Chapter 37
37
I stopped short, but Jonah barreled into me and we both stumbled forward.
They were all there, waiting for us.
Moon and Sol stood in the middle of the room in pajama pants and sweatshirts, their hair rumpled with sleep. Moon’s arms were crossed, but she looked open, curious. Sol had an amused half smile on his face, hands clasped behind him, waiting patiently.
Grace and Steven flanked them on either side. Grace’s eyes were wide and round; she looked scared. Steven wore his usual half frown.
Mikki let out an “Oh!” behind us.
“Welcome back!” Sol clapped his hands. “Looks like you guys gave yourselves the self-guided tour tonight.”
I jerked my phone from my pocket. “Stay back. I’m calling 911.”
“Thea.” Sol sounded incredulous. “Please calm down. I don’t know what you think is going on.”
“We saw it.” My voice was shaking as I unlocked the screen.
“Saw what? Listen, I’m sure we can explain everything.”
“The Wi-Fi… it’s still not working.” No bars, but there was that SOS in the upper right.
“It went out. Like it often does.” Sol rubbed his eyes.
I pinched the side buttons and several sliders appeared on the screen, including SOS Emergency Call .
“You found the cave.” Moon said it calmly, the lilt of her fake accent filling the space. “What did you think?”
“So cool.” Mikki widened her eyes at me. From fear or admonishing me to calm down? My finger hesitated on the slider.
“It’s incredible, isn’t it?” Moon smiled. “A cathedral. You saw our temple.”
I couldn’t keep the words in anymore: “What did you do to Catherine?”
Moon watched me, still smiling. Her diamond necklace glinted at her throat.
“Where is she?” My stomach clenched; for a moment I thought I’d vomit again.
Grace and Steven exchanged a glance.
“Look.” Sol shook his head. “I don’t know what you think happened to Catherine, but—”
“So you admit you know her.” Jonah stepped forward. “Is she here?”
“If she is, you better let us see her,” Mikki added.
“Sure.” Moon shrugged.
“What?” I asked.
“Come with me.” Moon beckoned. “All of you. I promise you will feel a whole lot better.”
Was this a trap? Being in the cave had done something to me, thrown off my internal compass. A distant part of me wondered if I was acting irrational, overdramatic. But that altar, the sculpture, the necklace, the blood … I glanced down at my phone, those small white letters— Emergency Call —waiting patiently.
“Or you can leave.” Sol glanced at Moon. “If that’s what you’d rather do. Grace can start driving you to the airport right now.”
“Yes.” Moon blinked. “But they won’t. Because they want to see Catherine.”
“Have you been hiding her?” Mikki asked.
Moon’s expression sharpened into irritation, a look I’d rarely seen from her. “Of course not. She’s undertaking an intense regimen of meditation. An internal vision quest. Which you do alone.”
Was it true? Had Catherine been in the castle this whole time, meditating ? I wanted to laugh wildly. I didn’t trust Moon, but she seemed so sure, so untroubled.
“Take us to her.” I kept my phone at the ready in my hand.
“Wonderful.” Moon turned and walked out the door. I hurried after her, through the moonlight-streaked courtyard, up the wooden stairs to the second floor. Jonah and Mikki followed, their faces uncertain. Moon paused in front of one of the doors and unlocked it; a skinny hallway led to a whole different part of the castle. The walls were hung with photographs.
This part of the building was a maze. We walked down some stairs, though another, smaller courtyard with a fountain, up other stairs, though a room dominated by a dusty piano. In the next hall, Moon stopped. She knocked on a door, then opened it. She gestured for us to go inside.
The room was lit by a crystal-laden chandelier hanging lopsided from the ceiling. There was an unmade twin bed shoved in the corner, a freestanding air conditioner beside it. In the middle of the room was a table covered with books and papers. The room smelled like unwashed sheets mixed with incense.
A woman came out of a doorway in the back. She wore a fuzzy zip-up fleece and biker shorts, and her hair was up in a messy bun.
Even though I recognized her immediately, it took a second to sink in.
She looked fine, good even—her face fuller than at the hospital, her skin golden-hued with a tan.
“Thea?” Her blank face shifted into an expression that hit me like a gut punch: eyes stretched open with fear, lips pulling back into a rictus of horror.
Almost immediately it melted into something else: the fearful eyes now wide with excitement, the grimace now a pleased grin.
“What are you doing here?” Catherine bounded forward and pulled me into a tight hug. I stood there, stunned and confused, as her arms tightened around me.