In a reflex, I pulled my arm in front of my body, pressing the blade against my bodice. I cursed—I was too late. The guard repeated his order, but hearing the volume of his voice and estimating the distance, he didn't seem to have moved—yet. I didn't hear any footsteps, only the sound of a blade being pulled out of its sheathe. That was probably his sword. I supposed a gun would draw too much attention. At least we would have a fair fight. I didn't dare to reach for my gun strapped around my thigh—that would make the guards attack immediately.

There was no way that the guard could have recognised me, so I kept my face turned away. I cursed, locking eyes with Kael. He stood as helpless as I was, his eyes wide as twin moons. A plan formed in my head; not a good one, but better than just standing here with our mouths hanging open like fish on land. Positioning my body so the guard wouldn't see (hopefully), I stuck out my dagger to Kael. I urged him to grab it, mouthing the word: 'Fight.' Doing so, I felt a rush of heat coursing through my body, making me more alert. The air seemed to buzz around me, my fingers which held my dagger tingling with anticipation.

Kael threw a glance at the guard, before stealthily grabbing the blade and slipping it under his jacket. He nodded. While we had been able to swerve around a fight back at the office, a fight was now unavoidable. Kael knew it was, since I had no valid reason to have a blade on me—especially not a Black Iron blade.

I pulled my two razor-sharp hair pins out of my bodice, clutching them tight in my fist. I folded my arms in front of my body and flicked my wrists, positioning my arms so that I wouldn't cut myself—and once again so that the guard wouldn't see the shards sticking out from my arms.

Kael threw one glance on my two pins, raising an eyebrow in question. I saw a bead of sweat appear on his upper lip, which I wiped away with a swipe of my thumb. "Don't die," I whispered, giving him a small pat on his cheek. I grabbed the ruby around my neck, pressing it between my fingers. I couldn't use any hindrance of a dress right now. "One. Two—" On three I turned around, my dress completely transformed and the fragments sharp and ready to be thrown. In a single glance I had noted that there were in fact two Authorities instead of the single one I had anticipated. One against one, that sounded at least fair. In a heartbeat I had pulled out a shard and flung it in the direction of the most left Authority, where it whizzed just past his head and buried itself in the wall. I cursed. "Left," I grumbled, choosing my target and staring at my missed shot. There went my element of surprise. They were still at the end of the hallway, but they were picking up pace. They sounded much closer before—at least we had time to think right now.

"Right," Kael muttered next to me as well, shifting his gaze to the right, slightly heavier, Authority. I almost jerked my arm back when Kael reached for it, but he only pulled a shard out of the armour. Within a moment he had thrown the fragment as well, which did hit its target. The shard buried itself in the leg of the guard, who let out a groan in surprise. Another heartbeat later both of the Authorities stormed up to us, their swords raised until their chests. I let a violent curse slip, as I redid my footing. I jumped a few times on the balls of my feet, before setting in a sprint as well.

My heart pounded rapidly in my chest, my fingertips tingling with adrenaline. I reached the guard, and in one swift movement I let myself drop onto the floor, sliding the last part of the way on my back. Catching the guard by surprise, I jabbed one of the pins in his calf, where it stayed stuck piercing the hard muscle. The guard let out a grunt, his hand reaching for his leg while I scrambled back up again on my feet.

The guard made another sound of discomfort, his voice sounding robotic through the rebreathers in his helmet. The Authority pulled out the pin, dropping it on the floor. The sound of the metal clinking against the marble floor sounded louder than I had expected, and where the pin rolled away to the side of the hallway, it left a bright red trail of blood behind. With a violent move, the guard jerked off their helmet, revealing a face I hadn't hoped to have seen except in my nightmares.

Thorne.

You cannot be serious right now. The close-cropped hair and silvery scar brought me right back to camp, more than our previous encounter at the ball or the talk I had had with Balder. A grin formed on her full lips, as she cracked her neck and rolled her shoulders. "How odd, you were certainly the last person I had expected here," she said, her voice so cold it caused a shiver to run down my spine.

Thorne stormed up to me again, her sword clutched in her hand and her leg barely limping. Hadn't that hurt her at all? She swung her sword, but I saw it before it could hit me. I ducked, avoiding the otherwise deadly blow. I missed my dagger—then I could've parried it, at least. In my hasted move I had slipped and fallen onto the ground. With my fingers still clutching the pins I pushed myself up into a crouch, shaking the hair out of my face.

These pins were useless. I kicked Thorne against her shin, using that force to push myself away from her. Please don't recognise me, I hoped, recalling Vace and I running away from her during my first ball. I flicked back my left arm, causing the shards to fold back and create the impenetrable armour on my arm and shoulder. Grabbing a fragment from my other arm and clutching it in my fist, I quickly threw a glance in the direction of Kael, where he was fighting with the other Authority. They were rolling over the ground, Kael's face beaten and bloody—but still with my dagger in his hands. The other guard was bleeding from his side, bright red blood dripping onto the floor. Kael was now on top, and hit the guard against his head with the hilt of the dagger—hard. An oomph escaped the lips of the guard, whose head lolled over to the side.

