(Firebird 1) Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray

Author:Claudia Gray [Gray, Claudia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780062278975
Publisher: HarperTeen
Published: 2015-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

15

“KATYA!” I GRAB HER BY ONE ARM AND TOW HER TOWARD me. Her cards scatter across the floor of the train car, diamonds and clubs like litter at our feet.

Zefirov doesn’t move, only smiles at us, a grin so nasty I want to slap it off his face. “We’ll see who’s so high and mighty now. Who has to play cards with spoiled brats instead of serving like a real soldier.”

Katya starts to cry. I hug her to my chest. Although I want to ask him what’s going on, I already know. “Grand Duke Sergei. He’s behind this, isn’t he?”

“We’ll have no more cowards,” Zefirov says, rising to his feet. “We’ll have a real tsar, with the courage to take us into war.”

War? When did war come into this? I thought I was starting to understand this dimension, but I’m not at home, I’m dangerously ignorant of what’s going on, and there’s no way for me to fully comprehend the trap that’s just been sprung.

“You’re Peter’s guard. You’re our friend,” Katya protests.

Zefirov laughs as he rises to his feet. His hand goes to the pistol at his belt.

My God. The realization sweeps through me, freezing me in place. They’re going to shoot us all, then do something to the train that makes it look like there was an accident. Then Sergei is rightful heir to the throne. He wins it all as soon as we’re dead.

Screams and shouts echo from the rest of the train along with gunfire. I would run with Katya were there anywhere to run. As it is, I can only stare in horror as Zefirov levels his pistol.

Two shots ring in the train car, so loud my eardrums sting. Katya shrieks. But it’s Zefirov who falls.

I whirl around to see Paul standing there, his own weapon outstretched.

As I stand there in shock, my ears ringing, Paul steps forward. “You are unharmed, my lady?”

“We—we’re fine. What’s happening?”

“Not every soldier on this train is a traitor.” Paul looks angrier than I’ve ever seen him; he just killed a man without hesitation, and he can’t even be bothered to glance at the bloody corpse on the floor. “They may have rigged the train with explosives. You must run for the forest.”

The forest is a few hundred yards away. Snow has begun to fall, thick and soft, but I think I can get through it. We might be shot—but if we stay here, we’ll surely die.

“Go,” Paul says, and he takes my hand, squeezing it to shake me from my shock. “Run as fast as you can, and don’t look back. I will find you, my lady. I swear it.”

Katya wrestles free from me and grabs her coat; her survival instinct must be stronger than mine. Right behind her, I go for the door, but then I glance back. “Paul, be careful.”

“Go!” he shouts as he runs back toward my father’s car.

I dash from the train into the snow. It’s even higher than I thought—nearly to my knees. Running through it is work, but I do my best.

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