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ng and looked as old as time itself. This wasn’t a hastily prepared prison, she thought with a cold feeling of dread. This was a prison Eleanor had used many times before.
Turning carefully, she studied the darkness behind her. A figure suddenly loomed, eyes gleaming in the flickering torchlight. Maddie yelped and edged back in fright. The figure did the same, and Maddie stared in surprise.
It wasn’t Eleanor. The scream had sounded too young, and the body shape was wrong. Her heart did a quick leap of joy. It couldn’t be, surely …?
“Teresa?” she asked softly.
“Yes.” The reply was timid and the girl’s voice hoarse, as if she hadn’t spoken for a while.
Aware that the slightest wrong movement could frighten the girl back into hiding, Maddie kept her voice low. “Are you okay?”
The teenager edged forward. She was tall and slender, with long, matted brown hair. Her face was gaunt and pale, and dark shadows ringed her brown eyes. It wasn’t hard to guess she’d been Eleanor’s guest for quite a while. “Are you a prisoner too?”
Maddie nodded. “I’m afraid Eleanor doesn’t like me very much.”
The teenager stared at her. “Is that her name? I’ve only seen her when she comes to check if I’m still asleep.”
Which suggested the girl had been awake for a while. Maddie wondered whether the fact that Teresa was now awake was an oversight on Eleanor’s part or intentional. “How often does she do that?”
Teresa shrugged. “Regularly. She took my watch, so I can’t really be sure how much time has passed.”
If the witch checked regularly, she’d probably be back soon. Maddie shivered and rubbed her arms briskly. The movement sent the madman in her head into a frenzy of activity. She frowned, and imagined the flames within her rising just enough to snatch the chill from her flesh. Fear whispered through her but still no heat came. And yet, sweat began to dribble down her spine and she began feeling rather odd.
“I’m cold too,” Teresa said, edging closer.
The nightgown she wore wasn’t much longer than Maddie’s T-shirt, and certainly didn’t appear any warmer. “I’m told sharing body warmth can help,” Maddie replied softly. “Want to try it?”
The teenager hesitated a second, then rushed forward and collapsed into her embrace. Maddie rubbed her hands up and down the girl’s half-frozen arms and wondered how in the hell she was going to get them both out of Eleanor’s cage.
“Where are we?” Teresa clung to her tightly, as if afraid to let go.
“I don’t know.” Maddie leaned her head back against the wall and studied the cavern beyond their prison. They were somewhere in the mountains, obviously, but more than that she couldn’t guess. But wherever it was, it was a stronghold Eleanor had prepared well. Fear stabbed through her heart and she closed her eyes. Jon would come for her, no matter how many traps Eleanor set for him. And he would die because he was only one man, and he couldn’t fight Eleanor and protect her at the same time.
She should have listened to him, should have left when she had the chance, instead of lingering that extra night.
And yet, given the chance to do it all over again, her choice would have remained the same. Maybe it was selfish, but if she had to die, then she wanted it to be with the memory of Jon’s touch still burning across her skin.
Teresa shifted and glanced up. Her eyes were slightly unfocused. Drugged, Maddie thought, and wondered if it might explain her own unnatural calm.
“How are we going to get out of here?” Teresa asked.
Another question she couldn’t answer. Maddie smiled grimly and brushed a limp strand of hair away from the girl’s eyes. “I’ll find a way.” She ran her hands up and down the teenager’s arms for a minute, then frowned. “Did you wake up on the floor, or a bed of some sort?”
“A bed. Why?”
“Just curious. Come on, show me.”
Teresa rose unsteadily. Maddie climbed to her feet, then clung on to the wall as the darkness spun around her. The spinning eased after several deep breaths but didn’t entirely go away. She rubbed the sweat off her forehead and wondered what in hell was wrong. Her skin was so cold that everything ached, and yet inside, it felt as if she were burning up—but it wasn’t her flames. It was something else. Her head alternated between a pounding ache and a weird, spaced-out sort of sensation, and she wasn’t entirely sure which she preferred.
“This way,” Teresa said softly.
Walking a few feet locked them back into darkness. Another step had Maddie’s legs bumping into the wooden bed frame. It would make the perfect fire, except for the fact her flames seemed to be absent and she couldn’t set it alight. And even if she could, a fire might attract Eleanor’s attention. Just because she couldn’t see the bitch didn’t mean she wasn’t here.
Maddie bent down and swept her hand across the surface. Rough wool met her touch. A blanket. She picked it up, then reached out and caught Teresa by the arm. “Here, wrap this around you.”
“It smells,” she muttered, but pulled the blanket around herself nevertheless.
The only smell Maddie could make out was unwashed teenager. “I want you to do me a favor, Teresa.”
