Chapter 26 #3
The Realm was also reportedly huge beyond imagining, so even if Hugh suspected she was down there—and he had no reason to do so—not only would he have to locate a trustworthy demon to teleport him in to search for her, he also wouldn’t have the first clue where to start the hunt, and he’d be killed if caught.
Someone like him wouldn’t take that kind of risk, no matter how much he cared about her.
She couldn’t even blame him under the circumstances.
When a possible apocalypse loomed over everyone on the planet, a demon boasting his contacts and authority had better things to do than personally launch a fruitless quest on behalf of a single kidnapped human.
He would definitely be investigating her disappearance, though—and if he somehow discovered where she’d been taken, he’d likely send a tracker or two to find her. But those trackers would face the same dangers and unlikely odds as Hugh.
Unfortunately, Realm employees were unlikely to stumble upon the oracle encampment either.
Josiah had surely chosen a remote location within the Realm, so unless someone decided to go wandering and randomly noticed this particular locked room, then decided to break through the door for inexplicable reasons, rescue wouldn’t be coming from that quarter.
Even Death and the Fates must not know about the flagrant intrusion upon their territory, or else Josiah and his guards would no longer be alive.
And if the encampment were discovered, the oracles might be found guilty of trespassing and killed too, despite their unwilling entry into the Realm. Collateral damage.
Gwen’s main conclusion: Unless one of Josiah’s minions betrayed him, she didn’t foresee leaving this prison anytime soon. But maybe there was some other possibility she wasn’t considering, so she needed more information. As much as she could gather.
She peeked around the corner of the cubicle encampment just as the third guard—the one who’d threatened her with his weapon—opened the door and left.
The remaining two guards secured it behind him, then immediately positioned themselves on either side of the entrance and resumed their watch over the prisoners.
From that spot, though, they were unable to see inside the cubicle farm and too far away to hear anything short of a shout. For the moment, Gwen and the other oracles should have a modicum of privacy, and she intended to take advantage of the opportunity.
Gwen returned to the warren of stalls and surveyed her potential allies.
Even without the guard at her side, they didn’t greet her. Didn’t look up at her or react to her presence in any way. Mostly, they were just sitting, staring blankly at nothing.
Maybe they’d simply given up all hope. Judging from their haggard appearances, they’d clearly been held captive for a while, and the gods and goddesses alone knew what had happened to them in the meantime.
The Black woman in a nearby cubicle had her knees curled into her chest as she rocked for comfort. She made brief, glancing eye contact with Gwen before looking away, and something about those deep-brown irises—
Holy crap, that gaunt-cheeked woman with matted finger coils was Matilda freaking Tinley.
The star of Gwen’s graduating class at Delphi Academy, who’d cried when her mother couldn’t visit her in the school infirmary.
The girl whose pants Gwen had saved from a period-related mishap and who’d later tossed Gwen a cheese Danish in thanks.
There could only be one reason Josiah had kept an oracle of Matilda’s fearsome ability alive: because he was using her predictions for his own cause. Otherwise, he’d want to eliminate her swiftly to ensure her visions couldn’t stymie his plans.
Gwen walked over to Matilda’s cot and dropped to her knees beside it, and the other woman’s rocking immediately stilled.
“I’m so sorry to see you here, Matilda.” Gwen attempted a reassuring smile, even though her former classmate wouldn’t look directly at her. “Do you remember me?”
Matilda hesitated a long time before answering.
“Y-yes.” Her voice sounded rusty. “Why are you here?”
Gwen pushed aside her instinctive defensiveness. After all, why would kidnappers target an oracle possessing Gwen’s scant power? Unless, of course, her power wasn’t actually so scant after all, but Matilda had no way of knowing that.
“That’s what I was hoping to find out.” With effort, she kept the friendly smile pasted on her face and tried to radiate trustworthiness. “What do I need to know about this place? What sort of treatment should I expect?”
Matilda pressed her face against her knees, disguising her expression. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
Gwen bit her lip and tried again. “Is there anything I can do to help you?”
“I…” The other oracle raised her head slightly, her brow creased. “No. Of course not. But…thanks, I guess?”
With that, Matilda lay down and pulled her blanket over her head.
Gwen spent the rest of the day observing instead of attempting another approach.
From what she could tell, none of the other oracles seemed to be assisting one another in any way.
When everyone received their protein bars—apparently their only sustenance, offered at each meal—a kidnappee who didn’t want to eat handed her bar back to the guards rather than offering it to anyone else.
When the lone male oracle had a coughing fit and emptied his allotted water bottle, no one got him a refill.
He had to stagger into the bathroom himself, still hacking.
And when Matilda began crying under her blanket, her narrow shoulders heaving under the fabric, not a soul offered her comfort.
Given the highly competitive, hierarchical nature of oracular society and the isolation powerful seers experienced after leaving Delphi, Gwen wasn’t surprised by the lack of solidarity and communication. But because of her own history of powerlessness, she knew a different way of existing.
She knew how to make genuine friends out of strangers, especially when those strangers were also her neighbors.
She knew how people in difficult circumstances could form informal partnerships to stay alive and protect the vulnerable.
And she certainly knew how to scrape for survival, powered by determination and community instead of inborn talent.
Currently, the half dozen oracles in this place might not be cooperating to survive and escape, but that could change. And it would.
Starting now.