He and Rissa stood inside, right where I’d left them. Though Rissa just stared at me, Soren’s eyes widened at my disheveled appearance.
“You’ve got to come now!” I breathed like I’d run a marathon instead of ten steps. “You’ve got to make Dad come with us. He’ll listen to you!”
Soren took one look at my panicked face and followed.
We sprinted back into the tunnel where I’d left Dad and Olive.
I’d only been gone about twenty—maybe thirty—seconds total.
But they were gone.
“NO!” I WAILED. “Theywere right here!”
I ran farther down the tunnel, taking the first left when it split, but after a few seconds of jogging, I panicked that I was going the wrong way and doubled back, slamming into Soren yet again.Oof.He was a wall of muscle. To his credit, he didn’t complain that I’d made a habit of bruising his chest with my face. Right now, I couldn’t think straight, much less apologize. Add that to my list of offenses, I guess, since he probably hated me anyway.
Clutching my ringing head, I circled him and raced back to the crossroads. I took the next tunnel, then spun back around halfway when I didn’t see anyone. The third and final tunnel in the split had a few fae who gave me strange looks, especially when I whipped around and passed them again. Probably because I was obviously human now, without the glamour. I ignored them.
Soren met me at the crossroads.
“Maybe they went back to the kitchen!” I called to him. “We might’ve just missed them!”
But he reached out to grab my arm as I passed. He looked grim. “Brynn, you would’ve seen them.”
I felt like a top spinning faster and faster, about to fall, as I whirled back to that first tunnel. Maybe I hadn’t gone far enough.
The truth was sinking in: Dad hadn’t wandered off. He’d known exactly what he was doing and was making sure I wouldn’t find them. He didn’t want me to follow. He’d made himself clear. I just hadn’t wanted to hear him.
I covered my face with my hands, like I could somehow hold myself together, then gasped.
“Rissa!”
We’d left her alone in that pantry!
Soren took off, faster than me, and he ripped the pantry door open despite the noise making all the people in the kitchen turn to look.
I froze.
