It all falls into place, and I know what my role is next. She has tested positive, which was of course expected, but now it means that the real work can begin.
Everly, if you’re reading this—
Everly stopped. She looked up from the journal, then back down at it, making sure that what she had read was correct. Was Richard speaking to her? Had he somehow known that she would be here, that she would read through his journals? Did he want her to?
With trembling hands, Everly raised the pages back up to her face and kept reading.
Everly, if you’re reading this, know that you are very close to the end. I know it is difficult, and it feels like there’s no way through, but I promise you there is. You need to know two things: First, I believe there is a way out for you. I truly do. I’m trying to find it, Everly. You just need to have patience with me.
And second, the room you are seeking is down the hall, two corridors over to the left. You will know what to do when you find it.
That’s where the journal ended—the last of Richard’s writing. Everly closed it and didn’t know what to do from there. What did he mean about a way out?
More pressingly, Richard couldn’t know that she and Luca were trying to find Caleb, could he? They hadn’t known themselves before that morning, and Richard had disappeared weeks ago.
And yet.
They were running out of options, as well as time.
“Luca,” Everly said, setting the final journal to the side. “I think I might know where to find Caleb.”
Chapter Forty-Five
Another snapshot:
One floor above Everly and Luca, a small ten-year-old boy with dark hair and blue eyes was brought into an all-white room by a man dressed in red, who might otherwise have worn a bowler hat and a tweed coat. A needle was inserted into the crux of his arm. A vial was filled with his oh-so-precious blood.
A floor just below that: a very tall man dressed in red lurked in the shadows, preparing for what would come next.
And only a few rooms down from Everly and Luca: the screen with the boy whose blood had been drawn, who now leaned back in his chair with fluttering eyes; the screen with the lurking man in red; and, of course, the most interesting of all, the screen that held the young woman with auburn hair and the young man with dark eyes. The Warden tried to catch those eyes, even though she knew it was impossible, through this imperfect screen.
There was nothing for her to do now but watch. They had found the journals, as she knew they would. Weren’t they always meant to? After their friend was taken, was there any other option?
Now they had to find him.
Then . . . well, she was prepared for what would come then.
She was prepared for everything.
The building had prepared her well. It knew, after all, even the small details that she might have neglected. Together, they would succeed. They would restore the order the building so desperately craved. Needed. And then all would be right again within the Eschatorologic.
The Warden leaned back in her chair at her desk, savoring the feel of the worn leather as she sank into it. She would miss this chair, she thought. She knew she wouldn't, not really, but it had been good to her.
She saw as the man and the woman rushed from the lab that they had left scattered with half-open journals. And she took in an uneasy breath, pretending to smile.
It was time.
Chapter Forty-Six
Down the hall, two corridors over to the left, was a single black door.
Everly glanced at Luca who glanced at her, and she wondered what he must be thinking. She hadn’t shown him Richard’s final entry, hadn’t known how to explain it to him without it seeming like her and Richard were somehow in on this together. That she might have had something to do with Caleb being taken. He hadn’t asked her how she knew where to go; he’d only followed her lead.
And she didn’t even know if this was the right door. It could be any door, could lead into any room.
Because how could Richard have possibly known where they would need to go?
Everly wondered what Luca thought they were going to find, when they finally did open that door.
She wondered if he would be shocked if Caleb actually was in there.
She wondered if he knew about Michael’s file.
That last was a question she had been avoiding asking herself again since she had first seen their names, lined up right next to each other inside of that file.
He couldn’t know. Could he?
He would have told her, if he knew.
Like she’d told him, right?
She kept wondering if she should bring it up but couldn’t find the words. How do you ask someone if they knew the two of you had apparently had a child together ten years ago without either of you being aware?
Or maybe he was aware. Maybe he was in on it. Maybe they all were.
Maybe that didn’t matter right now, Everly berated herself. Maybe they should just open the door.
First, Luca tried the handle. He didn’t look at Everly as he did it but gripped the silver doorknob beneath his fist and tried to turn it.
