“Cassian is the one who gave the order for us to come. He notified us of your exact position.” Serassi removed two sets of shackles from her pocket. “Cassian is the Warden.”
Nok let out a small cry, and Rolf held her tighter. His head ached, and so did his heart. He cast a look in the direction of the ocean, where the others had disappeared, and wondered if they knew they were walking directly into a trap.
UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE
HarperCollins Publishers
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54
Cora
THE CHAMBER WHERE CORA had awakened was filled with machinery that hummed a hundred times louder than the black windows. Cassian had called it an equipment chamber, but she didn’t see any vents or buttons or moving parts, only cubes upon cubes, the ones Rolf had said were amplifiers, arranged in what looked like a haphazard order—but nothing about the Kindred was haphazard.
Lying on her back, she could see the ocean stretched out overhead, a beautiful, dancing dome of water. It reminded her of an aquarium her father had taken her to, where sharks swam overhead. Only there was no glass now. If she had been tall enough, she could have touched water, come away with the smell of salt. Once or twice she though she saw a star on the other side.
We made it.
She was alive—and so were Lucky and Mali, collapsed on either side of her, stunned but breathing steadily.
Mali jerked awake and coughed up water. Her body was hunched, as though she’d bruised every muscle when she fell. Cora’s own body ached in every joint. The pain made her feel wonderfully alive.
Lucky rolled onto his side, breathing hard, coughing. Their eyes met beneath the shimmering ocean dome. Despite everything, he smiled.
“Jesus,” he said. “I thought that ocean would never end.”
The thrill of victory was in their smiles, in the lightness of Cora’s heart. They weren’t out of the woods yet, but they were past the hardest part.
“We shouldn’t stay here long,” Cora said.
Mali wrung the water from her hair. “The traders are located in the lowest level. We must be cautious.”
Cora nodded. They had just done the impossible, so she felt ready for anything.
“Someone came with us,” Lucky said in surprise.
Cora followed his gaze to a wet patch a few yards away from them, with big wet footsteps leading to the open doorway.
“It was Leon,” Cora said. “I saw him running toward us at the last minute.”
Mali sniffed the puddle. “The water mostly evaporates already. He must wake long before us.”
“He left us,” Lucky said. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”
Cora studied Leon’s evaporating footsteps, knowing it was true, but the fact that he had left the cage was strong evidence that he had regained his sanity. “He’s still rebelling against the Kindred, which means he’s on our side, whether he left us or not.”
They wrung the water out of their clothes so the Kindred wouldn’t be able to follow the seawater trail. Every drip made Cora feel stronger. The door was propped open—Cassian had been true to his word. The only shadow in her heart was the certainty that she would never see him again. After that one glimpse of his real self, uncloaked, she wanted more. She wanted to see him smile, and laugh, and sleep at night. She rubbed her neck where the Warden had strangled her. She prayed Cassian hadn’t been caught. What would the Warden do to someone on his own team who had betrayed him?
Lucky peered out the doorway. “It’s clear.”
Cora joined Lucky and Mali, looking up and down the impossibly long arched hallway. “Leon’s tracks lead to the left.”
Mali snorted. “He does not know where he goes.” She pointed the opposite direction. “We must go down.”
Cora frowned. “That’s downhill? It looks perfectly flat.”
Mali wobbled her head. Water dripped from her hair and ran in the direction she’d been pointing, though the floor appeared even. “You do not know anything about aggregate stations.”
She had a good point, and Cora was happy to let her take the lead. As they jogged silently down the austere hallway, Lucky kept stopping to marvel at the light coming from the wall seams. He’d never seen those intricate archways, the metallic walls, the eerie silence like ancient monasteries.
Mali paused, listening. “I hear something.”
Cora’s skin started to tingle with the urge to run. What if Nok had gotten away from Rolf and sounded the alarm? The Warden would send soldiers to stop them, and Cassian would be powerless to help.
She squeezed her charm necklace. She could still feel the lingering touch of his fingers brushing her skin. Had she made a mistake in letting him take such a risk?
They waited several impossibly long seconds before continuing. The hallway abruptly branched to their left, and Mali froze. Cora heard it too.
Footsteps. Boots.