UNBREATHABLE by Hafsah Laziaf Page B

subject? Do you work for the Queen too? As a spy?”
    With each of my questions, I see him shrink back. His eyes freeze in pain. I bite my lip, and it takes everything in my power not to look away.
    “No. I don't work for her. I never will. And”—he pauses—“even if wanted to, I can't.”
    My eyes narrow to slits. “Why not?”
    His eyes fall to the floor. “I'm a half-breed. I'm worth nothing in the eyes of anyone. To the Jute, I’m lower than a servant, even lower than a human. Rowan and I are half-brothers and he's Jute, through and through.”
    His words hold no emotion, but I finally understand why he never spoke about our differences. Because despite us both being half-human, we’re at opposite ends of the Jute spectrum—he’s useless, I’m prized.
    He is nothing, and I am everything.
    Silence falls. The space between our bodies is feet. The space between our minds is leagues.
    The walls rattle and shouts echo on the other side, breaking Julian’s daze and my thoughts.
    He looks up, and I see the fearlessness he tried to instill in me. He angles his face back to me, like he did in the Chamber and in the crophouses months before.
    “You need to get out of here,” he says.
    “Where would I go?” I ask. My anger is giving way to panic.
    “Julian!” The voice that vibrates through the wall sounds so much like Julian's that I jump.
    His eyes widen a fraction and words fall out in a rush.
    “Leave through that door, go down the flight of stairs. Take the first door on the right and keep going until you reach the outside. And go straight to Slate's house.”
    “Can't you come with me?” I ask. My eyes flicker to the wall rattling beneath Rowan's pounding fists. Julian shakes his head.
    “Rowan is mad. He has a notion that includes you and I need to make sure he doesn't follow you. We need you to be safe. I need you to be safe.”
    “Okay,” I say softly, and turn away from the pain in his eyes before it makes me stay. They’re brothers , I tell myself. I stumble through the door and into darkness.
    Light and dark should have no weight, but now, this impenetrable darkness does. I feel as though I’m trudging through water. I've never stood in so much water before—there isn't enough for that on Jutaire. But I’ve lived through books for so many years, and to me, that counts as experience.
    A small part of me is trying to reason. Darkness is simply that. Darkness is massless.
    But I can't breathe. Sweat trickles down my skin and for a heartbeat, I imagine fingers trailing down my back. I shudder when Rowan’s face flickers in my mind. Julian’s brother. Rowan is mad. Rowan wants me.
    I swallow the scream building in my chest and run, blindly feeling against the walls and stumbling on my own feet.
    Until a hand clamps around my mouth.
    “Don't say a word, girly,” Dena breathes in my ear. “They're all over the place.”
    I nod quickly against her and she lets go. I can only see the whites of her eyes. She laughs, low and dark. “They have no idea how easy you are to catch.”
    I don't have the time or the mind for her bickering. Brother or not, Julian could be risking his life.
    “Come on,” she says quickly, and I wonder if she had the same thought I just did.
    I don’t need to relay Julian’s instructions to her, and I’m ashamed at the relief I feel because I’m not completely alone.
    We find the flight of stairs in silence. Dena slips in behind me and eases the door closed.
    Just as another door slams further down.
    The stairwell explodes with light and a shock blast flies toward us.
    “Oh, crap,” Dena shouts, whipping out her machete. She presses her back against the wall and I do the same on the opposite side. As soon as the blast hits the door inches away from us, everything goes quiet.
    “We need to make it to the corner,” she whispers. I follow her gaze down to where the stairs change direction. It’s a blind spot.
    I nod and rush down the stairs.
    Right when a Jute