The White Rose by Amy Ewing Read Free Book Online Page B

sweater for a collared shirt and tweed jacket, with a matching short-brimmed hat. It doesn’t quite hide the welt on his cheek, but at least his eye isn’t as swollen. A dark bruise has blossomed beneath it, purplish black.
    “Take these,” Garnet says, handing him a stack of newspapers. Ash hoists the stack onto his shoulder, and the papers hide his face. He could be any other newsboy.
    “We can’t move together. I volunteered to help search the Bank for him”—Garnet jerks his head in Ash’s direction—“so I could come and meet you. My mother practically died of shock.”
    “Do they know how I escaped?” Ash asks.
    “Whatever Carnelian gave those guards, it completely wiped their memories. They don’t even remember locking you in the cell.” Garnet smirks. “You know, she’s actually pretty clever. If her blood was pure, she’d make one very impressive Duchess of the Lake.”
    “Great,” I say, eager to get off the topic of Carnelian and onto the more pressing matter at hand. “But where are we going ?”
    “To a place not far from here. I only have an address, I don’t know who’s meeting you or what’s happening after.”
    “Isn’t the whole point of this to get to the Farm?”
    That’s what Lucien said. Get me to safety. There is safety in the Farm, the fourth and largest circle of the Lone City. But it feels like the Farm might as well be on a different planet right now.
    “I don’t know what the point is, Violet. You think Lucien tells me everything? I’ve got an address, you can either come with me or figure out something on your own. And you should know by now, Lucien likes to keep things mysterious,” Garnet says.
    “Yeah, I know,” I grumble.
    “So I’ll go first. Then the companion will follow me.”
    “His name is Ash,” I say.
    Garnet ignores me. “Then you two follow him. Oh, put your hats on,” he says. I riffle through the bag and pull out two white caps with a lace fringe on them.
    Garnet starts down the alley, when Ash grabs his arm.
    “Wait,” he says. “What quarter are we in?”
    “East,” Garnet says. “Near the southern border.”
    Ash swears under his breath.
    “What?” I ask.
    “We’re close to my companion house,” he replies. “Someone might recognize me.”
    The companion house is like Southgate—it’s the place where Ash was trained how to escort the young ladies of the Jewel.
    “No one’s going to recognize you,” Garnet says. “Your face is a mess. But at least you know where you are. The address is Forty-Six Twenty-Two Plentham Street. In case we get separated. You take them there.”
    We skirt the wall, creeping down the alley until we get close to the street. Garnet holds up a hand signaling us to stop.
    “Wait five seconds,” Garnet says to Ash, “then follow me. You two wait five seconds more and follow him. Got it?”
    I nod as Garnet walks out of the alley, turns right, and disappears down the street. I count to five in my head. I only get to three before Ash’s arm wraps around my waist, his lips pressing, gentle but firm, against mine. It takes me by surprise, but it comforts me.
    Before I can say anything, he’s gone.
    I forget to start counting.
    “That boy kissed you,” Raven says.
    “Yes,” I say. “Come on. Stay close to me, all right?”
    She smiles playfully. “Where else am I going to go?”
    I take a deep breath, and we walk out onto the streets of the Bank.
    A FTER LIVING IN THE HEART OF THE J EWEL FOR NEARLY three months, the Bank shouldn’t be overwhelming. It’s the second circle of the city, where the merchant class lives, and the wealthiest after the Jewel.
    But I haven’t been around so many people at once, and I’m awestruck by the crowds. I forget for a moment that I’m supposed to be following Ash and Garnet, forget to keep my head down and try to go unnoticed, because there are people everywhere—coming out of slender brownstones, strolling arm in arm down the bustling sidewalks. Many of the