AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“They’ll ask why we aren’t digging,” I said, unsure whether the crisis could really be over.
“And we’ll tell them it’s too damn hot down here for Satan to have a steam bath. I get the feeling we’ve all been through enough today already.” Dana headed toward the exit, then glanced back at us. “Come on, everybody.”
There didn’t seem to be anything to do but follow her. None of us said one word on the way back.
Saying that night felt tense would be a massive understatement.
Throughout dinner, Lucas and I sat next to each other, trying not to stare at Dana or Raquel. We were eating plain rice for about the tenth day in a row, and every grain seemed to stick in my throat. Raquel and Dana didn’t look at us. In fact, they were making such a point of not looking at us that I felt like everyone would surely notice.
Instead, the others were wrapped up in different concerns.
“For his own safety, Lucas needs to keep moving from cell to cell from now on,” Eliza said, stabbing at her plate of rice with a plastic spork. “Or at least until we’ve taken care of Mrs. Bethany.”
Easier said than done, I thought. Black Cross’s best hunters had gone against Mrs. Bethany three times in the past few months, and she’d killed at least a dozen of them without taking a scratch.
Kate hadn’t really been eating since Eduardo died. She simply pushed the rice around on her plate, making little grooves. “You’re telling me I can’t keep my son with me any longer?”
Eliza didn’t flinch. “I’m saying you should dissolve your cell.”
“We’ve been together awhile,” Dana said. It was the first time she’d talked all night. Lucas and I both flinched. “Practically my whole life, and Lucas’s, too.”
“The cell should’ve been a lot more fluid long before now,” Eliza said. “You know that.”
“Yeah,” Kate said. “I know that.” She let her spork fall to her plate.
I saw the tension knotting the muscles of Lucas’s shoulders. As claustrophobic and demanding as the life was, despite the zealotry Lucas had outgrown, his Black Cross cell remained the only sort of home or family he’d ever known. I knew how lost he had to feel, how alone. Sometimes, despite everything, I missed Evernight Academy—where at least I’d been warm and comfortable every night, and had as much as I wanted to eat, and knew that my parents were looking after me.
Here, I was afraid, and even my best friends could possibly turn into my enemies.
I glanced up from my rice, hoping to meet Raquel’s eyes, but she was looking at Dana. Her expression was unreadable.
“Give it time,” Lucas murmured, as everyone bunked down for the night. He curled behind me, as he had before; I’d never been so grateful to have him close. “I think we’ll be okay.”
“But Dana—” She’d been raised in Black Cross. She’d been willing to leave Balthazar to his fate. How could she accept me so quickly?
“Shhh.” He said it as if he were soothing me, but I knew it was a genuine warning. The others were lying down, too, and they were close enough to hear every word.
The lights were put out, and I lay next to Lucas—both in his arms and a million miles away. He fell asleep quickly, to judge by his deep, even breathing and the relaxation of his arm around my waist.
See, Lucas thinks everything’s safe. He’s not worried a bit.
No, he’s a hunter. He’s used to resting when he can so he’ll have energy to fight later if he must.
Well, then, I’ll try to be a hunter, too.
As soon as I gave in to my exhaustion, sleep grabbed me quickly. I’d been more tired than I realized. My head, my eyelids, my limbs—all of it felt so heavy—
The darkness folded itself around me, as warm and comforting as a blanket.
“Get up.”
The flashlight’s beam blinded me, jolting me from sleep. I felt Lucas shift and heard him groan, “What’s going on?”
More sternly, Eliza repeated, “Get up.”
I pushed myself up on my elbows and squinted, trying to make out shapes in the room. The darkness coalesced into forms—most of the Black Cross hunters, standing around us in a semicircle, weapons on their hands.
Dana told them about me.
