in Lily's stomach. She stumbled backward. Oskar, a traitor? No way. What was going on? She had no idea but she clung to one thought: Oskar hadn't been captured. He was still free. That meant she had to find him.

She turned on her heel and hurried away. Now that she noticed, there seemed to be more guards around than usual and they were busy knocking on the doors of the houses near the guild house.

What had happened? What had Eberwyn done?

She stumbled through the streets in a daze and only slowed as she approached Oskar's townhouse. The door was open here too and she could see people moving around inside. Dread pooled in her stomach. She was too late. The guards had gotten here ahead of her. She crept as close as she dared, trying to look nonchalant whilst straining her ears to catch any conversation coming through the open door.

"Anything?" she heard someone shout from downstairs.

"Nah, he isnae here," came the yelled answer from above. "Must have gotten wind we were coming and fled."

Lily backed cautiously into an alley. Think, Lily, she told herself. Think. They haven't caught Oskar yet so where would he go?

Then she had it.

Keeping close to the shadows at the base of the buildings, Lily hurried away from the townhouse and back downhill, towards the more run-down end of town.

The last time she had been down this way she'd been attacked by Bryn's men. It looked no safer the second time around. A slow fury was beginning to simmer in her belly. She was sick of people thinking they could get what they wanted through violence and pain. Well, she was a master at pain and it had no power over her anymore. She would find Oskar, she would figure out where he'd gone and woe betide anyone who got in her way.

She realized she was clenching her fists and scowling but she didn't try to modify her expression. It matched her mood perfectly.

As Lily neared the edge of a grimy, crumbling neighborhood, she finally found what she was searching for. The burned-out remains of a building reared up in front of her, its blackened timbers reaching into the sky like skeletal fingers.

Oskar's childhood home.

She stopped and stared at it, taking in the sight of the charred walls and broken windows. She approached the blackened ruin, her eyes scanning the wreckage for any sign of life. If Oskar was here, there was no sign of him from the outside. The crumbling building looked desolate and empty.

Cautiously, she stepped through the debris and ducked under the skewed lintel. The air inside the house was thick with soot and dust, and pigeons had taken up residence in the rafters of the burned-out roof.

"Oskar!" she cried, her voice echoing through the emptiness. "Are you here?"

There was no answer.

Lily carefully made her way through the debris and listened for any sign of life as she moved deeper into the house, stepping carefully around the tangled mess of wood and stone. The remnants of Oskar's past stared back at her, a poignant reminder of what he'd lost.

"Lily?"

She turned and suddenly, there he was. He stood in the doorway behind her, leaning unsteadily against the frame. He looked dirty and battered, but uninjured as far as she could tell.

Her heart soared at the sight of him. How long had it been since she'd seen him last? It felt like a lifetime.

She wanted to run to him, throw her arms around him and lose herself in the feel of him, but something about his stance stopped her.

He seemed wary, like an animal that would bolt if she came too close.

"Oskar," she whispered, taking a cautious step towards him. "Are you all right?"

"Lily?" Oskar repeated, his voice hoarse and raspy. "Is this real or am I dreaming?"

"It's real," Lily replied. "I found you."

Oskar stared at her a moment as if he couldn't trust the evidence of his own eyes. His gaze was haunted, full of pain.

"How did ye get free?"

"That's a long story."

"Ye should go, Lily. It isnae safe for ye here. Ye need to get away from me."

Ignoring Oskar's plea, Lily stepped forward and reached out to him, her fingers brushing against his soot-stained cheek. "I'm not going anywhere without you."

He reached up and removed her hand. His chest was heaving with emotion and she could see the turmoil in his eyes as he stared down at her.

"Dear God, Lily," he said. "Ye dinna know how much I've dreamed of this. Of how much I've missed ye." His expression hardened. "But ye canna be near me. It isnae safe. The things I've done, the people that are after me—"

"You mean the stories about how you've turned traitor? The stories about how you broke Alfred Brewer out of gaol? I don't believe a word of them."

"Then ye should!" he snapped, pulling away from her. "Because they are true! All of them! I led my old gang into the gaol and freed one of the Disinherited. I broke my oath to the Order of the Osprey. I betrayed everything I've ever believed in! And now they are coming for me. It willnae be long before they arrive. Ye need to leave."

