“Maybe you should’ve thought about that earlier,” I whispered.
“Let’s save the bickering for when we’re not hiding from a maniac, shall we?” she tossed over her shoulder, then jerked forward with a gasp when the carriage moved again. I instantly reached out and grabbed her waist. A ripping sound punctuated the air as her cloak, which had gotten stuck under the wheel, tore up to her sleeve. She spun on her heel to shrug it off before it took her with it.
I stopped in my tracks.
Thatdress.
It was black as midnight, a sharp contrast to her hair. It floweddown to her calves, and the material looked as soft and smooth as the skin of her thigh peeking out underneath. My hand flexed at my side with the effort it took not to wrap my fingers around her leg.
She smirked. “Not so mouthy now, I see.”
“Just—go,” I grunted. “Stick to the carriage.”
“Hold on,” she said, then tied the bottom of her dress into a knot. Together, we crouched low and followed the carriage, edging closer to the stables.
“What was your brilliant plan here, anyway?” I asked.
She flashed me a wry grin over her shoulder. “For you to come save me.”
I shook my head but couldn’t help the way my lips tugged upward. “For the record, that’s a terrible plan.”
“You came, didn’t you?”
“I’ll always come, Devora.”
The carriage stopped, and so did we. She turned to face me, her eyes scanning mine. Her expression was guarded, hesitant, and a little something more that I couldn’t quite place.
“Two more to go,” a rough male voice said from up ahead inside the stables, making us both jump.
“Doesn’t he know it’s the middle of the night?” another grumbled. “Why does he have to inspect each by hand?”
“Wants to see how they’ll respond to fatesprig. You’re new here, but you’ll learn how the boss is. Very particular about his subjects. Most end up going to the cells on the south side anyway. Only a few stay here at the Hollow.”
Devora and I exchanged equal looks of revulsion. They spoke about these prisoners as if they were objects. Goods to be handled and stored instead of innocent people stolen from their homes.
But we’d learned something. Several somethings. This was, in fact, the entrance to the Hollow, and it was where Scarven kept his fatesprig and those he tested it on.
She found it.
The place we didn’t even know we were looking for. This could change everything.
The carriage right in front of us rolled forward into the stables. I peered around the front, assessing the number of guards.
“Can you use your shadows to keep yourself hidden?” I murmured to Devora.
“I can try. Why, what are you doing?”
I took out my ring. “This will camouflage me. I’m going to sneak in and see what we’re working with.”
“I want to come,” she said immediately.
I hummed. “It’s good to want things, darling.” Then I shoved the ring on my finger and disappeared.
I entered the wide stables. The opposite side contained a dozen stalls, all housing Scarven’s horses, while the side closest to the entrance was completely empty. Except for?—
A giant trap door, straight in the center of the floor.
It had two doors that opened upward. Large piles of hay and dirt rested on either side, as if they’d been moved to uncover the hidden passageway. A set of stairs led from the ground deeper under the earth. Echoes of movement, voices, and groans reached my ears from as far down as it went.