I couldn't see what happened next, since I felt a rush of air and a grunt beside me. Instinctively, my left arm shot up, deflecting the blow of the sword for the most part. The impact of the swing shook my entire arm, reverberating through my bones and benumbing my muscles. My shoulder started to ache almost instantly, feeling like it had been ripped out of its socket. I held in a cry, but was glad at the same time that my arm hadn't been severed from my body. I heard a distant clink, before I realised that I had dropped the pin from my numb hand. I almost dared to grin when I saw that the impact had also flung Thorne's sword out of her hands—she hadn't expected to hit a solid surface. The narrow blade skittered over the floor, sliding over the marble and ending up far out of both our reaches.

"Finley!" Kael exclaimed, using my last name to conceal my identity. I whipped my head around, to see my dagger being tossed over to me. I clumsily grabbed it with my less dominant right hand, clutching it tight in my fist. Thank the gods. Tossing a glance over to Kael, I saw him hunched against a wall, breathing heavily. The other guard lay prostate on the ground, sprawled across the floor. He seemed to be unconscious—his corpulent belly still moved up and down from breathing.

My breathing wasn't the steadiest either, and I took a big gulp of air in an attempt to relieve my throbbing shoulder and aching sides. "Go," I managed, waving my arm to the other side of the corridor, "Get out of here before you get in trouble, sunshine." I threw a last glance at Kael, who seemed to want to protest. Thorne had found her footing again as well, paying no attention to her sword which lay useless on the floor.

"Not without you," he said, scrambling up with a wary look to the guard laying on the floor.

"I don't want to hear it! GO!" I yelled, when Thorne started walking back up to me. She would recognise Kael—she would know I was an Outsider too if she made the link between us. Kael had to get out of here right now. Luckily, Thorne didn't have any eye for him, nor the guard lying on the ground. Her dark eyes were solely focussed on me—but more like, my defences, my posture and my balance. She was looking at me like I was her prey, or a puzzle which could be solved in a single move: a deadly one. Analysing every move I made, trying to find my weakness. As I kept my eyes trained on her, I stuck out my finger to Kael. "Get. Out," I said, surprised by the coldness of my voice. Something in my voice must've hit him, changed his thoughts—because he didn't protest anymore after that.

I heard a shuffle and another muttered complaint before I finally heard Kael sprint away. He knew I could handle myself.

"What are you doing here?" Thorne asked, cocking her head as she circled around me. She levelled her head again; "And how are you acquainted with the heir of the Fairlands Residence?"

"That's none of your business," I said, not daring to reveal too much information.

"Diyawood, was it not?" she continued, ignoring what I just said, circling around me. I could see she was trying to distract me, and she was doing a good job at it. She was smart—I could see it in her eyes.

"Yes."

Thorne huffed. "Interesting. I heard Head Lady Diyawood had only bore sons."

There went my cover. Vace had assured me only a few people knew of this fact, and if they did, they would probably live in the Wastelands as well. Something must've showed in my eyes, because before I could even blink Thorne was on top of me.

Suddenly, the wind was knocked out of me, sending me flying backwards. I crashed against the wall, my head banging against the solid surface. Pain shot through my skull, and I could feel a wet substance trickle down the nape of my neck. Through my dizziness I could see Thorne lowering her leg from the kick, straightening her jacket. I struggled to breathe, my lungs feeling like they had collapsed. Thorne's boot had hit me right in my stomach—the bodice hadn't protected me as much as I had wanted. If anything, it might've just worsened the blow by spreading it over my entire chest. My right side ached when I tried to breathe, every movement I made feeling like it stood on fire. One of my ribs was definitely broken. Biting through the pain, I took a deep gulp of air, cool air filling my lungs and conjuring up a wave of pain at the same time. My vision cleared for a moment, my arms and chest throbbing as I leaned against the wall, looking for support.

Panting, I saw Thorne walk up to me. Everything seemed to go in slow-motion. I was grabbed by my throat, my breath being cut off. She started to squeeze. In no time, my lungs started to burn, my vision slowly starting to blur. I vaguely saw that Thorne was talking to me, but I couldn't hear anything. Blood buzzed in my ears, my heartbeat pounding behind my eyes. I was going to die.

I'm dying.

I always thought your life would flash by, memories carrying you away and coaxing you into the afterworld. But it was nothing like that. It was dark, suffocating, and red. Red clouded my vision, red smeared my hands and red-hot pain kept shooting through me like flaming daggers. Spots drifted through my vision, before disappearing entirely. The world around me shifted to black, my lungs burning and my head throbbing with every movement. Gasping for breath, a strange thought flashed by. Why is it taking so long?

And all of a sudden, the pressure was gone.

Cool air was sucked into my lungs, my knees banging against the hard marble when I was suddenly let go. In, out. In, out. Breathe. It was all that mattered right now. Such a trivial thing, and yet it felt like nothing better. My breath rasped and heavy, I lay there, wheezing on the cold marble floor. I coughed violently, my entire body convulsing in pain, and spat out bile that had risen out of my throat. I didn't know how long I lay there, and I didn't care. All I could think about, was breathing.

In, out.

In, out.

That was all that mattered.