Insurgence [h.s]

twenty-two

Alouette doesn't make a move. "Are you insane?" Behind them, the guards are closing in—she keeps an eye on them in the rear-view mirror. Can she get Harry out of the car before they come too close?

"Are you?" he asks back. "You've stolen the card of the head of the personal guard and almost opened the gates of the Palace in the middle of the night. It can be counted as treason. If you get caught, I'm not letting you out of the upper floors ever again. This is your only chance. Are you going to waste it?" In front of them, the gates are fully open. It won't be long before they start automatically closing again, and the guards are almost on them.

"Shit," Alouette mutters, and the car jumps forward. I'm an idiot, she thinks even as she does it. I'm such a fucking idiot. I'll regret this a thousand times over. But she presses her foot down on the pedal all the same, and they dash through the courtyard and out of the gates.

As they speed down the main road of Northfair, the weight of what she's just done strikes her, and she nearly starts heaving. She left the Palace with no permission and the President is in the car. She left the Palace with no permission and the President is in the car. They'll think she kidnapped him again. They'll have her head.

She turns into an empty side street and the car grinds to a halt. The dark buildings loom above them, shutters closed. They're still in the city centre, but Northfair is dead and silent like it's never been. No one dares to walk the streets in the middle of the night—not after the attack on the Palace.

"Get out," she says. Her voice rings hollow in the quietude of the first hours of the night.

"No."

Her head snaps towards Harry. "I'm not getting killed because you decided you want to play some game."

His eyes narrow, but there's a hint of enjoyment on his features, like the world holds amusement just for him to see. It makes him look like a cat toying with a mouse, and it makes her want to hit him. "Why would you get killed?"

"They will think I'm kidnapping you."

"You actually believed what I said?" A chuckle leaves his throat. "They won't think that. I left a note, too."

She stares at him in disbelief for a long moment. In the distance, the sirens of the Palace have started ringing, waking everyone up for the emergency. It won't be long before they discover their President is missing too. "You really are insane."

"So what if I am?"

She doesn't rise to the bait and looks ahead, her hands still on the steering wheel. What to do, what to do? If she stays here they'll catch her. But if she leaves—she can't leave with Harry in the car. She can't drive him straight to her sister. He'll use her as one more bargaining chip, one more way to get Alouette to do whatever he wants.

She gets out of the car. Wind is hissing through the streets, so cold it hurts when it hits her face. She takes a step ahead, and then another. She can find somewhere to hide, a new car to drive. She can ditch—

The car door slams behind her, and then a cold hand is wrapping around her wrist and turning her around. She frees her arm with such force that she takes a step backward. "What the hell are you doing?"

Harry's eyes are cold as they settle on her. "I could ask you the same."

She lets out a shocked laugh. "Sorry, am I missing something?" she asks sarcastically, voice hard. "You played me. You destroyed everything I know. My sister is missing because of you. You've ruined and killed and betrayed and I'm so tired of having to say it to your face each time because you simply don't give a shit!" She finishes her sentence shouting, but the wind carries her voice away. "So," she continues, lowering her tone, "what the fuck are you doing right now?"