The thud, thud, thud of something hitting the cave floor behind them made Keira spin like a jewelry-box ballerina. Three of the Reformers’ guards stood in the doorway. Their long fingers curled around lengths of black rope. One of their hoods had slipped back, and Keira could see a pale, hooked nose and pitlike black eyes staring at them.
She couldn’t feel her legs beneath her.
All this time.
All this running.
And now—now—they were caught?
“Shit,” Walker said simply.
“Congratulations, Experimental,” one of the guards said in his strange, rhythmic language. “It took longer to track you down than we thought it would.”
Behind Keira, Pike began to laugh, burbling and bubbling in a way that made Keira’s skin crawl. Her gaze raced around the cave, looking for an escape, looking for something to fight with. There were only three guards—maybe Walker was strong enough to—
The end of her thought snapped off like the tip of a too-sharp pencil. Walker had already turned and put his hands together behind him, surrendering to the guards. His instant submission shocked her.
He glanced up at her and the pain in his eyes was so sharp that it hurt Keira just to look at it.
“Turn around,” he begged. “Turn around and hold out your hands.”
She stared at him, dumbfounded. “We’re giving up? Just like that?”
“This isn’t a game, Keira. We have to go with them now. We can try to talk to the Reformers”—his words were coming faster and faster, and Keira’s throat tightened in response—“but the guards—”
“Show no mercy,” the guard hissed as he strode toward her, a black cord stretched taut between his hands.
Keira spun before it could touch her, stretching out her hands. In her blind reaching, the cave walls around her seemed to shift, and for a moment, she thought about letting herself go back to Maine. They weren’t as deep beneath the ocean as they had been. She could swim for it, and as long as the currents didn’t keep her trapped in the sea cave, she might even make it.
Before she could decide, though, the cords tightened around her wrists, cool and metallic, like unbelievably fine mesh. The ocean disappeared. She tried to see it, reaching for it in spite of the danger, but the metallic cord tugged at her wrists, anchoring her in Darkside. She couldn’t see anything but the cave. Her own world had disappeared completely. She was trapped, stuck in Darkside and at the mercy of the Darklings.
Oh, fuck.
At the back of the cave, Pike kicked over the lantern, which went out with a whuff, throwing the cavern into sudden blackness. The guard who had bound Keira’s hands tossed her to the ground next to Walker, who lay in a trussed heap. The three guards converged on Pike. He shot past them and leapt out of the mouth of the cave, swinging onto the rock face with the ease of a mountain goat. The guards scrambled to follow him. His shouts turned into a series of keening shrieks that made the hair on Keira’s arms stand up.
“Can you get across?” Walker asked in an urgent whisper.
“No,” Keira whispered back. “I can’t even see it!”
“Damn. Me either. How did they get here?”
The scuff of a shoe against the cave floor made Keira lift her head. She squinted at the backlit figure, unable to see who it was. It turned out not to matter.
“I told them where to find you.”
As soon as he spoke, she recognized Smith’s voice, and she didn’t think she’d ever heard anything so horrible in her life.
Chapter Forty-Nine
WALKER ROLLED TO FACE his cousin. “What the—how did you—we left . . . ” His voice was slick with frustration. The impossible half questions slid off his tongue.
Smith crossed his arms. “You went too far this time, Walker.” He sounded like an actor.
A bad actor.
He leaned over them. “I told you to hurry!” he spit the words at them. “You hung around Keira’s house so long that I didn’t have any choice. They were watching me watching you. I had to follow you guys.”
Keira closed her eyes. If she hadn’t been so desperate to say good-bye, they might have escaped. Staying for dinner had used up too much time. They’d forced Smith’s hand. She felt sick.
Smith straightened, resuming his booming fake stage voice.
“Besides, it turns out delivering both Experimentals to the Reformers came with quite a prize.”
Keira choked on her own breath. Both Experimentals? She looked at Walker.
“What does he mean, ‘both Experimentals’?”
Smith’s laugh was as sudden and ugly as a misstruck note. He nudged Walker with his toe. “You didn’t tell her? Wow. You’re better at keeping secrets than I thought.” His voice dropped and softened. “I can’t believe you didn’t say anything. You really did care about her after all, didn’t you?”
There was a rough shout from outside the cave. “Seeker!”
Keira saw Walker flinch as Smith turned in response.
“Get out here and help us!”
Smith dutifully scurried to the mouth of the cave.
Walker and Keira lay alone on the cold stone floor.
Keira tried to breathe, but the air seemed too thick to get past her throat.