myself of what I would lose won’t help right now, yet I keep doing it.
He leads me into the corridor, which is really a circular tunnel hewn from rock. The walls are smooth and lined with torches. The kind made of wood with one end on fire. They flicker and paint our dancing shadows across the walls. It’s like we passed from the future into medieval times.
“We’d lose all of them,” I continue. “Please. We’d be no use to you then.”
He finally glances back passively. “Who said I want to use you?”
I try to think of a reply, but all I can come up with is What do you want? I won’t ask him because I doubt he’d give a real answer, and I won’t give him the power to ignore me. I remem- ber the single word Noah uttered in my mind.
Patience.
Thetunnelcurvesleftandstopsatablackirondoor.Gane pushes through it, revealing a room with two cells at the far end, with the same iron bars and seams in the floor.
The right cell holds Peter and Rhys.
The left one holds Nina.
18
T
he relief at seeing them outweighs everything else, infusing me with new energy. I run toward the bars with their names on my lips. The door slams shut be-
hind me.
Nina stands in her cage to the left, watching us with her arms folded behind her back. Everything I felt when Noah died comes rushing back, souring my stomach. She’s lucky those bars are between us. I try to ignore her because I don’t want her face spoiling what it’s like to see Peter and Rhys again. All three of them wear the same rough shorts and sleeve- less cloth shirts.
My hands slip through the bars and grasp Peter’s. Rhys grabs my forearm, and we hold one another. Our breath is heavy, like we just ran a mile. We’re together, touching, solid and whole and alive. If I can keep it that way, nothing else matters.
“You’re both safe,” I say at last. Peter ducks his head for - ward and I press my face to the bars and our lips touch lightly.
That’s enough to bring Noah back. I feel him standing behind me, like a sixth person suddenly entered the room. I break Peter’s kiss too early and turn around.
“You remember how you kissed me in your cell? You kissed me like we used to kiss. The very same way.”
Noah...
What he says is true, and it makes me want to cry. I shouldn’t have done that.
He ignores me, staring languidly into Nina’s cell. But that can’t be right—how can he see her? Is this just how my brain is visualizing him?
Gane asks me, “Which would you like to stay in?”
Fear flickers in Nina’s eyes, then disappears behind a stoic mask. A mask I would believe if she didn’t take a step back. Some primal urge rises in me at her show of weakness. I want to tear the bars apart and share her cell for a minute or two.
“Don’t put her in here with me,” she says. “She’ll kill me.”
“Why would she kill you?” Gane says.
“To keep me from sharing information.”
“Really. Information of what nature?”
“Of the nature you want. The kind you’ve been searching for.”
Gane raises an eyebrow. “I’ll need more than that.”
“Commander Gane, I was sent here to take the eyeless from your lands. I know where the Torch is.” She points at me. “She doesn’t. Therefore I am useful. She isn’t. She doesn’t even know what I’m talking about. Look at her.”
“Miranda,” Noah says, his voice cutting through me like a sword. He’s right in front of me now. “I remember something.”
In my mind, Noah shows me the monsters we’ve feared. The ones who will “conquer the world.” The images are blurry, corrupted somehow, but I see enough. They’re spindly and milk-white, hunched on all fours even though they’re human- oid. They move like wolves. I see them moving through the ruins of a city, galloping on claw-tipped hands and feet. Something controls them. It’s a slender shaft with a red orb on one end, glowing brilliantly, like a bloody star.
The images snap out of focus, and I’m back in the room.
“Did you see?” Noah
He leads me into the corridor, which is really a circular tunnel hewn from rock. The walls are smooth and lined with torches. The kind made of wood with one end on fire. They flicker and paint our dancing shadows across the walls. It’s like we passed from the future into medieval times.
“We’d lose all of them,” I continue. “Please. We’d be no use to you then.”
He finally glances back passively. “Who said I want to use you?”
I try to think of a reply, but all I can come up with is What do you want? I won’t ask him because I doubt he’d give a real answer, and I won’t give him the power to ignore me. I remem- ber the single word Noah uttered in my mind.
Patience.
Thetunnelcurvesleftandstopsatablackirondoor.Gane pushes through it, revealing a room with two cells at the far end, with the same iron bars and seams in the floor.
The right cell holds Peter and Rhys.
The left one holds Nina.
18
T
he relief at seeing them outweighs everything else, infusing me with new energy. I run toward the bars with their names on my lips. The door slams shut be-
hind me.
Nina stands in her cage to the left, watching us with her arms folded behind her back. Everything I felt when Noah died comes rushing back, souring my stomach. She’s lucky those bars are between us. I try to ignore her because I don’t want her face spoiling what it’s like to see Peter and Rhys again. All three of them wear the same rough shorts and sleeve- less cloth shirts.
My hands slip through the bars and grasp Peter’s. Rhys grabs my forearm, and we hold one another. Our breath is heavy, like we just ran a mile. We’re together, touching, solid and whole and alive. If I can keep it that way, nothing else matters.
“You’re both safe,” I say at last. Peter ducks his head for - ward and I press my face to the bars and our lips touch lightly.
That’s enough to bring Noah back. I feel him standing behind me, like a sixth person suddenly entered the room. I break Peter’s kiss too early and turn around.
“You remember how you kissed me in your cell? You kissed me like we used to kiss. The very same way.”
Noah...
What he says is true, and it makes me want to cry. I shouldn’t have done that.
He ignores me, staring languidly into Nina’s cell. But that can’t be right—how can he see her? Is this just how my brain is visualizing him?
Gane asks me, “Which would you like to stay in?”
Fear flickers in Nina’s eyes, then disappears behind a stoic mask. A mask I would believe if she didn’t take a step back. Some primal urge rises in me at her show of weakness. I want to tear the bars apart and share her cell for a minute or two.
“Don’t put her in here with me,” she says. “She’ll kill me.”
“Why would she kill you?” Gane says.
“To keep me from sharing information.”
“Really. Information of what nature?”
“Of the nature you want. The kind you’ve been searching for.”
Gane raises an eyebrow. “I’ll need more than that.”
“Commander Gane, I was sent here to take the eyeless from your lands. I know where the Torch is.” She points at me. “She doesn’t. Therefore I am useful. She isn’t. She doesn’t even know what I’m talking about. Look at her.”
“Miranda,” Noah says, his voice cutting through me like a sword. He’s right in front of me now. “I remember something.”
In my mind, Noah shows me the monsters we’ve feared. The ones who will “conquer the world.” The images are blurry, corrupted somehow, but I see enough. They’re spindly and milk-white, hunched on all fours even though they’re human- oid. They move like wolves. I see them moving through the ruins of a city, galloping on claw-tipped hands and feet. Something controls them. It’s a slender shaft with a red orb on one end, glowing brilliantly, like a bloody star.
The images snap out of focus, and I’m back in the room.
“Did you see?” Noah
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