Finally. I count to twenty and dart through the kitchen, into the storeroom. I lift the door to the cellar an inch at a time to prevent its loud creaking. Then I climb into the darkness, shut the door above me, and immediately start running.
When I came through these corridors, I got an idea of how extensive they are, and I plan to cover every square foot. I have to find Gideon before the sun comes up and someone discovers me missing.
I navigate the turns through sheer faith, racing down steps and turning down corridors. The minutes tick past, but I never slow or feel panicked. Every move I make feels right. At a junction, I go left and come to a series of barred stone alcoves. They’re dungeonlike and dismal, and I’m positive this is where I’ll find him.
“Gideon?” I lift a lamp off its hook and run to the first one.
He’s inside. Sitting on the floor. His arms are crossed over his knees, and his head is bowed.
“Gideon, it’s me.”
He looks up sharply. Blinks hard, his eyes narrowed at the brightness of the lamplight. He lifts himself up and stands perfectly still for a moment, giving me a long stare like he’s not sure I’m real.
“The key,” he rasps. “It’s on a hook on that wall.”
I grab it with trembling hands, open the gate, and fly at him. Joy fills me like a sun, shining inside me. Bright and powerful. “You’re alive. You’re okay.” I kiss his lips, his cheeks, his nose. There’s no way to feel enough of him; I will never satisfy my need to touch him.
The chains binding his wrists jangle as he takes my face in his hands. The tears in his eyes almost break me. “I wasn’t sure I’d ever see you again.”
“I knew I’d see you.”
“I couldn’t stop thinking about you.” He drops his forehead against mine. “I was so worried about you.”
“Gideon, we have to get out of here. I hid the orb. We can find it and—”
“Daryn, wait. We can’t leave. Samrael has the orb. He has Riot somewhere, too.”
The blood drains from my head so fast I sway. “He took the orb?”
“Right after you hid it in the hollow of the tree.”
“How—how do you know this?”
“I was there, Daryn. I saw it. There’s a lot you don’t know. The Harrows are Samrael’s. The hauntings are, too. He’s doing it all.”
The full weight of the betrayal hits me, and it feels like the earth is giving way beneath me. Like the haunting Gideon and I went through when we fell for what seemed like forever.
All of the fruitless search parties and his promises. All of the things he’s been confiding in me. All of it is fake?
“The Harrows are the consequence of the hauntings,” Gideon explains. “Evil creating evil. A cycle of it. He’s addicted to the power—but it’s finite. He’ll self-destruct in time and he knows it.”
“That’s why he wants to leave.”
He nods. “Probably to continue his work with the hordes he’s created. Take the destruction beyond the Rift.” He steps back and runs his hand over his mouth. “There’s something else, Daryn, and you may not like this, but … he said you have the same ability. He called it conjuring. He said you could do it, too. That you’ve been doing it.”
The walls begin to collapse around me. Gideon keeps talking, but I shut my eyes and breathe. I see the flowers, and Mom, and try to think. Try to remember and understand.
Did I will them into being?
Did I make them exist without knowing it?
Suddenly, it’s too much.
I rush to the water bucket in the corner and lean over it as my stomach clenches. All of my muscles are shaking. “I can’t tell,” I gasp. “I can’t tell if I’m going to throw up or pass out.”
Gideon is beside me, pulling my hair back. Placing a strong grip on my shoulder. “I’m right here. We can handle either one.”
I breathe and breathe, pushing back the sobs, the terror. This is the power Samrael covets? I haven’t even used it—not at will—and I loathe it. Abhor it.
I want to step out of myself.
I’m so scared—of myself.
How is that even possible?
When I’m no longer fighting the urge to be sick, Gideon guides me to the wall and we sit. He lifts his arms. I loop under the chains and rest against him, drawing from his strength.
We’re quiet for a while. I shut my eyes and feel the pulsing in my mind—the headache I first noticed in here. I now know what it is—this ability I have in here to conjure. Seconds pass, and I’m afraid to open my eyes. What if I do, and see that I’ve conjured something into being?
Gideon clears his throat. “Someday I’m going to take you out. We’ll do something extremely normal. Like go miniature golfing or bowling.” I know he’s trying to calm me. To get me to think about better things. Better days. “We’ll go to the movies. See comedies and animated films only. Films with catchy songs in them and talking animals … Daryn, hey.” He waits for me to look at him. “We’ll figure this out.”
“I know. I think I already know how.”
“How?”
“I’ll go back and search for the orb inside the house. If you’re still here, and nothing changes, Rael won’t suspect me. He won’t know I’ve been here. Once I have it, I’ll kill him. I’m going to kill Samrael for deceiving me and for hurting you.” They’re words I never thought I’d hear myself say. Ever.
My fingers start trembling.
“Daryn, don’t…”
“Don’t what? Don’t be like you? Don’t hate like you do? You wanted this, didn’t you? For Samrael to die? Why is it okay for you to want revenge, but not me?”
“I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I am hurt! He lied to me. And look at what he’s done to you. He pushed me too far.”
He doesn’t reply.
And I’ve been here too long. “I have to go.”
I kiss him and slip out from under his arm. He catches my wrist before I leave.
“I love you, Daryn. I want you to know that.”
Beautiful words. Amazing. But I never wanted to hear them spoken with such foreboding. With fear behind them.
I bend down and kiss him again. “I’ll say it back,” I whisper. “I promise. But not here.”
CHAPTER 40
GIDEON
I’ve managed to wade in and out of shallow sleep for a couple of hours when I hear footsteps carrying through the corridors. I run through the possibilities. Samrael. Cotton. Torin. Marcus.
Marcus?
I almost don’t trust my eyes when he rounds the corner, Bas right behind him.
Marcus zeroes in on me immediately. He sets the scythe against the wall, unhooks the keys, and opens the cell door. He brings the base of the scythe down on my chains, breaking them, finally relieving the pressure on my wrists. Then he hugs me, quick and hard. The look in his eyes is fierce, contemplating the murder of the demon responsible for putting me in here, but Bas won’t make eye contact with me.
“You all right to walk out of here?” Marcus asks. “Jode’s waiting for us with Riot when we get outside.”
“How did you get in here?”
“Later, G. We need to roll.”
“Daryn’s upstairs.”
“I know, man. We’ll regroup, then come back for her. Move.”