‘Yes. The dracovols scout out the tunnels. They can navigate in the dark like bats.’
‘With echolocation,’ I whisper.
‘That’s how you found the dracovol looking for me,’ Atlas says slowly. ‘All the way on the other side of Canna.’
Ruth nods.
‘Do the wyverns know?’
‘Of course not,’ Ruth says. ‘Once they abandon a tunnel, they never return.’
‘I wouldn’t count on that any more,’ I say, thinking of Abelio. ‘Your Sanday caves. They weren’t built by old islanders, were they?’
Ruth smiles and shakes her head.
‘Where does this tunnel lead?’ Atlas asks.
‘Back to the battle,’ Ruth says. ‘If that’s where you want to go?’
‘No,’ he says, shaking his head. ‘No, we don’t.’
I frown. ‘Yes, we do,’ I tell Ruth.
Atlas grabs my arm so hard I feel it bruise. ‘What are you doing?’ I snap.
‘We’ve got to go,’ he says, casting another look down the tunnel. ‘To the other side of the island. Now. I know you don’t want to, Viv, but you’ve got to trust me. You’ve got to go with me, because you have no idea what’s coming and I don’t have time to—’
‘Atlas,’ I say. ‘Chumana is dead.’
A small noise comes from his throat. His eyes sharpen in shock.
‘How?’
‘Ralph shot her.’
Atlas stares at the tweed behind me. ‘Then it might already be too late,’ he whispers.
‘No!’ I say. ‘Krasimir is weakened. Chumana saw to that. And Goranov is as good as dead. He and Ralph . . .’
At the thought of Ralph, my mouth turns dry.
He fired the Speerspitze that killed Chumana, injecting a poison that even my blood wouldn’t have been able to counteract.
I’ll make sure there’s no second chance for him.
But Atlas is still shaking his head. He looks at me as if he’s drunk, as if he doesn’t know who I am. And then suddenly he focuses.
‘I’m sorry,’ he says. ‘I’m so, so sorry.’
What is he talking about?
‘I’ve told you more lies than I can count. But it was all to save you, Viv, and you have to let me try. You have to come with me. Please.’
I blink. ‘To save me?’
Atlas’s jaw trembles. ‘The rebelsdohave a Plan B, in case the wyverns couldn’t be convinced to use their Koinamens.’
I feel a small rush of relief. ‘What is it?’
