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He waited, arms folded over his muscular chest.
I had been thinking of what to ask, how to phrase my question, what would result in the most information. Finally, I settled on something simple and direct. “What’s on the other side of the wall?”
For a long moment, he stared at me.
His impeccably crafted expression gave nothing away. As I watched, transfixed, his eye began to twitch and he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
“So youareescaping?” he asked breathlessly.
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“No, I suppose I didn’t. But you need me, Bianaca. You need what I can offer you.” His voice was impossibly earnest.
“And what is that?” I raised one brow until it hit my hairline.
“Answers. Guidance. I can help you.” Leaning forward, he lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “I know about the tunnels.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
That damn smile returned, and my hackles rose. Every nerve-ending was alight, fire racing through my veins.
“You need me,” he repeated. “How else are you guys planning on getting past the monsters?”
“Monsters.” My voice shook as image after image of Ali getting sacrificed played on repeat in my mind.
“And you’ll need my help to cross Dante’s nine circles. So I’ll repeat myself: you need me.”
“Dante’s nine circles?” I parroted, my brain threatening to explode from the overload of information.
“Where exactly do you think you are?” Heath asked, finally leaning away from me. Though his words were sharp, his eyes held nothing but morbid curiosity.
When I didn’t answer, he began to laugh. The noise was not a jovial sound.
“Baby girl,” he said once his laughter finally subsided. “You’re in purgatory.”
