022 | THE GREAT ESCAPE

Screw that.

Sorry, Ares, I thought, but you aren’t coming with me. I had to warn my parents – that letter tied to a dithering pigeon wasn’t enough. Besides, who knew what he’d do to me when we were alone and away from his territory? Here, I was somewhat protected by the truce, even if it was a load of nonsense. If I died here, Blue Moon had every right to attack Winterpaw. Ares might have been an idiot, but even he wasn’t that stupid. That had to be why he’d concocted the ridiculous scheme of getting his allies to attack me. His back was covered if Bloodpelt had done the deed.

So I waited for him to fall asleep and then I snuck out. 

I grabbed the bag I’d packed earlier, sitting innocently next to Ares’s, and shoved on my cloak. I held my boots until I’d slipped out of the door, wanting my footsteps to be as quiet as possible. But the stone was so cold that, even with my thick woollen socks, I had to step into my boots within a few feet