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“Your guess is as good as mine.”
“Well, we can’t just sit here and wait.” I throw my hands up. “Tell me you have a plan.”
“We’ve tried everything,” says Adrienne. “You can’t break the shackles. They’re bound with magic.Ourmagic doesn’t work. And I called for help until I lost my voice the first night—there’s no one else down here.”
I look around the empty cell, cringing at what must pass for a toilet in the corner. “Food and water?”
“It’s been dropped off twice since we’ve been here,” says Cam.
“Okay, what did you see? Who brought it? Which way did they come in?”
An expression entirely foreign to Cam falls over his face. Sad, resigned. He says nothing, just looks up at the gaping hole over our heads.
They dropped it down here.
My chest constricts, and I pace as much as the chain will allow, refusing to let the panic in. I haven’t made it this far to only get this far.
Are you there?I send through the bond. It feels tight and thin, like he’s far away. He might be too far to hear me.
If Westcott has any sense left, he would’ve known to do something to keep us from communicating. But at the very least, I can feel the bond. If Reid were hurt—or worse—I’d be able to feel that.
I wait, holding my breath, but no response comes.
CHAPTERFORTY-TWO
As the sun rises,I huddle into the only part of the cell with shade, my gums throbbing. To my surprise, when there’s a drop later that day of water bottles and protein bars, there’s also a bag of blood. They fall from above as if from nowhere—no sign of who dropped them. Not a shadow, a glimpse, the crunch of a footstep. I’m not dumb enough to see the blood as a kindness. If Westcott’s keeping Cam and Adrienne safe down here for whatever reason, me sinking my fangs into them would throw a wrench in his plans.
Though I’m beginning to thinkplansis too generous of a word. I saw firsthand that something wasn’t right with Westcott, then Mom’s warnings in Reid’s memories, and Cam’s. Maybe he’s not acting like the strategic leader who has meticulously crafted his plans over the past century that his followers know him to be.
He’s someone losing himself from absorbing the powers of too many others running scared and desperate now that his back’s against the wall.
Which might make him sloppier, but also that much more dangerous.
I check the bond obsessively, looking for a sign that Reid’s closer, that he’s okay. But it feels the same as it did yesterday.
I startle as Cam’s hand brushes mine. I hadn’t noticed him coming over to join me in the shade. Adrienne’s curled up on the opposite side of the cell fast asleep, which is probably what I should be doing.
“How are you holding up?” he asks.
I shake my head, pull my legs into my chest, and wrap my arms around them. “I hate just sitting here.”
“I know. Me too.”
I stare at Adrienne on the ground, grateful at least that we’re in the same place so I know she’s okay.
“My shadow self took over after I did the spell. Shoved me into the shadow realm and took over my body here. She killed people.Friends.”
It’s the first time I’ve said it out loud. I don’t know why I’m telling him this, how much it matters now. Maybe I’m not saying it to him so much as trying to work it out myself. Everything’s been so crazy since the moment I got back. I haven’t even had a chance to process it.
It’s clear from the blank look on his face that he has no idea what I’m talking about, and growing up in the barrens, why would he?Ihadn’t even known about the shadow realm until a few weeks ago. I give him the briefest explanation I can manage.
There’s a long beat of silence before he says, “I figured something must have gone wrong when I hadn’t heard from you. But you’re back now. How’d you manage that?”
Stupidly, my eyes fill with tears, and I scrunch my face to keep them from falling. “Westcott’s shadow self helped us cross back.”
Cam barks out a laugh and leans back on his hands. The rest of my words register a moment later, because he leans forward again. “Us?”
“Calla was there too. Westcott did it when he realized he couldn’t control her anymore.”
