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“Michael, Kai, Damon…” I rattle off, “and they sent you?”
She stared at me, but the hesitation in her eyes said it all.
“No,” she finally admitted. “Michael was coming. I… I micked him before the pick-up.”
I narrowed my eyes. She roofied him? “Why?” I searched for words. “Alex, why would you volunteer for this? A woman would be in so much more danger. It’s crazy.”
Her gaze faltered, and she didn’t answer me. Why would she put herself in such unnecessary risk when anyone could’ve come for Will?
Unless…
Unless she loved him.
That was the only reason she’d come in Michael Crist’s place. She thought only she’d be able to bring Will home.
My stomach coiled and jealousy rolled through me, making my heart pound. It was my place to save him. Not hers.
But it was ridiculous for me to have such a thought, I knew that.
I was jealous, though. I knew their history and I liked Alex—more than I wanted to—but somehow it hadn’t hurt until now, because she just had this way about her that made you all warm and want to be wherever she was. It was impossible to hate her.
And I’d been kind of glad he had her at his side. As long as I didn’t let myself wonder if she was better for him. If she made him happy.
But now I couldn’t keep the thought from my mind.
She’d come for him. I hadn’t.
She was better for him.
I opened my mouth. “Alex, I—”
But she pressed her finger to her lips. “Shhh.”
The hallway outside my door creaked, and she grabbed my hand, pulling me into the secret passageway.
She closed the painting, and we stood there quietly as she dug in the bag at our feet for something.
“Do they know about the passageways?” I asked quietly.
“I don’t think so,” she told me. “I’ve been able to skulk around undetected.”
“Seems weird,” I said. “There’s a secret room off Aydin’s bedroom with a two-way mirror. They should suspect there’s more disguised rooms and tunnels.”
She rose, and then I heard a winding, the rechargeable flashlight illuminating as she pulled out a large, folded-up piece of paper that looked like a map.
I dropped my eyes, noticing it wasn’t paper. Not normal paper, anyway.
I grabbed it from her, the feel instantly familiar. It was vellum. This was a blueprint.
How did…? Where…? I snatched her flashlight and turned away to inspect the plans.
“If I’m being punked, I’m going to kill you,” I hissed, studying the floor plan. “If this is someone’s idea of a prank, and we’re in Thunder Bay…”
“And they imported that waterfall you saw outside?” she spat out. “Think, Em.”
She snatched the blueprints and flashlight out of my hands and walked past me, down the tunnel. I couldn’t help but glare at her back as she flipped over the folded document in her hand and studied it while we walked.
No, there wasn’t a waterfall in Thunder Bay. But there were plenty throughout New England and possibly more on the hundreds of islands dotting the coast.
