Arthur’s eyes flicked over her shoulder. “I didn’t understand it then,” he said quickly.
“Just say it!” Eva’s impatience lit like a wick to a flame. The crack above Arthur’s cot widened, allowing more vines to snake inside, their snarled tips splayed against the painted bricks.
“There was a hidden jar of honey,” Arthur said.
Hidden honey?
“Where?”
“Time’s up,” Dane Walker said.
Eva’s panic spiked. Arthur knew something—she didn’t know what, or why Dad had kept it from her, but if there was any chance that he could help her father, she couldn’t let that pass her by. “Where,Arthur?”
“In the vent.” He licked his lips. Blood, dried and new, caked a path of switchbacks down his cheek. Her eyes fixed on the split of his brow. It should have been cleaned up by now. It should have been stitched.
But no one would touch him, she realized. No one but her. Maybe Izzy’s warning had scared them away, or maybe news of his return had reignited old rumors and sparked old fears. Audrey had never been very good at welcoming outsiders, especially those who were… different.
She straightened. “I’m getting you out of here.”
“Eva,” Dane said, crisp and stern.
She ignored him. “Stand back,” she said to Arthur as she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to focus her gift, to take the chaos and guide it into something sharp and intentional. Lichen and mushrooms spread over the walls at her call, filling the room with the scent of rotting summer.
She breathed it in.The cracks.That was it! Her eyes snapped open again, all her focus trained on the split in the bricks over Arthur’s bed. There was a network of roots beneath the building,twining deep into the ground. At her nudge, they trembled and reached upward.
The ground beneath them shook.
“Whoa,” Dane Walker said, and Eva turned to see the sheriff steady himself against the doorframe. Dust rained from the ceiling, chalking the air.
Crack.
Another split formed in the brick wall, this one leading all the way down to the floor.
CRACK.
Eva lost her balance at the next shake, falling against the bars. Someone shouted out in the hall. Spider-legging roots crawled out of the cracks, brown and feathery, seeking,seeking…
Eva’s breaths were ragged, her feet slipping over the now-slanted floor. She cut a gaze to the outer wall, beckoning her power forth. The rootlings already splayed against the bricks squeezed tight.
And the wall buckled.
Chaos broke loose. Eva covered her head with her arms to protect herself from the rush of falling debris. An alarm blared, strobing the cloud of swirling dust in the holding room with blinking red flashes. The world around her seemed to slow as she squinted, searching for Arthur. He lay on the other side of the bars, head between his knees.
Behind her, Dane let out a grunt.
It brought Eva back to another night, one far too sharp to remember right now. She shook her head to clear it away and dropped to a crouch beside the sheriff, her hands shaking as she unhooked the key ring from his belt. The jangle seemed to rouse Dane, and he tried to push onto his elbows. She scrambled away, the smell of green, blooming vegetation filling her nose as shetried one, two, three keys in the lock on the holding cell, searching for the right one.
“Eva?” Dane asked, blinking. He looked disoriented but not wounded, and relief collected inside her to see that she’d controlled her magic. He’d be okay.
“I’m sorry,” she lied. In truth, she felt triumphant.
The next key clicked in the lock. Relief flooded through Eva as she stepped into the holding cell, shoving the door closed behind her.
“Wait!” Dane coughed, pulling himself to his feet, only to sway against the wall. “Stop!”
Eva chucked the keys into a corner he couldn’t reach. Then she circled Arthur’s wrist with her hand and yanked him to his feet. “Come on!” she yelled. He stumbled awkwardly behind her, both of them stepping through fallen debris. The roots around her seemed to pulse, responsive to her will. Eva all but pushed Arthur through the hole in the wall, then followed quickly after. Dane shouted at them through the bars. In seconds, another voice joined him.The guard.
They had to go, now. Eva pulled Arthur after her.
