“Yes, but we have our parents, so we’re safe for now,” I insisted.
“I don’t,” Charlie said hollowly. “They’ll come for me first.”
“Then we’ll stop them, Charlie. We won’t let this happen.”
There was another long stretch of silence, which Oberi broke with a nicker. I cleared my throat and said, “So what’s the Infernal Underground?”
“It sounded like code to me. It must be a movement of some kind, a group of people the Warden uses to hurt students,” Charlie theorized.
“The Underground must be connected to the experiments the Warden is performing to find demigods,” I said.
“Absolutely. It sounds like there are a lot of people involved.” Charlie opened his arms, and I finally felt safe enough to climb out of them.
I crossed my legs underneath me as I faced Charlie. “We know Jaymin is working for the Warden now, for sure. She must be part of the Underground. She’s looking for an excuse to have the Warden take you.”
“And I just threw a chair at her.” Charlie rubbed his face. “That was fucking stupid.”
“It’s too late to go back now. Whatever the case, we need to outsmart her. And we need to stop the Warden from capturing usbeforeit happens.”
“And how do you plan on doing that?”
I smirked. “By doing what the Warden is most afraid of. Finding out what the Underground’s plans are, and exposing them to the world.”
“Figure that’ll work?”
“It’s our only shot.”
My endless curiosity overwhelmed my fear as I considered all the questions before me. What exactly were the Warden’s plans? And how could we stop the Infernal Underground before it was too late?
I was determined to find out.
CHAPTERSEVEN
CHARLIE
The Infernal Underground.
The phrase repeated in my mind long after we’d overheard the Warden speak it. What exactly was this secret society hiding?
Our friends didn’t seem to have any clue, and no one had overheard anything since we’d told them about it. I remained alert in the following weeks, waiting for a guard to jump me and cart me off to Cellblock 9 for something I didn’t do— just like they’d done to Uriel. I kept my head down during my factory shifts, and I didn’t speak to anyone during fight club. I was so on edge that I barely processed anything in my classes.
I thought the guards might kidnap me when I was alone, mopping the cafeteria floors as my second infraction punishment. But every night was more silent than the last. In my dorm, I lay in bed practicing my Elven magic when no one was around. I thought they might burst in at any moment, but the door remained untouched.
Nothing happened, which was almost even more terrifying. It meant the Warden was waiting for something. But waiting for what? He spoke of a spell, but what kind of magic was he planning on using?
“How many can you get, Charlie?” Alistair asked, snapping me back to attention.
“What?” I’d spaced out again.
We sat in the library after lunch. It was one of the rare moments of free time I got these days. Alistair sat beside me, and Eddie wasn’t far, perusing the books in the aisle next to us. He claimed he’d tagged along to make sure I stayed safe, but I knew it was just to check out Alistair.
The warlock pushed a sheet of braille paper toward me. Pig, his pet cat, laid on the paper, before he shooed him off.
“Pop quiz,” Alistair announced. “How many letters do you know?”
I ran my fingers over the bumps and frowned. “Easy. They’re in alphabetical order.”
“Ah, so youhavebeen paying attention,” Alistair said snidely. “I thought I lost you there for a minute.”
