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“What do you know?”
Damn, he read me so well. I’d been too tired yesterday to remember to dispose of the lava dust. Reaching into my back pocket, I found it missing, and my gut twisted. Had Maya taken it? No, she wouldn’t have…
Then I remembered the desperate, lost look in her eyes, even after she’d handed it over to me. I swore under my breath and glanced at Vas. “Yesterday I caught Maya buying lava dust from the old lady who deals it down on the ground floor. I managed to talk her out of taking it and she gave me the drugs to dispose of. I had them in my back pocket but now the bag’s gone. I think she might’ve swiped it when I wasn’t paying attention.”
“Fucking hell, we need to find her. That stuff is lethal. It’s very easy to overdose, especially the first time you take it.”
I paled at his words. Overdose? Just like that, every organ in my body buzzed with urgency to find her. “Come with me,” Vas said and we slid out of the pod. He went to get Sven and then the three of us began searching for Maya. We came up empty until I realised exactly where she would be. I grabbed Vas’ arm.
“The cave. It’s quiet and secluded. I think that’s where she would’ve gone.”
Vas nodded and we hurried to the cave, past the food stalls where some people were already having their morning soup. As soon as we neared the cave my steps faltered. Something wasn’t right. I felt it in my bones. I tugged on Vas, a lone tear falling down my cheek. He wiped it away. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. I just have this terrible feeling that if we go in that cave we’re going to find something truly awful,” I said, vaguely aware of Sven going on ahead of us.
I swallowed down the lump in my throat, watching as he entered the cave then re-emerged a few moments later. He rubbed his hand along the back of his neck, a bleak look on his face. I wept as soon as I saw that look, because I knew, I knew…
Sven turned our way, closing the small distance between us.
“She’s in there,” he said, his voice breaking a little on the words. “But she’s…she’s gone.”
14.
In the end I forced myself to go inside the cave. I’d only known her briefly but Maya deserved that much. Her small body lay prone on the cave floor. Self-recrimination threatened to drown me. Why hadn’t I talked to her for longer yesterday? I could’ve gotten through to her better, convinced her we really were going to get out of the Blaze.
Then my thoughts went to Demi. What were we going to tell her? And who would protect her now with her big sister gone?
I knelt next to her, passing my fingers over her eyelids to close them. Sadness and frustration and anger all mingled within me. I wanted someone to pay for this, someone to blame. Did I blame the woman who gave her the drugs? No. She was only a symptom of a greater disease. To really get revenge for Maya’s death, someone needed to take the entire structure of this place down, and not just Red Armand. Every single High Demon who would take his place needed to be vanquished, the entire system that the city of Treyu thrived on destroyed.
“I’ll take care of Demi for you,” I whispered. “Rest now, sweet girl.”
“I’ve witnessed so many deaths down here,” Vas said, standing next to me. “It never gets any easier.”
I rose to my feet. “She didn’t want to die.” My voice was little more than a whisper. “She just wanted to make the pain stop for a while.”
“That’s all any of us wants.”
“We need to bury her before the demons find her body,” Sven said. “She deserves better than to be tossed into the hole.”
“We can’t bury her until we tell Demi,” Vas argued. “The poor child has no one now.”
“She has us,” I said and he nodded solemnly.
“Yes, she has us,” he agreed.
Several beats of silence passed. I lifted my chin, looking Vas square in the eye. “What’s the point of us getting out of here if all these people remain trapped?”
“The point is us living our lives freely, Darya. There’s suffering everywhere. You can’t fix it all.”
“No, but we can fix this.”
“Look, we have a plan. Let’s just stick to it.”
“I have every intention of sticking to the plan, but I’m not sure I can stop at Red Armand. This place needs a full scale revolution.”
“Are you’re the one who’s going to start it?” he questioned in disbelief. “You’re not even from this realm. You don’t have a stake in any of this.”
“For crying out loud! Maya is dead, and all because she wanted to take some drugs to feel some relief. I have a stake in this. I’ll do it in her name.”
