Page 83 of Find My Way Down to You

The music falls away. I scan around. Everyone is watching us. Aminta with her heavy scowl. Poppy, arms crossed, curiosity shaping her features. Henri, beaming, two half-finished glasses raised. Unfamiliar faces studying me like I’m…a marvel.

Strange and fascinating.

A puzzle to solve.

Or something else.

Clinging to the shadows of the room, I see him.

Cary, with his flat mouth. His unblinking eyes. His expression unreadable.

Abruptly, I stop dancing. Free myself from Milos’s hands. “Sorry,” I say, tugging at my suffocating collar, “I need some fresh air.”

Deep, confused lines wrinkle Milos’s forehead. “You are leaving me?”

“Thank you for everything.” I bow like an awkward amateur.

Then, without another word, I run for the elevator.

12

The elevator hates me.

After I’m behind its closed doors, I look for buttons. A way to tell it what floor I want to go to. Not that I know. But this is the first chance I’ve had to explore Aides alone. To search for London.

I have to try something.

Except, the elevator is moving on its own. Without me doing anything.

“Please.” I stare up at the domed ceiling. As if someone is listening. As if someone is sitting in an office somewhere, controlling the elevator’s every action. Or maybe the elevator itself is alive with magic. “Please take me where I want to go.”

I’m met with silence.

Leaning against one of the brass walls, I tug on my bracelet. My lightheadedness has faded. I still feel off. Out of place. Iforce myself to concentrate on why I’m really here.

London, London, London, I think until the elevator dings.

My heart is knocking against my throat when the doors slide open. I let out a hopeful breath and step off.

Into the long room of statues and flowers.

“Seriously?”

I spin to face the elevator, scowling. The doors immediately close, caring very little for my frustration.

As I walk, blooms in rich colors open. Coral roses and orchids as blue as sapphires. I trail my fingers along their petals. Nectar fills my lungs. A calmness falls over me.

The marble statues are aged. Limbs broken off, faces weathered. Still, it’s as if they’re watching me. They don’t resemble anyone Henri pointed out in the ballroom. In the room’s center, two women stand—one in carved robes with a crown of asphodels, the other holding a bouquet of daffodils.

I wonder who they are. Other Deathless? Souls Milos has trapped here?

A shudder vibrates between my shoulder blades.

What he said turns in my head. He can never leave Aides. Why would he want to? This place is dripping in power, in certainty. He never has to worry about someone he loves dying.

Stepping into the gardens, I tug off my mask and leave it behind. I hear soft whispering water from the nearby lake. Cypress leaves ruffled by the breeze.

In my periphery, something moves. First from my left. Then my right, behind me. My breaths falter as heavy footfallscome from all around. I twist and turn before I see who’s followed me.