Lily stood her ground, her resolve unwavering despite Oskar's hostility. She could see the conflict in his eyes, the battle between the man she knew and the ghost of the one he thought he was.

"I can't begin to understand what's going on or what's happened with Alfred and the Order, but I know that Eberwyn is at the center of it. The things you're accused of are not who you are. They're just the actions of a man who had no choice."

His eyes searched hers. "Ye dinna understand the depths of what I've done. I've destroyed the Order of the Osprey."

"What do you mean?"

"It was all a trap," he said. "Right from the beginning. Eberwyn had me steal a seal from Kai and he used it to forge orders, make it look like my rescue of Alfred Brewer had been sanctioned by the Order itself. If Kai and Conall are convicted, it will bring down the whole of the Order. Because of me."

"Because of Eberwyn!" Lily snapped. "He used you, Oskar. He manipulated you. He's the one responsible for all of this, not you!"

"No, Lily. I had a choice and I chose to—"

"Fine!" she cried, throwing up her hands. "So what are you going to do about it?"

"I dinna understand what ye—"

"If you're so determined to take responsibility for someone else's actions, what are you going to do about it? Are you going to hide here, wallowing in self-pity or are you going to fix it?"

"Self-pity?" he growled, sounding a little more like his old self. "This isnae self-pity—"

"That's exactly what it is!" She was furious with him now. "So what's it to be? Are you giving up? Or are you going to get off your arse and put things right?"

Oskar's eyes locked onto her and she saw something glinting within them. "Ye never let me off the hook, do ye?"

"Nope. And I never intend to."

He smiled wryly, shaking his head. "Ye are right, Lily. This is how the Disinherited win. They bring out the worst in us. They play on our fears, our hatreds, make us believe the lies they tell. Well, they're not going to win this time. I'm going to find a way to fix it."

Lily nodded. This was the Oskar she knew, the man who always did the right thing, even when it was the hardest choice.

"Good. Although you're wrong about one thing. We are going to fix this. We are going to find Eberwyn and make him pay."

"No, Lily," he said, shaking his head. "It's too—"

"Don't you dare tell me it's too dangerous!" she snapped. "Over these last few days I've been threatened, attacked and imprisoned. How could it be any more dangerous than that? Don't you think I want to make them pay too?"

Oskar stared at her for the longest moment. She saw something shifting in his eyes, the shadow abating a little. "Ah, Lily," he breathed. "My Lily. Ye are a lioness, ye know that? I dinna deserve ye. Yer courage humbles me."

"Courage?" she said with that self-deprecating smile he loved so much. "Actually, I'm scared witless but I won't tell anyone if you don't."

A soft laugh escaped Oskar. "Agreed. As long as ye dinna tell anyone I'm scared witless too."

And just like that, Lily felt the tension between them evaporate. Oskar reached out and tentatively brushed the tips of his fingers down her cheek.

"Dear God, I've missed ye, Lily."

"I've missed you too," she said as the worry of the last few days caught up with her. "And I could really do with a hug."

He stepped forward, his strong arms enveloping her and pulling her close. She clung to him, crushing her cheek against his hard chest. Everything seemed better now she was with him.

"I'll never let anyone hurt ye, Lily," he murmured, kissing the top of her head. "Never."

She didn't know how long they stood there like that in the ruins of Oskar's old home, but finally Lily stepped back. She ran a shaky hand through her hair.

"Okay," she said, taking a breath. "What's the plan?"

"Two-fold," Oskar replied. "First, we need to free Magnus and Emeric and then we need to find a way to prove the Order's innocence. Do ye think ye could find their hideout again? They blindfolded me when they led me out so I dinna know where it is."

Lily nodded. "I think so. I wasn't taking too much notice of my surroundings when I ran, but if you can get me in the general vicinity, I think I could find it."

"Good. Then we'll creep up on the hideout and storm it."

"What? Just the two of us?" Lily asked incredulously.

"No," Oskar replied. "We are going to need help and I think I know where we might be able to get it."