Page 100 of The Princess of Portals

“Yep.” I ate a spoonful of chocolate brownie ice cream. It was so good, I devoured the whole tub on my own.

Nevada watched me eat, her eyes twinkling. “Hungry?”

“Famished.”

She didn’t say what we were both thinking: a lot of really stupid crap had happened, and now I was drowning my troubles in ice cream.

“The Knights declared independence,” Nevada said. “Do you think that means the Rebels will come back to the Castle and be Knights again?”

“Probably.”

“That’s nice. The Knights were divided, but now we’re united. Friends can be friends again.”

Not all friends. Kato and Conner were gone. For a few blissful seconds, the three of us together had been the Polymage Tribe. I’d been part of a team. I’d belonged. I’d been with others just like me. And now I was all alone in a Tribe of one.

Orion and Jareth returned to the ballroom. Melanie Meyer was not with them.

“She refuses to leave her cell,” Orion said.

Harvey gave him an annoyed look. “And you two together weren’t up to the task of removing her from her cell?”

“We could have, but she claimed she has crucial information for us about the Government. She said if we want to know it, she’s willing to share, but she will only speak to Savannah Winters.” Orion looked at me.

Everyone looked at me.

“I wonder what Melanie Meyer knows,” Nevada whispered to me.

“I don’t know, but if we want to find out, I have to speak to her.” I set down my empty ice cream bowl, then crossed the room to where Orion and Jareth were standing, watching me with an odd mixture of amusement and trepidation. “Lead on.”

I followed them up the same beautiful staircase I’d descended just a few hours ago. From there, we went up, up, up—to the very top of the High Tower. I’d been in the Spiral Tower—Kato’s tower—and the Twisted Tower—the General’s tower—but I’d never set foot in the High Tower. I guess it’s because it was the prison tower. Bolts and chains decorated the stone walls of the winding stairwell. Iron bars, reinforced with glowing magic wards, covered the tiny windows. Jagged metal fangs protruded from the arched opening between the first and second stories. Wow, a portcullis. There was one between the second and the third stories too. The third and fourth, the fourth and fifth…and so on, all the way up to the very top of the tower.

We passed through the final archway, and then we were in a large room. It wasn’t dark and dreary like the prison Prince Fenris had kept me in. It was bright and modern, with tall ceilings, clean white floors and walls, and glass doors on the cells instead of metal bars. It smelled like cleaning chemicals and lavender air freshener.

All of the cells were empty—save one. At the moment, Melanie Meyer was our one and only prisoner. Her dark suit was clean but slightly wrinkled, and her red hair was spilling out of her bun. When she saw us, her sharp eyes locked on to me like a hawk who’d spotted a mouse.

“Savannah Winters.” Her lower lip twitched, like she was amused by some inside joke. “I have a secret to share with you.”

“Make it fast. We’ve been ordered to turn you over to the General,” Orion told her.

She didn’t even look at him. “Savannah.” A calculating smile twisted her mouth. Her lipstick was smeared, but her mascara remained flawless. “Savannah Winters.”

If she was trying to creep me out, she was doing a stellar job of it.

“So you’ve come to say goodbye.”

I took a step closer to the glass. “No, I came for your secrets. You said you have information about the Government?”

“Actually, I have information about the people who work for the Government.”

“Ok, fine, I’ll bite. What do you know?”

She laughed. “Oh, no, Savannah. That’s not how this works. Before I tell you what I know, I’m going to need some assurances from you.”

I gave her a flat look. “You sold Apprentices to the Order of Kings. We’re not going to just let you go.”

“What I have to tell you is bigger than that. You want to know this, Savannah. More than that, you need to know it.”

“Nice try, but I’m not falling for your tricks. Not this time. So you have dirt on some people in the Government. Whatever. The truth will come out eventually.”