I straightened my shoulders and shook off the rising dread. He would be fine. Hehadto be. I couldn’t let myself think otherwise.
“Alright, Arowyn.” I gripped her arm. “Take us to the Hollow.”
With a faint shimmer, the battlefield disappeared.
69
Devora
Arowyn strode us straight to the stables on the west side of the property. The first thing I noticed was the destruction. Clawmarks were scratched into the floor of the stables, wooden doors were ripped from their hinges, and the earth surrounding the area was torn up, as if something had trampled through. I crept to the hidden trap door leading down into the Hollow, expecting there to be wards blocking us out, but the door was already blown open.
“I guess the question is whether someone was trying to getin,” Arowyn mused, “orout.”
I wasn’t sure which was worse.
We hurried down the steps, the lack of any wards or defenses particularly unsettling. Rattling chains reached our ears when we made it to the first tunnel. I bit back panic as memories from similar cells crept in.
Arowyn and I snuck silently down the path, taking in the wooden doors lining the hall, with tiny windows allowing a view inside the cells. Each one had a steel bed with leather cuffs and tables with trays full of sharp weapons and empty syringes. Several of the doors were already cracked open, and when we peered inside, the cells were empty.
We exchanged a glance. A shiver went down my spine. I had a feeling that wasn’t a good thing.
We came across the first locked door, and I pressed my face to the window. Another empty room. Where were?—
A hand slammed against the glass.
I jumped back with a yelp. Fingers slowly slid down the window and were replaced by a gaunt, sallow face, with dark brown hair hanging limply down a thin neck. The girl stared at me with her head low, dull eyes boring into mine.
“Well,shelooks friendly,” Arowyn said before disappearing in a faint shimmer. She popped into view on the other side of the door, took the girl's arm, and strode back to me.
The girl—barely a teenager, if I had to guess—staggered backward in alarm. Sparks flew from her hands as she caught her balance. She wore a raggedy piece of cloth that hung to her knees, with straps so worn, they hardly held it up on her shoulders. Wide eyes glanced between the two of us, changing color from gray to orange and back again.
“It’s okay, don’t be frightened.” I held out my arms in a gesture of peace. “We’re here to help get you out.”
“O—out?” she rasped, blinking rapidly. I wondered how long she’d been down here. What torture and experiments she’d been exposed to. Whether she still hadfamilywaiting for her.
I nodded and made my tone as gentle as possible. “We’re getting all of you out. Every single one. What’s your name?”
Sparks flew erratically from her hands. “I—I don’t remember.”
My heart clenched uncomfortably. “That’s okay. My name is Devora, and this is Arowyn.” I pointed to Arowyn, and the girl’s eyes followed.
“We’re going to take you far away from this place,” Arowyn said. “You just have to trust us and stay beside me. Do you think you can do that?”
The girl looked at us, then back at her cell, and a shiver racked her body. “Yes,” she finally said. “Yes. Please…please help me.”
“We will, sweet girl. I promise. Come here.” I held out a hand.She took a deep breath, and her sparks slowly subsided. When she placed her hand in mine, her bones were so brittle, I thought I would crush them if I squeezed too tight.
This close, I could see her skin was riddled with scars and puncture wounds. Some looked like little crescent moons. I glanced at her fingernails and saw blood caked beneath them, and sorrow surged through me.
“We’re going to get the others now, okay?” I said. When she nodded, the three of us tiptoed down the tunnel to the next cell.
“Mmm,” the girl suddenly hummed, brow pinching. “Mmm. I think my name starts with an M.”
I rubbed my thumb reassuringly on the back of her hand. “Okay, how about I call you Mae until you remember?”
“Mae,” she said, drawing out the name. She tightened her grip and nodded shyly, dark hair draping over her shoulder.
Arowyn got three more prisoners out of their cells in the span of the next few minutes. One was a Strider and hawk Shifter hybrid named Theo, who was in his thirties and seemed to have a better understanding of what was happening. Another was Elynor, a twenty-year-old female Illusionist with a black cloth draped over her eyes and tied behind her head. She explained that Malek Mortep had blinded her and studied how to get her illusions to work without the power of sight. Her story made my blood boil and my stomach twist into knots at the same time.
