The space where the bats had been.
Empty.
Completely empty.
The wall had since collapsed.
My steps faltered just enough that Keegan noticed.
“What is it?” he asked.
“The bats,” I said. “They’re gone. Maybe itwasthem.”
Twobble slowed slightly ahead of us.
“They’re certainly not anywhere obvious,” Stella finished quietly.
Nova didn’t stop moving, but I saw the shift in her posture. “Then they got out.”
“But how?” I asked, my mind already racing through it, trying to piece together something that made sense. “You sealed the tunnel.”
“It was a timed wall,” she said. “It would have dropped after we passed a certain point.”
“Then they went back,” Keegan said.
“Or forward,” Stella added.
Twobble made a small noise that sounded like he very much didn’t like either option. “I preferred it when they were trapped.”
I didn’t respond because something about it felt like there was more to it. Could the bats really have gotten to the Priestess in time, or had it been something…or someone else?
But we couldn’t worry about it now.
We moved through the tunnel widening just slightly before narrowing again, and Nova sealed another section behind us, her magic quieter now, more controlled, like she was conserving it.
“The bats could have reported back,” Keegan said, glancing toward me. “That would explain how fast the Priestess moved.”
“It would,” I said.
But it didn’t feel like enough.
I tightened my grip on his hand as we pushed forward, and Gideon’s words echoed in my mind.
You cannot continue to trust just anyone who shows up in your circle.
I swallowed, the weight of that settling in my chest in a way I couldn’t quite ignore.
“Maeve,” Keegan said softly. “Stay with me.”
“I am,” I replied, though my thoughts were already moving ahead, retracing every step, every choice we had made since we left Stonewick.
The bats.
The wall.
The tunnels.
And Gideon.
