Chapter 10
10
Sonny
T he lights flick on again, stunning us into silence as footsteps approach once again.
We only have a few seconds to adjust before the men who brought Ava, Beatrix, and Jonah round the corner with Matilda in their arms. They handle her with a lot less grace, throwing her slim body around like a rag doll. She’s clearly cooperating, so I don't understand why they’re being so aggressive.
I watch in horror as they toss her into the cell across from mine and slam the door without a second thought. My gaze remains glued to them as they disappear back down the corridor. I only dare to speak when every ounce of light has disappeared.
“Matilda?” I question hopefully.
“I’m here.” Her voice is flat.
Relief flows through me, pebbling my skin with goosebumps. “Oh, thank god,” I whisper to myself. “I thought they hurt you.”
“Raze Whitlock will never allow them to hurt me,” she says matter-of-factly.
She sounds nothing like how I imagine an elderly woman would sound after being hauled across campus and thrown into a dark cell.
She’s not winded or flustered. In fact, she almost seems . . . bored.
“You knew they were coming,” I surmise.
She sighs. “There’s not much the Syndicate can do that surprises me these days.”
“How do we get out of here?” Jonah questions, his tone harsh and accusatory.
Does he blame her for us being here?
“That, I don’t know. They haven’t used these cells in years. There’s no telling what they’ve got up their sleeves, but if they’re bringing him in, I’m sure it’ll be brutal.” I hear her take a couple of steps, and then the sound of something sliding against stone, as if she’s using the wall to sit on the floor.
“Worse than starving and locked in a cell?” Ava asks, panic lacing her tone for the first time since she was brought here.
Uh oh. She’s losing it.
“In complete darkness,” Beatrix adds. “I feel like I’m going to lose my mind by the time they come for us.”
We haven’t figured out how to tell how much time has passed. It’s impossible with no access to natural light. Even if we scored the walls, it would be based on our own guesses of how much time had gone by. Even then, we couldn’t see it.
I open my mouth to ask Matilda what day it is, but Ava isn’t done. “What are we supposed to do about final exams? What will our parents be told when we don’t return home for holiday break? They mentioned a trial for Poppy. Will we be given the same, or are they going to execute us, regardless?” she shoots off questions in rapid-fire, as if finally giving a voice to the terrified thoughts we’ve all been having is allowing it all to settle in.
My chest caves at the use of Poppy’s name.
Not here. Not now.
“You’ve got four other senses. Use them,” Matilda suggests impatiently. “Although, you may want to avoid smelling anything. The piss alone is going to send me into a spiral.”
“We’re doing away with all pleasantries now,” Jonah observes sarcastically. I can tell he’s only saying it to get under her skin.
“Of course we are. I don’t have the answers to these questions. We’re here because the Ellery girl has gotten us all into a world of hurt.” Even through the dark, I can feel her spiteful gaze.
“Me?” I squawk, jabbing a finger in her direction uselessly. “ You’re the one who gave me a vial of fucking poison and then sent me off into the woods to die.”
“If I wanted you dead, you’d be gone a long time ago. You’re so obtuse, I can’t—” she stops herself. “I know it’s not their fault but I don’t owe—” The words are cut off with her irritated growl echoing through the tunnels.
“Oh great, we’re stuck down here with the village crazy lady,” Jonah grumbles.
Matilda releases a deep sigh. “There are bigger factors at play here than you guys having to sit in time out in the dark and miss your finals. Very real dangers.”
“We aren’t just afraid of sitting in the dark. We’re awaiting execution. Don’t try to downplay our experiences,” Beatrix bites back.
“I’ve already told you, Raze will not harm us.”
My cheeks heat. “Forgive me if I have trouble believing that when he had no problem hauling me down here to begin with.”
“He has a role to play. Your little romance doesn’t take precedence.”
My little romance. Anger heats my cheeks with the derogatory comment. As if I’ve nothing more than Raze’s current hookup.
And maybe that’s all I am to them. Whoever they are. But I’m also the final descendant of the Landry line who hasn’t sold out to the Midnight Syndicate. My parents lost their lives to whatever movement is happening against them.
I’ve lost everything to it.
I deserve more respect than this.
“Fuck you,” I spit, anger lacing my words. “I had no idea any of this even existed a couple of months ago. From magical powers to secret societies—all this feels more like a cautionary tale than real life. So forgive me if I happened to fall prey to the evil villain’s prose.”
“You haven’t seen anything close to evil, girl. Stop using your ignorance as an excuse. For whatever is left of this lifetime, you need to accept that anything goes. Fiction is your new reality. The good doesn’t conquer until the very end.”
“How are you channeling down here?” Ava interjects. I know it’s an attempt to diffuse the argument, but her tone is more rushed than usual. She’s irritated too, I think.
Not that I can tell anything for sure with all this blinding darkness.
“We haven’t been able to get so much as a lantern to light in all the time we’ve been here,” she explains. “None of our gifts are working.”
“The cells are enchanted against them,” Matilda replies, her words still clipped.
“Then how are you channeling?” Beatrix repeats Ava’s question a little more impatiently.
Matilda clicks her tongue. “The dead don’t follow our rules.”
My body goes still.
Could it be that Finley was actually... real? Not some side effect of my desolation?
I think I’m going to be sick.
“It would be nice if they used some energy to light that lantern over there,” Jonah jokes.
“They don’t do your bidding. And as long as you think they do, your gifts will never fully manifest,” Matilda barks back, her voice so loud it makes my heart stutter.
Before I can stop myself, I’m yelling back. “Look, I don’t know what crawled up your ass, but turning against each other is the last thing we should be doing. All of us played a part in getting caught and?—”
“I didn’t play any part in you getting caught,” she shouts back.
I grind my teeth to stop the accusation that if it weren’t for her and her cryptic messages, none of us would have been caught. Suddenly, the calm and collected shop owner shrouded in mystery has lost all her composure and reveals what a fucking crook she really is.
Jonah was right about her all along.
“Talking isn’t getting us anywhere,” Ava intervenes, raising her voice loud enough to cut off my rebuttal, but still not quite shouting. “It’s been a while since we’ve slept. Let’s all get some rest and reconvene when emotions aren’t so heightened.”
Matilda grumbles her response and I turn away before I say something I’ll regret. I can hear their movements as they find their way around in silent agreement, so I try to do the same.