“Finally, you get it.”
“Jackass.”
He chuckled. “So how do we move forward if you don’t believe me when I tell you I didn’t kill Mateo?”
“Move forward with what, exactly?”
His eyes surged with intensity, nearly glowing. “Getting out of here, for starters. Getting back to the people I’m duty bound to protect.”
“Ah. Well, I need to get back to Marina, too.”
“The deal was: you find Junot safe and alive, and only then do you earn your freedom and Marina’s.”
“Deals can always be renegotiated.”
“Not the deals I make.”
“We’ll see.”
“No, you’ll see. I keep my promises.”
“So do I. And I swore a vendetta to avenge my brother.”
“You can have your righteous vengeance, but only after you start looking in the right place. Who told you I killed him?”
I bit the inside of my lip. “We’d better start figuring out how to get out of here.”
I clutched the mystifying book close, mindful of the tail, which came to rest along my hip. I looked up—and up and up. The cavern appeared to have no end, and certainly no ceiling we’d ever be able to reach, not without wings. Several tributaries twisted away from the main cave.
“I guess we start with the tunnels?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Why not?”
“Because Mauldrene is a magical castle. She’s extraordinary. We need extraordinary means.”
“I’m running low on ‘extraordinary’ at the moment.” I tapped my collar. “But if you release me of this horrid thing, maybe I can do something.”
He snorted. “Yeah, like drink me dry of my blood.”
Well, there was always that. “Then you use your magic.”
“I’m not a sorcerer. I don’t have magic.”
“And I’m not a sorceress. But we both have fae powers. What are yours, by the way?”
“The castle likes you.”
“Says you.”
“I’ve seen proof.”
“Then ‘proof’ your way out of here, and take me with you.”
He slammed his hands akimbo to his hips and studied the cavern. When he absently began caressing the hilts of his sword and dagger, I stepped back the maximum distance the rope allowed.
“I have no better idea right now than to explore the tunnels,” he said.
