Tristan stepped aside, and Jasper took his place in front. He pointed straight up, then took off at a run.
Inhaling, I filled my lungs with fresh air, then followed. After three flights, my chest was burning. The thin Denver air was making this more difficult than it should be. After a few more flights, we reached the top and stopped outside a door. I was the only one in our party that was breathing heavily. If we survived this, I was going to have to ask Tristan if there were any Dark Fae secrets to being a better runner. And I was buying a treadmill.
Jasper moved away from the door, and stood in front of me, shielding me from it while Tristan opened it a crack. Seemingly happy with what he saw, he pulled the door the rest of the way open and inclined his head for us to go through.
I followed Jasper into the hallway. It was similar to the one I had stayed in, though I wasn't sure if it was the same one. For all I knew, Terra had lots of floors of rooms with gold numbers on the door.
Jasper led us down the hall, then stopped in front of a narrow door that looked like a storage closet. When he opened the door, I was surprised to see a whole bunch of screens showing videos. My mouth dropped open. Was somebody recording the room when I was in there?
My upper lip curled in disgust as I recalled the night I'd spent sleeping naked. Who had seen me that night? Shaking the thought from my mind, I squinted at the screens. The picture wasn't great, and they were pretty small, but one of them caught my eye, and I jumped up, pushing my way past Jasper to get a closer look. There, on one of the small television screens was a blonde head of hair on a pillow. I couldn't make out anything else because the owner of the head was sleeping, but there was a good chance that head belonged to Ryder.
I pointed to the screen, then turned to my companions and smiled at them. They nodded in agreement, understanding Then, I searched the screens again. This time, I saw a figure that was pacing the floor of one of the rooms. It didn't take long to recognize the form as Gia. I pointed to her screen and saw Tristan tense up.
"You and Jasper go get Ryder. I'll get the Sayge. We'll meet at the stairs," Tristan said.
I stared at him, unblinking for a moment. "We're splitting up?"
"It's smarter that way," Jasper said.
"You have to trust me a little bit," Tristan said.
He wasn't giving me much of a choice. Reluctantly, I nodded. "Fine."
Jasper traced his fingers over the screens, counting quietly as he did, then he turned to us. "Room 512 for Ryder. 572 for Gia."
Tristan didn't wait for any other instruction. He took off down the hall.
"Come on," Jasper said, walking out of the little closet. I followed him down the hall in the opposite direction from Tristan and Gia.
Chapter 29
The numbers on the doors were growing smaller as we walked and I kept my eyes glued to them until we reached the door with the number 512 written on it.
Hand on the doorknob, I turned to look at Jasper. He gave me a nod. With a deep breath, I opened the door.
The room looked identical to the one that I had stayed in when I was here. A large bed protruded from the center of the wall, and an arched doorway led to the bathroom. The curtains were drawn, and the only light was coming from a small lamp on a table next to the bed.
When I crossed the threshold, the floor creaked under my step, and the figure that had appeared to be sleeping in the bed shot up and turned to look at me. I froze, mid-step and covered my heart with my hands as I let out a cry of relief.
Ryder rubbed his eyes then a smile filled his face. "Ara?"
I ran to him and threw my arms around him. After squeezing him as tight as I could, I pulled away and looked him over. "Are you okay? Did she do anything to you?"
"Me?" He looked confused. "I've been so worried about you. Terra told me how you were on the run from that crazy circus and how they tried to kill you. She said she was a friend of your birth mother and was trying to keep you safe. She told me everything."
I blinked a few times and tried to decide how best to explain this to him. He hadn't seen what I'd seen. "Ry, that's not exactly what happened."
"Wait, who's this?" Ryder pointed to Jasper.
"He's a friend, here to help me get you out of here. Listen, I'll explain it all to you, I promise, but right now we have to get away from Terra. She's not what you think she is."
Ryder started to move, then stopped, sitting on the edge of the bed. "She said they'd brainwashed you."
"Do I look brainwashed?" I said.
"How would you know if you were brainwashed?" Ryder said.
Then, in a moment faster than I've ever seen from my brother, he bolted from the bed and slammed his palm against a red button on the wall above the table. An alarm sounded, sending a rush of pain through my whole body. I'd never felt anything like it. It was as if the noise had somehow gotten inside of my bones and was trying to force its way out of me. I screamed in pain, the noise coming from me completely masked by the sound of the alarm.
Jasper leaned into me and shouted in my ear. "Do something."
"What am I supposed to do?" I yelled, tears streamed down my face. Everything hurt. How could I even think through this?
Ryder had collapsed to his knees on the floor in front of the bed, hands over his ears. I moved over to him and guided him to his feet.
"What's happening?" he yelled.
"Come with us," I said.
He shook his head.
Anger surged through me. I wasn't going to get this close and lose my brother because Terra had managed to convince him he shouldn't go with me. I wondered if she'd used magic against him. Shaking the ringing from my ears, I tried to send away the pain. She wasn't the only one who had magic.
Struggling to summon the power within over the searing pain in my bones, I thought about sleep. The kind of nap where you'd sleep through a fire alarm or not notice when your roommate was drawing things on your face. A rush of something I didn't recognize flowed through me and I went with it, placing my hands on top of Ryder's head. As I focused my energy on sending him to slumberland, his body grew limp.
When I removed my hands from him, his eyes were closed and he was sound asleep. I turned to Jasper but words weren't needed, he moved over to Ryder and picked him up, throwing him over his shoulder as if he was a small child.
Jasper gave me a nudge with his free hand and I ran for the door. The sooner we were out of here, the better. I wondered how long the ringing was going to sound in my ears when we were away from here.
We made it to the stairwell without any pursuit. Whatever the Rose Circus was doing, it must be enough of a distraction to keep anyone from finding us here. A wave of gratitude washed over me. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be bringing Ryder home right now.
Pulling open the door to the stairwell, I bolted inside, nearly running into Tristan and Gia. The alarm quieted inside the stairwell and the pain inside me began to subside. I took a few deep breaths preparing for more running.