Aros.
A rough, rumbling sound seemed to echo from his body, passing through me.
And then he was gone.
Or …
I was gone.
I tumbled to my knees, blinking around the sudden darkness, my hands finding the floor, words breaking up in my throat before I could get them out into the air.
“W-Willa?” The stuttered question had come from Emmy, which meant that I was still in the same room, and so was she.
“What … what happened?” I managed to ask, my hand wrapping around my throat, my eyes still trying to adjust to the darkness.
“Nothing out of the ordinary,” Siret muttered, somewhere right above me. He sounded strained. “Just an average sun-cycle in the life of a dweller who really wants to get herself killed.”
“Where’s Aros?” I squeaked.
No answer.
I flung out a hand, my fingers wrapping in material. I started to pull to my feet, but Siret grabbed my arms and set me before him quicker than I would have managed it myself.
“Where’s Aros?” I repeated, the concern in my voice carrying.
“He stepped out for a bit.” This had come from Siret again.
“Emmy?” I asked the darkness.
“Still here.” Her voice was stronger this time. “Thanks for making me watch that, by the way.”
“Why the hell is it pitch-black right now?” I grumbled, ignoring her sarcasm.
Just as I said it, the real world flickered back into focus. All of the other Abcurses had disappeared. Only Siret remained.
Fakey was also gone.
Sixteen
I was trying not to admit it to myself, but there was a pretty good chance that I’d just done something really bad, and now we were all standing in the aftermath of it. It was hard to come to terms with, though; after all, I had been trying to save a girl that definitely wouldn’t have tried to save me in return—or to begin with. So that wasn’t a ‘bad’ thing. Aros had used his gift on me to drown out Coen’s pain, and that wasn’t a ‘bad’ thing either.
Yet … something ‘bad’ seemed to have happened. That much was clear. They had all disappeared, and Siret was covering for them.
“We should go,” Emmy announced, staring at me, trying to convey some kind of secret message.
Unfortunately, no matter how often she tried to teach me the art of silent conversation, it wasn’t something that I was ever going to master. I wasn’t even good at normal conversation. I thought she was telling me that I should go with her, but she flicked her eyes to Siret and then grabbed Atti’s arm, quickly striding out of the room.
“I have no idea what kind of secret message you just tried to give me!” I shouted after her, just in case she wasn’t already aware.
I saw her head shake as she left, but she didn’t turn around.
“Why do I feel like everyone knows something that I don’t?” I spun to face Siret, planting my hands on my hips.
“Because that’s usually the case?” He arched a brow, not even a little bit intimidated by me.
“Where are the others?”
“Strength went after Karyn, Persuasion saved Seduction from ruining you, and Pain is standing right there.” He jerked his chin forward, indicating a spot behind me.
I turned, jumping a little bit when I noticed Coen standing in the corner, half obscured by shadows.
“Who the hell is Karyn? And what do you mean by ruining me?” I asked Siret, though I was still looking at Coen. We seemed to be locked into some kind of staring battle.
He had this scarily blank expression on his face, and his eyes were still too dark, too full of pain. Also, he was standing in a shadowy corner and that was suspicious and weird enough in itself.
“The girl who was pretending to be you,” Coen answered, probably thinking that I had been asking him the question. “And the level of power we have … you should know, Willa, it isn’t normal. It isn’t safe for you. For a dweller. If Seduction had taken complete control of you, it would have destroyed you.” His voice was too deep, too low. Like he was hurting in some way.
I walked over to him, almost surprised that Siret didn’t hold me back … but then I stopped. Surely … surely it didn’t have anything to do with the kiss.