I drag my hand down my face, blinking at him as I lean against the door. Using it as a prop, I dare to cast my gaze across the rest of the room. Every pair of eyes is open, and each of them is aimed my way, all filled with confusion and uncertainty as they squint at me.
I don't need to ask for everybody's attention; it looks like I've already got it.
Scrubbing the back of my neck, I take a deep breath again, standing taller as I bring my attention back to Odie. “It's not just you, it’s what youallneed to know,” I state, and everybody seems to perk up, sitting taller as I cast my gaze around the room again. “Who are you here for?” I ask, not directing the question to anyone in particular. It's a collective at this stage.
“Sorry?” Odie asks, tilting his head to the side, and I rub at my chin, trying to find the right words in my muddled mind to explain.
“Who did my brother threaten you with? Who did he put in danger to ensure you stayed here without argument?”
Odie drags his tongue along his bottom lip as he gulps. “No one.”
“Don't lie. You're wasting time,” I insist, but the look that Odie gives me tells me he's not ready to confess the hold Jude has over him. Desperate to break the tension in the air, I search for another, tilting my gaze toward Jenkins instead.
He looks just as hollowed out as he did before, but the curiosity in his eyes confirms he’s more alert now. He clears his throat. “My sister,” he admits, and my chest aches for him, more so because I never even cared to ask if he had one or not.
“You,” I push on, pointing to the girl beside him. The one whose powers were used against me to make my brother aware of my lies. I can't hold it against her. I'd be channeling my energy at the wrong person, and it's clear that I need to conserve it all for the right target.
“My father,” she breathes, and I nod, distracted by movement from the corner of my eye.
Snapping my attention back to my left, I find Odie’s wife approaching him. She laces her arm through his, blinking up at him, and her presence seems to offer him an air of confidence. It reminds me of Elodie.
She has the ability to offer silent strength and support, just like her mother, who rubs her hand gently on her man’s chest as her gaze meets mine. “I sacrificed myself for our daughter. Odie sacrificed himself for his godson.”
Odie’s gaze dips down in defeat, but quickly pulls back up as he takes me in. “What aren't you saying?” he asks, and I find I'm the one stumbling over a response to give.
Digging my fingertips into my temples, I push through the desire to curl up in a ball, unsure how to deal with everybody else's issues. I can barely manage my own; it’s foreign to consider others.
The pain under my arm refuses to let that happen.
There's no burying my head in the sand now.
Taking a deep breath, I envision Elodie beside me with that resilience of hers. “I’m going to assume you did that to ensure they never had to face this man themselves,” I start, and Ellie nods.
“You'd be right.”
I clear my throat, taking a sharp inhale, but it does nothing to soothe the bite that burns down my throat as I speak. “You've met your daughter.”
She scoffs as she rolls her eyes. “Obviously. I birthed her.”
It seems like the sass came from this one too.
I shake my head. “She was in here a while ago.”
She rears back, gaping at me as her eyebrowsfurrow. “No, you're lying,” she insists, and I shake my head.
“Purple hair, big blue eyes, except one is ringed with red now, giving that fizzled purple effect,” I explain, waving my finger in front of my eyes in hopes of punctuating what I'm referring to, but it's not needed as I watch the color drain from both of their faces.
Instinctively, they fold into one another. She sobs against Odie’s chest as he tries to console her. While caring for her, he tilts his head toward me.
“How do you know all of this?” he asks, and I gulp.
“Because I love that girl enough to risk my brother's wrath,” I admit, my voice raspy as I try to gather my emotions. “She's the reason I'm here too.” Whispers cast across the space as my words are absorbed, and yet it somehow fuels me to push on, looking across the room once more as I make my point clear. “If you think you are here protecting them, you’re not. We need to wise up, and we need to figure out how to get out of here. Together. Before he gets back.”
Understanding washes over Odie’s features as his eyes widen and he blinks at me. “When he said the girl…” he starts, and I nod.
“He means Elodie. She escaped last time. That's why she hasn’t been back. But now he's on his way to The Vale, to The Sanctum, in search of her again, and I'll be damned if he causes her any more harm.”
Ellie shakes her head in panic. “We can't get out. Our magic doesn't work in here.”
