4 months later

"We're really doing this?" I asked apprehensively. It was too soon—too soon to risk everything for such a small chance of success. Despite the cold night air, I was breaking into a cold sweat.

"Now isn’t the time to hesitate,” Owen replied. "What other choice do we have? Don’t you want to leave Historical Amberasta? Besides, we’re not even going inside. We’re just here to observe.”

He wiped his hands on his pants. For a moment, I watched him rock back and forth on his heels. He’s nervous. “Yes, you’re right,” I finally said. “It will be okay. I trust Peter.”

I turned to face the Fortress. In the dark, it appeared just as large as the mountain peaks in the distance, with its tallest spires reaching up into the billowing clouds. Beneath it, the lights of the city flickered like fireflies. It seemed far, far away. Impenetrable.

I shivered.

Ahead, Owen and Katrina had started to climb the hill. Katrina slipped her hand into Owen’s and whispered something into his ear. Another secret. My chest tightened, and I ran after them.

Tonight, everything will be decided, I thought. I remembered our first meeting, when Peter had shared his plan. “There will be three teams,” he’d said. “Daichi’s team will create a diversion, Quinn’s team will keep lookout, and my team… will break into the Fortress.” Even now, his words filled me with the same sense of disbelief. After the mission, his team would have no chance of living normally in Historical Amberasta. If they were caught, they would be tortured and publicly executed.

When Peter had announced his plan, the room had gone deathly silent, but he hadn’t hesitated. “When we succeed,” he had continued, “we’ll show everyone that Keon’s power is not absolute. My informant has told me about papers, classified papers, that speak of Keon’s wrongdoings. We will expose his villainy, and our cause is sure to gain traction. We will steal from his horde, and our families will live comfortably! Above all, we will challenge the man that has made our country a living hell!”

At the time, his eloquence and confidence had convinced us all. Now, I just had to hope that his words weren’t empty.

I stopped next to Owen and Katrina and looked down. The moon emerged from behind a cloud, lighting up the neighborhood. The only noise was a clothesline snapping in the wind. It was all eerily familiar: the pothole where I’d fallen and broken my ankle, the dead apple tree, and the boards the neighbor used to repair his roof. I could make out my house far below. Inside, my parents must be sleeping, blissfully unaware of my involvement in the most ambitious revolutionary plot of the decade. I clenched my jaw. What would they think of me?

“Come on, Glace,” Owen urged, holding open the cemetery gate. I took a shaky breath and followed him inside. It was barren except for the gnarled trees and gravestones, with a clear view of the forest, the road, and the government buildings that lie beyond. To our right, a service road wound up the hill and disappeared into the trees. Above it, a flickering sign was mounted on two wooden poles. RESTRICTED AREA. NO ACCESS.

The wind whistled around our feet, stirring up dead leaves and dust. The stone slabs covering the graves had cracked into jagged pieces, leaving deep slivers of darkness that hinted at something eerie beneath. It was a quiet night, without mourners or gravediggers. Unconsciously, I drew closer to my friends.

The hinges on the gate wailed as other Resistance members arrived. Quinn, the leader of our group, gestured for us to gather around. In total, there were five members on her team. “We have the easiest job tonight,” she said. “We must watch for police officers, guards, and anyone else who looks suspicious. If you see anything, report back to me immediately, and I will inform Peter. Remember, a timely warning could prevent their capture.”

There were nods all around. “In a few minutes,” she added, “Peter’s team will arrive. Don’t be alarmed if you see them, but don’t approach. They must be very quick and silent for this to work. Now, I will give you your positions.”

Quinn stationed Katrina and I to the west and Owen to the north. From our post, we had a partial view of the road and the forest below. Using the cracks as handholds, I hoisted myself on top of a marble grave marker and looked over the graveyard. Near the crux of a hill, I could make out a group of people dressed in black. My stomach dropped before I realized it was Peter’s team using the graveyard as a rendezvous point. Other than them, the graveyard was clear for miles around.

Katrina climbed up next to me. “Do you see them?”

I pointed to the group. We watched as they began to move forward, using the shadows of the headstones to conceal themselves. Other than the occasional snapping of a twig, they were completely silent. I was transfixed by the way they moved, low and fast over the land, like some unnatural creature. After a couple hundred yards, they crouched and waited for some unknown signal.

Katrina’s breathing was heavy next to me. I glanced at her, but she was focused on some point in the distance. She must be nervous for Peter’s team, I thought. I clapped her shoulder in a gesture of encouragement, and she gave me a weak smile in return.

A hint of light bathed the right side of the graveyard. Down below, I heard the rumble of a car. I laid low over the stone and peered over the edge. A white van with the Blood Dove insignia was winding up the service road. As it passed, the raiding party separated from the shelter of the gravestones and began its descent down the hill. That car was the signal they were waiting for, I realized. They’re following it into the restricted area.

When the first members reached the mouth of the forest, they melted into the shadows of the trees until they were indistinguishable from the landscape. “Good luck,” I whispered.

“Come on!” someone called in the distance. It was Owen’s voice, and something about his words made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Katrina jumped from the gravemarker and began to run. I slid down, blocking her path and grabbing her wrist.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, her eyes filling with guilty tears. She wrenched her hand from my grip and ran toward Owen. He was waiting atop the hill, and he turned and ran as Katrina drew closer.

My whole body lit up with red-hot panic. “Owen!” I yelled after him. “Stop!”

It was useless. They had gone to join the raiding party.