“They’re not gods, Jennifer,” Cherry said gently. “They can't possibly monitor every single conversation you have.”
“I know, but still… I’m not willing to risk it. Just in case,” she murmured, turning away again. “I’m sorry.”
“We found their tunnel,” I said. “The one that connects the ossuary to the estate.”
Her head snapped back toward me. “Youwhat?”
“We found their tunnel,” I repeated. “And guess what? They have no ideathat we found it. So they obviously aren’t as all-knowing as they claim to be. I think they just pretend they are to scare people into silence. People like you.”
“Exactly,” Cherry added. “Nothing’s happened to us since we started digging. So they obviously have no idea we’re looking into them.”
I swallowed hard, because that wasn’t entirely true. Somethinghadhappened to me; the blood-smeared message on my dorm wall two weeks ago. But if Jennifer knew about that, she’d probably shut down completely.
I hated lying to her, but if I wanted answers from her, I couldn’t risk her retreating into fear.
She stayed quiet for a long moment, her fingers twisting together anxiously. “What are you planning to do now that you’ve found that tunnel?” she finally asked.
“We're going in,” Cherry replied. “To get into the estate and find proof of whatever they're doing. Whatever they’vedone. For Calista.”
“Are you insane?” Jennifer's voice rose, then dropped again as she glanced nervously at the door. “You can't just walk into that place. If they catch you—”
“Then help us not get caught,” I interrupted. “You were at the estate for two months after the Selection hunt, weren’t you? So surely you know the layout, the routines, something that could help us.”
She stared at me, conflict written all over her face. “It’s like I said before. If I help you, and they find out, I’m screwed.”
“How would they find out?” Cherry asked. “We're not going to tell anyone where we got the information. I promise you that.”
“Please,” I added, voice tinged with urgency. “I need to know what happened to my sister, and you’re our best lead, because you’re the only non-Dionysus person we know of who’s actually been to the estate.”
Jennifer hesitated for another moment, then exhaled slowly. “If I tell you anything specific, they’ll know it was me. But…” She paused, seeming to wrestle with herself. “I picked up on a fewgeneral things while I was there. Things that could’ve come from anyone in the Club. So I guess they wouldn’t be able to track that back to me, would they?”
“Definitely not,” Cherry said.
“Anything you’re able to tell us would be amazing,” I added.
“All right.” She sucked in a deep breath and sat up straighter. “The ossuary tunnel isn’t the only one. It’s part of a network built under BHU centuries ago. They don’t use them all that much. Mostly when they want to avoid the rain.”
I thought back to the first day I met Julian. The way he’d been behind me one moment and directly ahead of me the next.
A tunnel.That was how he’d done it.
“The biggest tunnel leads out of the basement level of the library, and that’s probably their most used route,” Jennifer continued. “So stay away from that one, just in case.”
“Got it,” Cherry murmured, nodding.
“The other ones should usually be pretty safe, including the ossuary one. I could write a list of where the entrances and exits are, but if someone finds it on you and figures out it’s my handwriting, I—”
Cherry cut her off. “It’s okay. We’ll stick with the ossuary tunnel.”
“Okay.” Jennifer’s shoulders loosened slightly, and she lapsed into another short silence, lips twisting in contemplation. Then her eyes flickered with resolve, and she spoke up again. “They have initiation ceremonies at the estate. Ten o’clock on the second Friday night in October, every year. That's when they bring in the new recruits and make them official members.”
“What happens during the ceremony?” Cherry asked.
She shrugged. “I don't know. I wasn’t there when it happened that year, because the Selection is a couple of weeks afterward, on Halloween. But I know it wouldn’t be anywhere in the south wing, because that’s where they keep the girls. And I know mostof the members are there while it's happening.” She looked at us intently. “So if you're going to sneak in through a tunnel, that might be your best shot. When they're all distracted by the ceremony.”
“That's perfect,” I said. “Thank you.”
“Youreallyhave to be careful, though,” she added. “You don’t know how dangerous those guys can be.”
